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#1
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Porters' working conditions in Kilimanjaro
Hi,
I´m planing to go to climb Kilimanjaro and, as fas as I know, it is only possible to be done with an guided group, there are no permits for people in their own. Is this true? My main worry is how these groups treat the porters. I´ve seen trekking groups in Peru (Inca trail to Macchu Picchu) where the porters worked in very very poor conditions: no rucksack, lot of weight hanging with ropes form their necks and heads, carrying lots of unnecesary weigths as big butan bottles, tables, chairs, etc. Is this the same in Kilimanjaro or is it posible to find a group where the porters are treated as persons? Any recomendation? Thanks in advance. Antuan |
#2
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Porters' working conditions in Kilimanjaro
Hi there
I went last year and ended up using 'The African Walking Company' - organised by a co in the UK. Their porters were treated well and paid well - plus they all got a share of the tips, which were given out publicly to make sure. Charles "Antuan" wrote in message om... Hi, I´m planing to go to climb Kilimanjaro and, as fas as I know, it is only possible to be done with an guided group, there are no permits for people in their own. Is this true? My main worry is how these groups treat the porters. I´ve seen trekking groups in Peru (Inca trail to Macchu Picchu) where the porters worked in very very poor conditions: no rucksack, lot of weight hanging with ropes form their necks and heads, carrying lots of unnecesary weigths as big butan bottles, tables, chairs, etc. Is this the same in Kilimanjaro or is it posible to find a group where the porters are treated as persons? Any recomendation? Thanks in advance. Antuan |
#3
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Since I am a partner in a Kilimanjaro climbing company I cannot
comment on other companies. Instead I suggest you do the following: 1. Visit IMEC at http://www.hec.org/club/partners.htm to see which companies are serious about porter care. 2. Then ask each company the following 5 questions: a) Do your porters have proper clothes, shelter, food? Porters must have a separate tent and should not sleep in the mess tent. b) How much do you pay your porters? c) Do the porters pay for food? d) Do you provide free transport for your porters? e) What is the maximum weight carried by your porters? It is shocking to see how many companies treat their porters on Kilimanjaro. And it is even more shocking when good people sign up to climb with these bad companies. I applaud the fact that you care about the porters, and I wish you the best of luck on Kilimanjaro! Eben "Rydale" wrote in message ... Hi there I went last year and ended up using 'The African Walking Company' - organised by a co in the UK. Their porters were treated well and paid well - plus they all got a share of the tips, which were given out publicly to make sure. Charles "Antuan" wrote in message om... Hi, I´m planing to go to climb Kilimanjaro and, as fas as I know, it is only possible to be done with an guided group, there are no permits for people in their own. Is this true? My main worry is how these groups treat the porters. I´ve seen trekking groups in Peru (Inca trail to Macchu Picchu) where the porters worked in very very poor conditions: no rucksack, lot of weight hanging with ropes form their necks and heads, carrying lots of unnecesary weigths as big butan bottles, tables, chairs, etc. Is this the same in Kilimanjaro or is it posible to find a group where the porters are treated as persons? Any recomendation? Thanks in advance. Antuan |
#4
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Since I am a partner in a Kilimanjaro climbing company I cannot
comment on other companies. Instead I suggest you do the following: 1. Visit IMEC at http://www.hec.org/club/partners.htm to see which companies are serious about porter care. 2. Then ask each company the following 5 questions: a) Do your porters have proper clothes, shelter, food? Porters must have a separate tent and should not sleep in the mess tent. b) How much do you pay your porters? c) Do the porters pay for food? d) Do you provide free transport for your porters? e) What is the maximum weight carried by your porters? It is shocking to see how many companies treat their porters on Kilimanjaro. And it is even more shocking when good people sign up to climb with these bad companies. I applaud the fact that you care about the porters, and I wish you the best of luck on Kilimanjaro! Eben "Rydale" wrote in message ... Hi there I went last year and ended up using 'The African Walking Company' - organised by a co in the UK. Their porters were treated well and paid well - plus they all got a share of the tips, which were given out publicly to make sure. Charles "Antuan" wrote in message om... Hi, I´m planing to go to climb Kilimanjaro and, as fas as I know, it is only possible to be done with an guided group, there are no permits for people in their own. Is this true? My main worry is how these groups treat the porters. I´ve seen trekking groups in Peru (Inca trail to Macchu Picchu) where the porters worked in very very poor conditions: no rucksack, lot of weight hanging with ropes form their necks and heads, carrying lots of unnecesary weigths as big butan bottles, tables, chairs, etc. Is this the same in Kilimanjaro or is it posible to find a group where the porters are treated as persons? Any recomendation? Thanks in advance. Antuan |
