As i wrote on the Guides and Porters page, the equipment level of the porters is absolutely horrible. The guides usually have pretty good equipment since they have gathered up equipment over a long period climbing Kilimanjaro. The porters on the other hand might just be poor Tanzanian workers trying to make enough money to feed their family. It therefore comes as no surprise that they cannot afford the latest fancy mountain equipment. We were informed by our trekking company Eco-Expeditions that we should bring some stuff to give to the porters. In our wildest dreams could we not have imagined the lack of standard in the porters equipment. Our porters had ok equipment but we saw everything from people just wearing sandals up the mountain to thin cotton pants against the blistering wind. We ended up giving away a lot more than we originally planned, and I regret the fact that I did not bring more equipment in the first place.
Items that the porters need:
- Good shoes
Undergarment, wool preferably - Mittens and hats, warm is the key word here
- Jackets and pants, preferably gore tex style, but anything that you would use hiking yourself works.
Take a good look in the closet and pack that jacket that you use once a year. Ask friends and family for leftover supplies, you will thank yourself for doing this later when you can give away equipment to people that really need it.
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