Kilimanjaro Porters

What do porters do on Kilimanjaro?

Porters carry everything the climb needs that you do not carry in your daypack. That includes sleeping and mess tents, toilet tents, the kitchen, food for the whole trip, cooking fuel, water, and your main duffel bag. Each morning they pack the camp after you leave, overtake you on the trail, and have tents up and water boiling before you arrive.

A typical crew includes several roles:

• Lead guide and assistant guides: licensed guides responsible for route, pace and your health checks. A licensed guide is mandatory on Kilimanjaro.
• Cook: runs the kitchen tent and plans meals.
• Porters: carry loads and set up camp. Some take on specialist jobs such as waiter, toilet porter or tent crew.

Crew sizes surprise first-time climbers. Because of the load limits, even a small group needs many porters, and higher up the crew also carries water to camps that have no source of their own.

How much can a Kilimanjaro porter carry?

Kilimanjaro National Park rules allow porters to carry a maximum of 25 kg, including their own belongings. The limit is listed among the park rules in the Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) Kilimanjaro brochure.

KPAP's guidelines go a step further: the load a porter carries for the company should not exceed 20 kg, excluding the porter's own kit. In practice this means a porter's own sleeping bag, clothes and food should come on top of the 20 kg company load and stay within the park limit.

Your own bag counts as part of that load. Operators set a weight limit for your duffel, so pack to it. The packing list helps you stay under.

What is KPAP?

The Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project (KPAP) works to improve the working conditions of porters on Kilimanjaro. It is one of the best-known projects of the Kilimanjaro Responsible Trekking Organization (KRTO), a Tanzanian organisation whose parent is the International Mountain Explorers Connection (IMEC), a US non-profit.

KPAP's work includes:

• A free clothing and gear lending programme for porters and crew, which has run since 2003
• Free classes for crew; KPAP reports training 5,225 porters in porter rights and certifying 1,387 crew members in first aid
• Monitoring how climbing companies treat their crews
• Organising the monitoring for the Partner for Responsible Travel Programme

What are KPAP's porter treatment guidelines?

KPAP publishes a set of Porter Treatment Guidelines that climbers can use to judge a company. In summary:

• Wages: porters should be paid at least the minimum wage under Tanzanian law.
• Payment timing: salaries paid within 2 days of the end of the climb, in line with KINAPA (Kilimanjaro National Park) regulations.
• Loads: no more than 20 kg of company load, excluding the porter's personal kit.
• Food: three meals a day of adequate portion.
• Shelter: proper tents and sleeping equipment.
• Clothing and gear: porters outfitted with proper gear for the conditions.
• Sick or injured porters: properly cared for, including help to descend and medical treatment.
• Tipping: a transparent procedure so porters receive the full tip intended for them.

On tipping, KPAP recommends that climbers know the size of their crew, announce the total amount in front of the whole crew, and ideally hand tips to each person directly. Our tipping guide covers amounts and etiquette.

What is the Partner for Responsible Travel Programme?

The Partner for Responsible Travel Programme is a free, voluntary scheme for climbing companies that commit to KPAP's porter treatment standards and agree to have their practices monitored. According to IMEC, partners are expected to score at least 85% on the porter treatment scorecard, keep company loads to 20 kg per porter, pay salaries within 2 days of the climb, provide three meals a day and adequate tents, help ill porters descend and get treatment, and hold a valid TALA licence for mountain climbing.

IMEC publishes the current list of partner companies on its website. KPAP warns that some companies falsely claim to be associated with KRTO, KPAP or IMEC, so check the list yourself rather than relying on a logo on a website.

Do porters get altitude sickness too?

Yes, though less often than visitors. A 2022 study of 1,237 hikers and 266 porters and guides on Kilimanjaro, published in the Journal of Travel Medicine, found severe altitude illness symptoms in 8.6% of hikers and 1.5% of porters and guides. Porters live at lower altitude and climb often, which helps, but they are not immune, and a porter who falls ill deserves the same care as a client.

KPAP's guidelines say sick or injured porters must be properly cared for. If you see a crew member who looks unwell, mention it to your lead guide. Our altitude sickness guide covers the warning signs.

How can I make sure my climb treats porters fairly?

Ask questions before you book, and watch what happens on the mountain. Reasonable questions for any operator:

1. How much are porters paid per day, and when?
2. What is the maximum load per porter, and are loads weighed?
3. What do porters eat, and where do they sleep?
4. What gear do you provide for porters on summit night and in bad weather?
5. How is tipping handled, and do porters receive tips directly?
6. Are you currently on the IMEC Partner for Responsible Travel list?

Very cheap climbs deserve a hard look. KPAP notes that climbing on the cheap often means lower wages and worse conditions for porters, because crew costs are one of the few places a budget operator can cut.

If you want to ask these questions of us directly, you can contact Kili Aventura. The mountain guides guide explains the rest of the crew.

Kilimanjaro National Park limits porters to 25 kg including their own belongings. KPAP's guidelines ask companies to keep the load carried for the company to 20 kg, not counting the porter's personal kit.

It depends on group size, route length and camping setup, but even a solo climber on a camping route usually has several porters plus a guide and cook. Longer routes and extra comforts such as private toilet tents need more crew.

KPAP, the Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project, is a Tanzanian initiative that works to improve porters' working conditions. It lends gear to porters, runs training, monitors how companies treat their crews and runs the Partner for Responsible Travel Programme.

Check whether the company appears on the current Partner for Responsible Travel list published by IMEC, and ask directly about wages, load limits, meals, tents and tipping. Very low prices are a warning sign, because crew pay is often where budget operators cut costs.

Pay varies a lot between companies. KPAP's guidelines say porters should receive at least the legal minimum wage, paid within 2 days of the climb, and that tips are an important part of their income. Ask any operator what they pay before booking.