#5
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Since I am a partner in a Kilimanjaro climbing company I cannot
comment on other companies. Instead I suggest you do the following: 1. Visit IMEC at http://www.hec.org/club/partners.htm to see which companies are serious about porter care. 2. Then ask each company the following 5 questions: a) Do your porters have proper clothes, shelter, food? Porters must have a separate tent and should not sleep in the mess tent. b) How much do you pay your porters? c) Do the porters pay for food? d) Do you provide free transport for your porters? e) What is the maximum weight carried by your porters? It is shocking to see how many companies treat their porters on Kilimanjaro. And it is even more shocking when good people sign up to climb with these bad companies. I applaud the fact that you care about the porters, and I wish you the best of luck on Kilimanjaro! Eben "Rydale" wrote in message ... Hi there I went last year and ended up using 'The African Walking Company' - organised by a co in the UK. Their porters were treated well and paid well - plus they all got a share of the tips, which were given out publicly to make sure. Charles "Antuan" wrote in message om... Hi, I´m planing to go to climb Kilimanjaro and, as fas as I know, it is only possible to be done with an guided group, there are no permits for people in their own. Is this true? My main worry is how these groups treat the porters. I´ve seen trekking groups in Peru (Inca trail to Macchu Picchu) where the porters worked in very very poor conditions: no rucksack, lot of weight hanging with ropes form their necks and heads, carrying lots of unnecesary weigths as big butan bottles, tables, chairs, etc. Is this the same in Kilimanjaro or is it posible to find a group where the porters are treated as persons? Any recomendation? Thanks in advance. Antuan |
#6
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Since I am a partner in a Kilimanjaro climbing company I cannot
comment on other companies. Instead I suggest you do the following: 1. Visit IMEC at http://www.hec.org/club/partners.htm to see which companies are serious about porter care. 2. Then ask each company the following 5 questions: a) Do your porters have proper clothes, shelter, food? Porters must have a separate tent and should not sleep in the mess tent. b) How much do you pay your porters? c) Do the porters pay for food? d) Do you provide free transport for your porters? e) What is the maximum weight carried by your porters? It is shocking to see how many companies treat their porters on Kilimanjaro. And it is even more shocking when good people sign up to climb with these bad companies. I applaud the fact that you care about the porters, and I wish you the best of luck on Kilimanjaro! Eben "Rydale" wrote in message ... Hi there I went last year and ended up using 'The African Walking Company' - organised by a co in the UK. Their porters were treated well and paid well - plus they all got a share of the tips, which were given out publicly to make sure. Charles "Antuan" wrote in message om... Hi, I´m planing to go to climb Kilimanjaro and, as fas as I know, it is only possible to be done with an guided group, there are no permits for people in their own. Is this true? My main worry is how these groups treat the porters. I´ve seen trekking groups in Peru (Inca trail to Macchu Picchu) where the porters worked in very very poor conditions: no rucksack, lot of weight hanging with ropes form their necks and heads, carrying lots of unnecesary weigths as big butan bottles, tables, chairs, etc. Is this the same in Kilimanjaro or is it posible to find a group where the porters are treated as persons? Any recomendation? Thanks in advance. Antuan |
#7
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Climbing Kili I saw lots of barefoot boys skimpily dressed in rags.They looked
about 14 years old and were carrying water to Kibo, the highest hut. They had a huge containers on their head and in addition some heavy equipment in each hand. |
#9
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(ClimbHighSleepLow) wrote in message . com...
