Kili is a big mountain

It soars at its highest point to 19340ft. It is among the seven continental giants, and sits high on the global mountaineering must do list for anyone claiming the status of a mountain enthusiast. It is, however, one of the easiest of the Big Seven. That is not to say it is a walkover, far from it, but it is less a mountaineering experience that an extended trek, and as a consequence it is one of the few big mountains of the world that almost anyone of moderate fitness has a fighting chance of summiting.

Kili is not a cheap mountain to climb

Tanzania is home to some of the world’s premier wildlife parks and nature conservancies, and as a poor country it relies more on tourism dollars than government grants to sustain this heritage. Added to this the use of local guides and porters is mandatory. This is part of a general effort by the Tanzanian authorities to insure that local people are not insulated from the benefits accrued by tourism. So as you part with your dollars to make this climb, take comfort from the knowledge that your are contributing directly to the maintenance of the local ecology, and the support of local communities.

First Aid

Guides are as a rule trained up to first aid level. This allows them to dress wounds, administer CPR and to dispense non-prescription painkillers while they await the arrival or paramedics. Any pain medication beyond over-the-counter strength analgesics that you feel you might require, and any specific medications you need, are your own responsibility.

It is advisable to carry a small personal medical kit for your own day to day use. In attending to random aches and pains, blisters, stings bites and rashes it always makes sense to be self sufficient, no matter what might be offered by your operator.

Search and rescue

Emergency rescue procedures on the mountain are the shared responsibility of the Tanzanian National Parks Authority and the individual operators conducting any particular trip. Each climber pays a US$20 rescue levy that covers the eventuality of evacuation. Trained rescue personnel are posted at all the camps above 3000m. Rescue is usually a bumpy ride down on a single wheeled gurney. This is an incentive to avoid injury.

Air search and rescue is dependent on the availability of private helicopters or fixed wing aircraft that on a volunteer basis will participate in any aerial support. Thanks to the fact that Kilimanjaro is situated along the Serengeti/Ngorongoro axis, many private aircraft are stationed in the area at any given time for tourist use, allowing for almost guaranteed availability in the instance of a serious situation.

Certain operators make use of Global Rescue services which is an international rescue facility offering medical evacuation and emergency response to members under more or less any circumstances, with the potential for hot extraction from the mountainside, usually in combination with a local aircraft supplier.

Water

The water in the steams and rivers along the way is clean and usually palatable, but as a precaution a portable water filter is an excellent item of personal baggage, along with water purification tablets. If you do drink the water directly from the streams, try and make a point of selecting small, peripheral watercourses that feed into the main rivers, the smaller the better. This is not only the best tasting water, but is likely to be the most recently filtered through the soil, and the cleanest. Make sure that the water provided for drinking by your support crew has been boiled.

Day Pack

Even if the bulk of your kit is portaged on your behalf by your support crew, always carry a day pack, and always pack in your day pack survival kit that will sustain you in the event that you are separated or injured and/or are forced to spend one or more nights out alone. This should include your personal first aid kit, including an emergency blanket, a flashlight, a source of flame, a jacket and warm fleece, water and a small selection of high energy trail snacks.

Food

Usually your operator is responsible for all food on the trail, and it will often be stated that you need bring no supplements. However almost always this does not include snacks, chocolate bars, trail mixes etc that you might require en-route, and certainly not electrolytes, dietary supplement or vitamins. It also rarely includes alcohol. Vegetarianism is an understood concept in rural Africa, and so a specific vegetarian menu preference is easy to accommodate. Veganism, on the other hand, is less well understood, and might require careful monitoring. Food on the whole is basic.

Altitude

The ascent up Kilimanjaro is gradual, which helps considerably in becoming accustomed to increases in altitude. Kilimanjaro rises above the 18000ft level which exposes climbers to the risk of cerebral (brain swelling) or pulmonary (fluid build up in the lungs) edema. Symptoms of the former are a persistent dry cough and shortness of breath while symptoms of the latter are severe headache, loss of equilibrium and eventual loss of consciousness. These are dangerous symptoms and can cause death.

The solution is to at all times listen to the advice of your guide, to not fixate on summiting against the advice of your body and your support crew, and to spend as much time as is necessary adjusting to the altitude.

Kit

Despite being one of the world’s major mountains, Kilimanjaro is a relatively easy climb, and for the most part a benign environment. You do not require alpine level kit, high altitude trekking gear will be sufficient. A good gore-tex system, an intermediate sleeping bag and a good sleeping mat will make all the difference.

