Kilimanjaro Porters

Earth's Edge is Ireland’s only partner of the Kilimanjaro Porter Assistance Programme (KPAP) – www.kiliporters.org. KPAP is an American run, Tanzanian based NGO who are campaigning for porter welfare on Kilimanjaro. As you will understand when climbing Kilimanjaro, we are all so dependent on the hard work of the porters who carry loads on the mountain. They are the unsung heroes of all climbing teams and without their help we would not be able to experience this wonderful mountain. The reality is the porters are often impoverished Tanzanians who are dependent on this labour-intensive work to feed their families.

Unfortunately, the porters have very few working rights and are often exploited. All too often they are underpaid, poorly fed, overloaded and don’t have adequate clothing for the mountain. This is where KPAP come in. KPAP send one of their staff on each of our Kilimanjaro climbs to independently audit how we are treating our porters. The four areas they focus on are as follows;

That we provide our porters with three meals per day.
That porters have adequate clothing for the mountain.
That porters carry a maximum of 20kg on the mountain. This is typically made up of a 15kg load plus 5 kg of their own clothing.
That the porters are paid properly and that we have a fair and transparent tipping process in place.
At Earth’s Edge it is important to us that all of our clients and staff are clear on how the tip is divided on the mountain. We follow the instructions given to us by KPAP on how best to divide the tip.
The single most important thing one can do as a climber on Kilimanjaro is to book your climb with a KPAP partner company. Unfortunately, porters are still all too often mistreated on Kilimanjaro. When you book with a KPAP partner company you can be sure the porters on your climb are treated fairly.

If you have any questions about tipping or porter welfare, please contact us at ([email protected]) in the Earth’s Edge office.