Fighting The Unfair Treatment Of Porters On Kilimanjaro

It’s in our DNA

The team at Kandoo Adventures have always believed that a truly awesome trekking experience is guaranteed when you have the right people supporting you. It’s all very well creating great itineraries to iconic destinations but if the feel of your trip isn’t spot on then we’ve failed in our responsibility as hosts and facilitators. The measures we take to ensure that your trip is fantastic start with the first point of contact and don’t end until you’re safely home again. Our team of travel experts at Kandoo HQ are passionate about travel, and trekking especially, and go above and beyond to find the right people for every job, for every journey.

We started our travel company taking people up Mount Kilimanjaro and Tanzania is still our most popular destination, as well as one close to our hearts. Starting from the ground up, we now have a knowledgeable team of local people that ensure that every trip up this incredible mountain is a success and that both our staff and our guests are in good hands from start to finish.

It takes a lot more people than you might think to run our Kilimanjaro trekking trips. We have a local director of operations who coordinates a team of admin staff, guides, assistant guides, porters, cooks and drivers. Your Kilimanjaro climb might appear seamless but these people are integral in getting you to the mountain, setting up and taking down your camp, carrying supplies, providing sustenance, supporting you along the route, getting you down safely and monitoring your condition whilst on your journey.

Kandoo Adventures guides on the way to Shira Cave Camp on Kilimanjaro

Historically …

Sadly, porter exploitation has been a major problem on Kilimanjaro. However, regulations by organisations such as the Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project (KPAP) are aimed at tackling the unfair treatment of porters and their futures are certainly brighter because of it.

In recent years, fair practices on mountains have become extremely important to the public as news of unfair treatment, exploitation and social injustice have come to light. The International Mountain Explorers Connection (IMEC) has created the 'Partner for Responsible Travel Program' to highlight those climbing companies who are in compliance with proper porter treatment guidelines.

In a perfect world there wouldn’t have to be such stringent guidelines that may seem obvious to many, but historically some companies have exploited porters for cheap labour, ignored their welfare and required them to work in unsafe and unsanitary conditions.

Socially responsible Kilimanjaro climbs

The Kilimanjaro Responsible Trekking Organization (KRTO) is an initiative of the IMEC, which is responsible for several further initiatives including the Kilimanjaro Porter Assistance Program (KPAP). The aim of this program is to promote the fair and ethical treatment of those working on Mount Kilimanjaro.

Travel companies and suppliers who work on and around the trekking Kilimanjaro industry can become a Responsible Partner and adhere to the guidelines set below. KPAP monitor their partners to ensure compliance for the benefit of the porters and support staff who work so hard to facilitate your climb.

The minimum standards set out by KPAP are:

Porters are paid the minimum wage amount agreed upon by the government and Kilimanjaro stakeholders
Salaries must be paid within 2 days of the descent of a climb as per KINAPA’s regulations
A transparent tipping procedure so porters receive the full tip amount intended for them
Loads carried by the porter should not exceed 20 kg for the company excluding porter’s personal kit
Porters are provided with three meals per day and of an adequate portion
Porters have proper shelter conditions and sleeping equipment
Porters are outfitted with proper gear
Sick or injured porters are properly cared for

In addition to these, KPAP make several recommendations for non-partner companies on how best to tip your porters after Kilimanjaro climbs which include making sure you know the exact number of staff supporting your Kilimanjaro climb, handing money directly to each person you want to tip and making sure to tip the staff who cook, clean, empty toilets and serve food.

As a partner company, when you climb Kilimanjaro with Kandoo Adventures all guests fill out a form with specific tip amounts, then they put this form with all the tips into an envelope which is given to the guide. We also provide guests with a tip recommendation which states the number of porters, cooks and guides there will be on the climb along with the tipping amount per person on the climb for each team member.

Kandoo Adventures group on the Lemosho Route

Much of this might seem obvious to intrepid travellers but exploitation tends to happen when some people have a lot, and others have little. Kandoo believe it is vital to the success of our Kilimanjaro trips that we care for our in-country teams to ensure fairness and loyalty, to keep the viability of our trips consistent and to encourage others in our industry to follow our example.

For more information on how to choose the right travel company for you, check out our blog.

When researching how to climb Kilimanjaro, look out for tour operators that are responsible travel partners and remember that the cheapest company often isn’t the best travel partner for you. Low prices mean that money is being saved somewhere and often it is the porters and guides who are missing out.

To join a Kilimanjaro trip that has a consistently high summit success rate, works closely with their local team in Tanzania and that is passionate about trekking, then look no further than Kandoo Adventures. Every member of our team gets to experience climbing Kilimanjaro for themselves which is why we call ourselves the travel experts!

Check out our Kilimanjaro treks