Kilimanjaro responsible tourism
Our Kilimanjaro Holidays
Kilimanjaro climbing expedition holiday
Kilimanjaro with an International Guide and Doctor.
Kilimanjaro climb, Rongai route
Ascend Mt Kilimanjaro's Rongai Route
Kilimanjaro climb, Machame route
Amazing Private Or Group Kilimanjaro Climb: Machame Route
Climbing Kilimanjaro, Machame Route 7 days
Climb Kilimanjaro and enjoy the scenery & wildlife of Tanzania
Lemosho trek up Kilimanjaro
Strenuous route up Africa's highest peak
Kilimanjaro & Meru trekking holiday
An incomparable African odyssey for the dauntless trekker!
Kilimanjaro Climb and Tanzania Safari
13 day Kilimanjaro Climb and Safari
Kilimanjaro climb Lemosho route
Awesome 10-Day Kilimanjaro Climb via the Lemosho Route
Kilimanjaro summit trek and safari holiday, Tanzania
Hike Kilimanjaro and see wild game on a Serengeti safari
Kilimanjaro Shira Route climb
Tackle the challenging Shira route
Tanzania holiday, Kilimanjaro trek, safari & beach
Kilimanjaro, Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro & Zanzibar
Kilimanjaro Machame Route trek
Trek the amazing Machame Route to the summit of Kilimanjaro
Lemosho Route Kilimanjaro Climb
Eight days of trekking on Africa's highest mountain
Climb kilimanjaro 6 day Marangu route
The Marangu Route is a challenging but doable climb
Family Kilimanjaro trek in Tanzania
A child friendly trek to the beautiful Kilimanjaro
Kilimanjaro Trek, Machame route
Push your mind and body to the limit
Climb Kilimanjaro 7 day Marangu route
The Marangu Route is the ideal trek for all abilities
Climb Kilimanjaro 8 day Machame route
Experience the vast range of ecosystems Kilimanjaro has to offer
Kilimanjaro climb, 10 days
life time expedition and trek Mt. Kilimanjaro
Climbing Kilimanjaro Marangu route holiday, Tanzania
Classic Kilimanjaro trek up the Marangu Route.
Climb Kilimanjaro, Rongai Route
Summit the highest peak in Africa
Family Kilimanjaro Climb & Serengeti safari holiday
Mt. Kilimanjaro climb with Serengeti wildlife safari
Kilimanjaro Lemosho trek and safari in Tanzania
Challenging trek to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro
Kilimanjaro trek, Rongai Route
See Africa from the peaks of Mt Kilimanjaro.
Umbwe Route Kilimanjaro climb
Climb Africa's highest mountain - Mount Kilimanjaro
Kilimanjaro Machame Route trekking holiday
Physical challenges, camping adventures & humbling sunrises
People & culture
Porters rights & community tourism
The good news is that there are guidelines in place for companies offering Kilimanjaro treks. The bad news is that these guidelines are not always enforced by a higher authority, leaving tour companies to decide themselves if they want to stick by these principles. Although recommended wages are just £3 per day, porters can be paid as little as half this amount, with no sick pay if they get ill or injured on the mountain, leaving them and their families with no income. Read more from the Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project (KPAP) about the poor treatment of porters. Many tour operators are members of this association and others have created their own initiatives that support and maintain fair treatment of people, respecting their very basic human rights. It is worth noting, however, that this abuse of people is not just historically from tour companies, but also from guides. Porters are always keen, sometimes desperate, to work with guides. But due to the guide-porter hierarchy, there are horror stories of guides taking advantage of porters’ need for work, agreeing to let them come on a trek but, in exchange, demanding they work for them for no pay on their farm during the off season for example. Or they take a certain percentage of their tips. But KPAP has helped all of this, so make sure your tour operator is a member. It is shocking to see how many are not. Few tell it better than in this half hour documentary, Porters on the Stone of God. Please watch before you book and definitely before you go.
Porters on the Stone of God from Cheverus 319 Productions on Vimeo.
What you can do
Choosing a responsible Kilimanjaro tour operator is the most important thing you can do to improve the lives of porters. One that goes out of its way to respect the human rights and living conditions of porters. You can also keep the weight of your bag down, ensure your porter is properly dressed and give your tips directly to your porter – but this will only make a short-term difference if the porter is not being employed by an ethical company.
We used to do trips with UK guides, but we’ve trained all our local guides now to run those trips, so no UK guides go out on Kili anymore. Some companies still use overseas guides – but to me, no one knows Kili like a local. We have Samuel, who’s climbed it 542 times – you can’t buy that experience. It doesn’t matter if you have an International Mountain Leader or IML mountain guide flying in from Seattle and you’re paying five grand for a week. That person will not know any more than the local who’s done it over 100 times.”
The culture of mountain safety
Safety is like a religion for people who live in and love the mountains. Especially on Kilimanjaro which, like all mountains, has seen its share of tragedies and fatalities. Tourists can be guilty of turning a blind eye to the harsh realities of walking and climbing on Kilimanjaro. Because it does not require people to have technical climbing skills, plus it has become popular with charity climbs and celebrity expeditions, it has entered the world of ‘hey, let’s give it a bash’. But you can’t give Kili a bash, or it will bash you back. Listen to the experts, the tour operators who have climbed it who, in turn, respect the local guides, who in turn undergo three years of training by the national park authority. Because all these experts know the reality of unpredictable mountain landscapes.All treks on Kilimanjaro must have a qualified local guide with them. It isn’t just a case of being allocated a guide on the day either. Tour operators interview the guides themselves, work with the ones they know well, and create strong working relationships with them. Some tour operators insist on bringing a European or American International Mountain Leader or IML with them too, but the local guides are highly qualified in protecting people on their mountain.
Altitude sickness, or Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS), is the real danger on Kilimanjaro, and so it is very important to pick a tour that takes you up slowly and gradually. Read up on the ‘trek high, sleep low’ rule, which means that you can ascend gently during the day, but descend to sleep, as it puts a lot less pressure on your body that way. Ascending slowly is key to reducing your chances of feeling ill, but if you do, the best cure is to descend – even a couple of hundred metres can make a difference. Some companies insist on bringing super high tech oxygen equipment, but really, if you follow the rules, you should be fine. And if you aren’t fine, the only other rule is to tell your guide. You might fear disappointment in not summiting, but it is the only responsible thing to do.
“Over 30,000 people attempt the climb of Kilimanjaro annually and there are, on average, two or three fatalities from Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) every year. These fatalities are always the result of the failure to undertake a rapid descent quickly enough. Our guides have had formal training to recognise and deal quickly with the symptoms of AMS, whilst our medical box contains drugs to facilitate a rapid descent together with an evacuation plan from each campsite on Kilimanjaro”.
What you can do
Try and do a trek to a peak of around 4,500m before you tackle Kili. This isn’t always possible, as there isn’t one in the UK for example. It should also be a peak where descent is straightforward, in the event of you not coping well. Better finding out there, than on the top of Kili. But if you can’t manage that, don’t worry. Just don’t try and be macho or uber competitive and go for the quick, speedy route. It isn’t big and it isn’t funny.
Responsible tourism tips
* Source: Survival International