Guides and porters

As I was planning this trip I envisioned myself carrying all my stuff like I'm used to doing when I go hiking in the Norwegian mountains. Boy was I wrong... I'm the first to admit that in the time schedual we had, there was no way in hell that I could've reached the summit without my two guides and team of porters. I was simply not ready for the shock of altitude sickness, which in my case sort of felt like a grand mix between a bad hangover and a terrible flu. So to really prepare for this I recommend that you think about going for a run next time you are really sick, thats how you know how deep you have to dig.

I cannot praise our team of guides and porters enough. It was just our guide that spoke enough english to have a conversation with, but what our porters did every day spoke louder than words. The first time we came to our campsite for the night I didn't understand who all the chairs were for. It actually didn't dawn on me untill they carried the chairs into a bigger tent and put newly made popcorn and hot tea in there. It was our own eating tent! The first couple of days I was feeling a bit uneasy about this, since I knew that the porters carried all of this for us. Based on the mosquito sized backpack I was carrying and how I felt at the end of they day, I could not imagine how they felt. After a while though we were getting more and more tired and more and more happy about our porters carrying our duffelbags.

I lost count of how many porters that passed us, carrying at least 30 kg each. I stopped fighting my macho urges pretty fast and succumbed to the fact that I was the weak foreigner.. But one thing it did do was reducing the number of our complaints. How can you complain about your back when you see people carrying five times as much as you walking past you while they are smiling and singing??

But this text is not about how great the porters and guides of Kilimanjaro are, because I could write pages about that. It is about the fact that the guides and porters in general have lousy equipment and clothing. That many of them receive very bad pay and have to sleep in conditions that no man or woman should endure.

Therefore it is up to us as climbers and tourists to regulate their working conditions by choosing companies that follow the rules set up by the local volunteer porter organization in Moshi, called the Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project.
This page contains tipping info, porter statistics and an excellent list of partner organizations that ensures that the trekking company you choose is a company that treats its porters well. The link to their website is also located on all of our pages in the right side column. Make sure that ethics guide your choice of operator, not just the prize.