The real heroes of Kilimanjaro - the porters!

Photo. A porter balancing luggage in a bag on his head. © Travel Explorations.

I remember it as it was yesterday: after we have descended Kilimanjaro the porters sang a song about Kilimanjaro as tribute to me and my friends. I thanked them for the tour, and told them loud and clear that they were the real heroes of the Kilimanjaro. I beared in mind that around 30 % of they who make a attemp to reach the top fail. It`s not easy!

No else than me in my climbing group had better reason to thank them. Since they gave me so good help when my trouble rose to big heights, I both appreciated and admired them so much. For me and most other foreign climbers, we make it just one time to the top, with small baggage to carry. For the porters, they do it almost frequently, with heavy baggage, and sometimes also people, to carry. Actual the most of the porters don't go whole the way to the top when they assisting a group, but they stand high up in a camp waiting for receiving climbers on their descending.

Photo. Two happy climbers in my group, Tove and Anne from Norway. Thanks to the hard working porters and our excellent guides, our tour become successful. © Tove and Anne from Norway.

Through nearly 20 years of travelling around the world, I have never experienced such enormous support to fulfil my goal. I have always been impressed by guides` and carriers` strength and endurance, who have assisted me in deserts, jungles, valleys, tundra, volcanic areas etc., but nothing can compare with the porters at Kilimanjaro. They have really good guts.

Photo. Our top expedition leader and guide Mark is briefing us. © Tove and Anne from Norway.

On the way up to the summit, the porters passed us in a high speed, and when we reached the site where we should stay overnight, our tents were set up and food was prepared.

Photo. A porter stands on a big stone in our camp near the top. © Travel Explorations.

Death of porters
Just like trekkers and climbers, many porters suffer from malaria, altitude sickness, hypothermia, snow blindness, and frostbite. They are also exposed for injuries in knees and back. Before I went to Kilimanjaro in July 2003, there were some deaths that raised concern about porters' safety. According to the Kilimanjaro Porter's Association, the three porters who died in September 2002 lacked appropriate mountain clothing. The three men died during a wild storm on the 5,895 meters high mountain.

Improving conditions
The Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project (KPAP) in Tanzania became established in January 2003, and it works for improving the porters` conditions on Kilimanjaro.  According to National Geographic`s website (15 November 2002), a number of other organizations, including Himalayan Explorers Connection, International Porter Protection Group, Porters' Progress, and South American Explorers Club, are also concerned with ensuring safe and humane working conditions for mountain porters. Himalayan Explorers Connection, for example, started up the Porter Assistance Project in Nepal in 2000. The project is being expanded to sites in Africa and Peru.

Photo. Our three fantastic local guides: Victor (from left), Marc (expedition leader) and Beatuce (who supported me so well when I got really big problems on the top). © Travel Explorations.

Can you imagine how it is to be a porter at Kilimanjaro?
It's hard to imagine how it is to be a porter if you are not high up on Kilimanjaro. I can say at once: it's a hell of job.

The porters hike and climb through several climate zones. On the mountain they have to cope with low temperature, extreme heat, strong winds and thin air, and they are strongly exposed for tropical sicknesses as malaria, altitude sickness and more.

Photo. Albert, one of the porters, and a excellent cooker. Always wearing a smile. And very popular among the ladies in my group. Without high quality of food, you can`t go nowhere. When I could`t eat on my ascent, he and his team gave me special food so I at least could get something to make my body work. It filled me with new energy, so I could continue climbing whole the way to the top! © Travel Explorations.

Further more the porters carry heavy backpack, equipment and supplies up and down, sometimes over 20 kilo, risky climbing, balancing on narrow paths. Sometimes they have to support and carry climbers too. 

Cooking in a small tent is a hard and difficult job, but these people proved that it was possible to make excellent food in a short time.

Photo. Cooking in a small tent. © Tove and Anne from Norway.

The service in general was also excellent.

Why porters become porters
Most tour-guide companies and independent climbers employ local porters to carry the stuff. In a region in Tanzania with an unemployment rate of 80 percent a job as porter is very attractive. Perhaps it`s the only way for some people to sustain. Usefully there are 3 porters to each climber in the group.

Photo. A rocky camp near the top, and above the clouds. © Travel Explorations. How can the porters work under such conditions?

As Sandra Keats wrote for National Geographic Adventure, 15 November 2002: "Most Kilimanjaro porters and guides are members of the Chagga tribe, who live in the town of Moshi and surrounding villages at the base of the mountain. For the most part, local Chagga towns have subsistence economies. Since 1977, however, after Tanzania's national parks service officially opened the Kilimanjaro Forest Reserve, tourism has become a primary source of income for the Chagga".

The porters earn quite well on their hard job, but they have a short life. Due to extreme strong exposure of their body over years, it will sooner or later break down.

Compared with other jobs in Tanzania, the wages for porters are very high. Many of the porters carry equipment in large sacks that they balance on their heads. They also hang on as much they can on their body parts. As more they carry, as more they get paid.  Each day on the mountain is a struggle for life. Porters also carry another big responsibility: they take care of the climbers` life. Some rules and guidelines have been worked out to make life easier for the porters, but more could be done.

Don`t make the porters overloaded
It's very much up to the climbers to help the porters. They can provide the porters with equipment, medicines, clothes, boots, and also give money to help those who get sick or injured in knees, back and in other ways. 

Climbers should take more responsibility for porters` safety and exposure. Probably the most important thing is that the climbers are conscious of that they treat the porters in the best way and not misusing them.

Photo. My team had a hard time climbing in the heights, but compared with the porters` efforts, carring heavy luggage and gear, it was nothing. With so thin air, it`s made it even more exhausted. We become inspired by the porters to climb on. © Tove and Anne from Norway.

Giving porters a helping hand is the least thing climbers can do. I can hardly imagine a tougher and braver people than the porters at Kilimanjaro. They have incredible guts! If strength and belief can move mountains, as a proverb says, it has to be them. For me the porters are obvious the real heroes of Kilimanjaro!

Stein Morten Lund, 9 September 2005

Additional information

Movies about Kilimanjaro:
Stein Morten Lund, an adventurer from Norway, made in 2002 about movie called "Moonlight trekking to the top of Kilimanjaro". It's about his preparations, efforts and being a part of team. Supported by crazy humour on the way to the top, one of the highlight was the Yeti-scene. Singing "You'll never walk alone" encouraged the team to reach great heights.

The filmmaker Mark Jaffee made in 2002 documentary about Kilimanjaro called "Polé Polé, Days of Heaven, Days of Hell". It's about his journey up the mountain.

Read the full article written by Sandra Keats for National Geographic Adventure, November 15, 2002: Porters - National Geographic

Read about the Kilimanjaro Porter Assistance Project on Mountain Explorers Connection: www.mountainexplorers.org

Contact details:
Kilimanjaro Porter Assistance Project
P.O. Box 1275 Moshi Tanzania East Africa
Phone: 0744-817615
Email: kili@mountainexplorers.org.
Location: Hotel da Costa J.K. Nyerere Road Moshi
IMEC Tanzania Office Map/Directions
Direct link for more information: Kilimanjaro Porter Project.

Read more about breathtaking adventure on Kilimanjaro on our website Travel Explorations: www.TravelExplorations.com.

Tourist information about Tanzania:
Tanzania Tourisme Site: www.tanzania-web.com