Tipping

This can be a very difficult part of your climb. The guides and porters you have with you will by the time they conduct your trip have had plenty of experience in squeezing the maximum gratuity out of weary, and sometimes over-emotional climbers. Tactics from long faces to tears will be employed to stimulate your generosity, and no amount offered will ever be enough. 10% is an oft quoted rule of thumb, but any more than US$100 divided amongst your individual crew might be excessive. Usually the whole group clubs together about US$100 each, or less, which makes for a reasonably tidy whip around. Never hand over the whole lot to your guide to dole out to the porters. The odds are very high that they will get pennies, if anything, and he will keep the lot.

Added to this your crew will often try and secure bits of your kit as an added bonus. This is your call, but bear in mind it is a lucrative side business and is not always related to desperate need.

Tipping must reflect the degree to which you are satisfied, and if you are not satisfied, it is perfectly fair to make that point by being selective about who you tip.

There tend to be few unsatisfied customers at the end of a Kili climb though.

“It’s two weeks since I’m back from Kili, and in spite of the problems that I had, the trip was amazing. I don’t know whether you have regular contact with your guide or not, but he made a difficult call and would not let me try for the summit. I’ve got a history of knee problems from running marathons and 30+ years in the martial arts, and the downhill stages were just torturous for me. He didn’t think that I could make it back down without delaying everyone too much, or worse, suffering a fall and injuring myself or one of the other members in our party. As disappointed as I was, I have an enormous amount of respect for Jamaica, and believe that he made a decision that was right for everyone.

Everyone in our group was moved by the plight of the porters, and we all felt that we wanted to do something to help them. Some of our group left some old clothing with Jamaica, but we all agreed that we had piles of stuff at home that could be put to use by the porters. I’m actually a freight specialist, and I can’t find an economical way to ship things to Jamaica to pass on to the porters.

I was wondering if you had any suggestions on what we could do to help them, other than the obvious of sending money and hoping that it is put to proper use.

Thanks for putting the trip together for us. The dynamic of the 8 people in the group was amazing, and it was truly a life altering experience. By some stroke of luck, I believe that we ended up with the absolute best guide on the mountain. Your guide is truly an amazing human being!”

Ralph Brady

This quote of Esther’s is pretty indicative of msot porters dreams too, except for the part of being a tailor. Most porters want to become a guide, as you don’t have to carry much, the money is better, and interact with people from all over the world.

“If I improve my English I might be able to work as a mountain guide some day,” Esther says. “But it would be even better if I could built up my own tailoring business. Then I would always be near my children.”

Read more about Women porters on Kilimanjaro

You have to love them though. They are hard working and are just trying to make some extra money for their family. I think it’s funny to watch how they all interact with each other and how decisions are being made. It’s sometime very loud, obnoxious and lots of men giving their opinions. They usually are the first ones to wake up in camp.

On the first day, before the climb begins, each is vying for the best bag to carry, the one that they will probably use most of the way. I always feel bad for the guy that has to carry the eggs or the watermelons. The watermelons are just a pain, but if you make a mistake and break the eggs, there is a big chance you will be sent down the mountain to bring up some more.

Mt Kilmanjaro Logue has much more information on Kilimanjaro Porters.

Could you keep track of all these porters?

As part of the series of scams on Kilimanjaro by guides, this next scam is quite easy and happens to many people.

When you have a medium to a large-sized group on Kilimanjaro, the amount of porters can be deceptive. One of the oldest tricks on Kilimanjaro is to start with a large group of porters, have some of them leave half-way up the mountain, and then surprisingly they appear the last when tips are distributed.

For example, sometimes a group of 5 people might have 20 to 30 porters. Keep track of this many porters is difficult, they are picking up gear, setting up tents, fetching water, and moving early in the morning to make sure your gear stays ahead of you.

Here is what happens: The guide uses the porter for maybe one or two days until, say, some of the food has been eaten, he then sends them down early. At the end of the trip, however, the porter is magically in line to collect tips. Since you probably didn’t see him come or go, you naturally pay the porter the full tip – instead of for the one or two days they worked. The guide takes a cut from the porter.

What can you do to avoid this? Count all your porters each night. If some are missing, find out where they went, and why. Learn their names and become friends with them. If a porter only works a few days for you, do not pay them the full tip amount, pay it to them pro-rated.

