Guide and Porters on Kilimanjaro
Guide and Porters on Kilimanjaro, your well equipped guides and porters, will rank second only to your mental determination, in terms of important factors contributing to a successful summit attempt. For the duration of your Kilimanjaro trek, your guide will be your advisor, he will lead you to the summit, and he will bring down safely again. It will be important that you work closely with him and take note of his advice.
Do you need a guide for Kilimanjaro?
Can you hike Kilimanjaro without porters?
Who is the best guide for hiking Kilimanjaro?
Support staff ratios
The average ratio of our support staff to climbers .This excellent staff to clients ratio, bolstered by our superior support equipment, will ensure your safety and enjoyment on the mountain.
You can refer to the chart to see how the number of crew members corresponds to the number of climbers.
| Clients | Guide (s) | Cook (s) | Porters |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
2 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
3 | 2 | 1 | 10 |
4 | 2 | 1 | 13 |
5 | 3 | 1 | 16 |
6 | 3 | 1 | 19 |
7 | 3 | 1 | 22 |
8 | 4 | 1 | 24 |
9 | 4 | 2 | 27 |
10 | 4 | 2 | 30 |
11 | 5 | 2 | 33 |
12 | 6 | 2 | 36 |
More on becoming a guide on Kilimanjaro
Qualifying as a Kilimanjaro guide brings with it great prestige and respect within the local community. Bearing in mind that your guide would have been employed as a porter for at least 3 years after which he would have been trained and employed as an assistant guide for at least a further 2 years.
Other Important Points for Qualified and experienced guides
Guide and Porters on Kilimanjaro are compulsory for all routes on Kilimanjaro. All our treks up the mountain are lead by highly trained and qualified guides, registered with the Kilimanjaro National Parks Board. Each of our guides has been selected over years, based on experience, safety record and through feedback from previous clients. Over the years they made a major contribution to our proud success rate over 98% and have safely guided in excess of 15 000 successful Climbing Kilimanjaro clients to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.
MEDICAL TRAINING PROGRAMS: Mount Kilimanjaro
Every year Karibu Adventure guides participate in a comprehensive high altitude medical course, which Frank designed specifically for Kilimanjaro. This course prepares the guides for emergencies that commonly occur at high altitude on Kilimanjaro.
Karibu Adventure guides have become so expert at treating sick or injured climbers, that they often get called in to assist the National Park and other companies with their evacuations.
Porters and cook
The porters do not only transport your gear and the supplies up and down the mountain. Arriving at every camp site long before you, they will have already erected your tent on your arrival. In the evening they will also boil drinking and washing water and the cook will prepare dinner of a quality that has surprised many previous clients.
Weight limits for porters
Remember that there is a weight limit of 15 kg (32 lbs) per climber, on the gear of each hiker to be pottered. A soft duffel bag (barrel type) is preferred – a rucksack is not necessary as they prefer to porter the loads balanced on their heads and shoulders.
Porter Treatment
We take porter welfare very seriously and we do our best to ensure that all our staff is treated well. We strive to have the best porters through fair and honest treatment of our staff. We ensure that:
- Our staff is paid a set wage, which means they do not have to rely entirely on tips for payment.
- Our staff is paid more than the standard compensation on Kilimanjaro.
- Our staff is paid immediately upon completion of a trip.
- Our porters have the proper gear and equipment to handle the mountain. Their clothing, sleeping bags and tents are sufficiently warm and/or waterproof.
- Our porters are fed three nutritious meals per day, in adequate amounts, of their preferred local foods.
- Our porter loads are limited to 20 kgs or 40 pound
