We, at Acacia Africa are always looking at making a difference and for anyone who has climbed Kilimanjaro know that the porters are the heart and soul of your trek. Without their hard work and strength, we would not be able to fully experience the magnificence of this mountain and the encouragement they give you to make it to the summit of Uhuru peak at 5895mtrs.
With this, the Kilimanjaro Porters Society was created in 2004. Their goal is to improve the working conditions of all porters to preserve the environment through sustainable tourism and provide support for porter’s families and the whole local community whilst trekking. A set of rules had been defined and the majority of Kilimanjaro operators have agreed to implement these basic terms which include:
– Porters must be appropriately dressed for the trek with warm clothing and waterproofs and shoes
– Porters must be adequately fed on the trip
– The load per porter must be limited to 20 kgs (15 kgs for our groups)
– There must be adequate porter-client ratios (2 porters per client on the Marangu Route, 3 on other routes)
– Porters, guides, and cooks must be provided with a set wage. Clients should be advised to tip staff appropriately for their services at the end of the trek. Refer to our dossiers on our website for all information relating to tipping requirements and trek information.
– Today, most of the porters at Kilimanjaro (and all our porters) are members of this society. This allows them to benefit from various resources such as language classes, training in providing customer services, classes in environmentally sustainable tourism, healthcare and first aid courses, classes to know their tights, legal advise, assistance in micro-finances to improve their family living conditions by access to affordable trekking equipment, clothing, year-round employment possibilities and a guarantee of proper education of their children.
Help Acacia support the Kilimanjaro Porters Society by hopping on one of our Kilimanjaro treks. Don’t forget to add on an acclimatization day as this increases your chance of reaching the summit of the “Roof of Africa”