Since I am a partner in a Kilimanjaro climbing company I cannot comment on other companies. Instead I suggest you do the following: 1. Visit IMEC at http://www.hec.org/club/partners.htm to see which companies are serious about porter care. 2. Then ask each company the following 5 questions: a) Do your porters have proper clothes, shelter, food? Porters must have a separate tent and should not sleep in the mess tent. b) How much do you pay your porters? c) Do the porters pay for food? d) Do you provide free transport for your porters? e) What is the maximum weight carried by your porters? It is shocking to see how many companies treat their porters on Kilimanjaro. And it is even more shocking when good people sign up to climb with these bad companies. I applaud the fact that you care about the porters, and I wish you the best of luck on Kilimanjaro! Eben The issue of porters on Kilimanjaro has long been a concern in the industry. With unemployment at such a horrific rate in Tanzania, some of these guys will jump at any opportunity to make a few shillings. And yes, there are unscrupulos companies that take advantage of this. The best way to judge a company is by the references that people have used it give. The Tanzania Association of Tour Operators can advise you one companies that have lost membership because of failing to live up to standards. www.safari.cc/tato That said, some of the best companies have bad trips. And some horrible ones manage to pull off good trips. Asking about how they treat their staff may work, but I doubt that a bad company is going to tell you the truth, and some companies (including good ones) may be reluctant to tell you how they pay their staff and the benefits they offer. The African Walking Company is very good, as are many others. Have a great climb. Gary visit www.safari.cc for latest weather in East Africa |
#10
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Hi Gary
I have to disagree with you. We're not talking about having "bad trips". When the cook drops his container with eggs on day 1, it may be a bad trip. When a porter is mistreated, or dies unnecessarily on the mountain, it should have a bigger impact. We cannot expect TATO, IMEC or any other organization to make decisions about good vs. bad companies. Nor can we depend on guidebooks such as Lonely Planet. My point is that each climber should ask tough questions BEFORE they sign up with a trekking company and then make an effort to look out for the porters while on the mountain. And when they write their travelogues and trip reviews on http://www.peakware.com/wsl/logs/kilimanjaro.htm, they should include a paragraph about the porters and their conditions. Tell me about your food and your hardships, but also tell me about your porters and how they were treated. Climber awareness is the best way to fight porter abuse. If a company is not volunteering to provide the information in my previous post, please consider it a warning sign. Eben (Gary Balfour) wrote in message . com... (ClimbHighSleepLow) wrote in message . com... Since I am a partner in a Kilimanjaro climbing company I cannot comment on other companies. Instead I suggest you do the following: 1. Visit IMEC at http://www.hec.org/club/partners.htm to see which companies are serious about porter care. 2. Then ask each company the following 5 questions: a) Do your porters have proper clothes, shelter, food? Porters must have a separate tent and should not sleep in the mess tent. b) How much do you pay your porters? c) Do the porters pay for food? d) Do you provide free transport for your porters? e) What is the maximum weight carried by your porters? It is shocking to see how many companies treat their porters on Kilimanjaro. And it is even more shocking when good people sign up to climb with these bad companies. I applaud the fact that you care about the porters, and I wish you the best of luck on Kilimanjaro! Eben The issue of porters on Kilimanjaro has long been a concern in the industry. With unemployment at such a horrific rate in Tanzania, some of these guys will jump at any opportunity to make a few shillings. And yes, there are unscrupulos companies that take advantage of this. The best way to judge a company is by the references that people have used it give. The Tanzania Association of Tour Operators can advise you one companies that have lost membership because of failing to live up to standards. www.safari.cc/tato That said, some of the best companies have bad trips. And some horrible ones manage to pull off good trips. Asking about how they treat their staff may work, but I doubt that a bad company is going to tell you the truth, and some companies (including good ones) may be reluctant to tell you how they pay their staff and the benefits they offer. The African Walking Company is very good, as are many others. Have a great climb. Gary visit www.safari.cc for latest weather in East Africa |
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