My wife and I climbed Kilimanjaro in March 2011. We used a local company named Zara Tours, who I would fully recommend (it's not permitted to climb Kilimanjaro without guides).

Although you have a choice of routes, to maximise our chances of summiting we picked the longest route: Machame. This meant basically five days up, and 1.5 days back down, staying in tents the entire way. This gives you the longest amount of time to acclimatise to the altitude, as hypoxia is more likely to stop you reaching the summit than your legs are.

Along the way, you pass through rainforest, alpine forest, moorlands, and eventually the last couple of days it's just a rocky moonscape. Not much wildlife to speak of other than birds and insects.

Our porters and guides were great, and we felt in safe hands at all times. The only disappointment was that we arrived on the summit before sunrise, and the heavy clouds rolled in early that day so we couldn't see a thing!

As another reviewer said, if you want to just "see" Kilimanjaro from the base, your best bet is to stay a night or two in the nearby town of Moshi. The summit is usually shrouded in cloud during the day, but is typically clear around sunrise and sunset.

Good luck!

You can see more of my UNESCO World Heritage Journey on Youtube, via the link below.