Climbing Kilimanjaro: Cutting Costs Can Lead to Porter Abuse
If you’re planning to trek up Mount Kilimanjaro, please spare a thought for the porters who will make your trip possible. Too often, population look to cut the costs of their trek. A Kilimanjaro trek should cost between $2500- $4000. Some of the price discrepancy reflects the route you choose to conduct, the quality of the food, and the characteristic of your equipment. But anything cheaper, and you should understand that the tour operator may be saving costs by overloading and underpaying your porters. Do not cut costs and go cheap when you climb Mount Kilimanjaro.
An organization called Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project (KPAP) is doing its best to encourage all Kilimanjaro operators to adhere to basic rules regarding equal pay as well as safety for porters. A porter does not need to be educated, employment is scarce and life is hard. It’s the perfect recipe for abuse and exploitation to cause to surrender place. Porters die from exhaustion, and hypothermia every year, because they’re overloaded and there’s no way they can carry enough food, clothing or shelter for themselves. It is partly your responsibility as a climber to find out from KPAP if the group you are trekking with adheres to their basic guidelines. Please watch this video to get an idea of the stakes, it ends with this quote:
Don’t agree to get a inferior trip unless you are prepared to watch a young lad in tears trying to drag your 40 kilos of baggage up the mountain. You’re putting him in danger as well as making him suffer.
Read More: KPAP l How to Climb Kilimanjaro l A Kili Trek in Pictures