There focus is improving the working conditions of the porters on Kilimanjaro. They do this by:

Lending donated clothing at no charge for the porter’s use while working on Mount Kilimanjaro.

Providing classes for the benefit of the porters such as English, First Aid, HIV/AIDS Awareness, and Money Management.

Educating the public on proper porter treatment.

In our experience, we have found that these practices may be common:
1. Porters pay a $5-10 bribe to the guide to hire them for the climb.
2. Porters receive half of the recommended minimum salary.
3. Porters can be forced to carry loads heavier than the government limit.
4. If porters are not tipped directly by the client, most likely they will not receive the full amount.
5. Porters may receive only one meal a day.
6. Porters’ sleeping accommodations can be overcrowded.

Please consider the following guidelines when choosing a company to arrange your climb up Kilimanjaro:

RECOMMENDED GUIDELINES FOR PROPER PORTER TREATMENT

Wages – A porter should be paid 6,000Tsh/day for the Marangu route and 8,000Tsh/day for all other camping routes.

Loads should not exceed 25 kilos – A Porter should carry 20 kilos for the company and 5 kilos of their own gear.

Porters receive the full amount of tip intended for them – Tipping each crew member directly is the best method to ensure this.

Porters should have proper clothing, sleeping equipment, and shelter

Porters are provided with food and water – Porters should be given adequate water and at least two meals a day while climbing Kilimanjaro.

Number of crew should stay consistent throughout the trip – Before your climb find out how many are in your crew and get to know them.

Sick or injured porters are properly cared for – An ailing porter should receive the same treatment provided for a sick climber.

During your climb, we advise you to:

Ask at your climber briefing the number of crew that will be working with you. At least 3 crew/1 climber is standard for the camping routes.

Inquire as to the wages the company pays their porters. The minimum wage is 8,000Tsh for the camping routes and 6,000Tsh for Marangu Route.

If you are at the scales when departing the gate, take note of the weight of the bags. The porter should carry 20 kg for the company and 5 kg of his own gear in his daypack. Comment to the guide if you notice that the company bag is greater than 20 kg.

Request to meet your crew at your 1st camp. You can write a list of their names which can be used later when tipping them.

A good quality company will have a tipping procedure in which you are certain that the crew receives the full amount of tip intended for them. We recommend tipping each crew member directly at your last meal if such a system is not in place.

After your climb please help us by completing our Post Climb Survey on their website www.kiliporters.org. Your impression of the tour operator can significantly help our work.

The KPAP office is located on the J.K. Nyerere Road in front of the Kilimanjaro Backpackers Hotel (formerly Hotel Da Costa). Please visit our office to receive more information.

Folks are discussing the unfortunate news of a dead porter on Kili. It’s certainly tragic – especially to anyone who’s been awed by how hard the porters are working – and people are wondering if the clothing they wear played a role. Stop by with your two cents; and if you’re not already a member, sign-up here – it’s free to join.

It appears that the porter was sick with a very bad cough, and he was vomiting blood at some point. Unfortunately, he stayed on the mountain for at least another 24 hours before being sent to a lower elevation. He had to carry a bag when he descended and had poor clothing for the rainy weather. He died while being transported on the cart down the mountain on the Marangu Route.

This is another sad day for a climbing industry that make millions and millions of dollars off Mt. Kilimanjaro, but can’t put together some basic rules and regulations that makes sure everyone – including the porters – gets down the mountain safely. If anyone is vomiting blood and had poor gear during the rainy season, it’s everyone’s responsibility to get them down the mountain as soon as possible.

I would say, it’s a little bit of both.

If you ever get a chance and want some real lively action and to get “some culture”, wander over to the “Cook Tent” where you will hear a bunch of quasi-cooks, part-time porters preparing your meal – and it usually sounds like they are arguing or talking in the loud male dominant voice, all at the same time. Generally they are surprised to see you and don’t mind interacting with you now they have started to get to know you.

One word of caution: remember, you are not in a formal kitchen, hence there are not nice cutting boards, wonderful dishwashers and ample counter space. It’s more or less a couple buckets, some random cutting boards, which could be sitting on the ground, and food strewn around in baskets, mixed with a little bit of dirt, and set up in some random rudimentary fashion.

It’s works, though. And that’s the only thing that matters in Tanzania. It’s all good in the end, just don’t get all analytical about the handling of the food. You are in Africa – deal with it. That’s how all your food is handled pretty much anywhere in Tanzania, so either watch the process or pretend it’s actually meet some health department standards.