What we pay our porters, and why we publish it

Kilimanjaro runs on porters. There are more of them on the mountain than climbers by a factor of three, and how they are treated is the clearest signal of what kind of company you have booked.

The numbers

We pay above the park minimum. We pay the same rate in the quiet season as in August. Wages are paid whether or not the climber tips, and tips are additional, distributed by a published split rather than at a guide’s discretion.

Load limits

The park sets a maximum load for a porter, and it includes the porter’s own kit. We weigh every load at the gate and again at each camp gate if there is any doubt. A duffel over the limit does not get redistributed quietly — it comes out and stays behind.

This is why we cap your duffel at fifteen kilograms. It is not an airline rule copied over. It is arithmetic about a human back.

The load limit exists because a person carries the bag. Enforcing it costs us money and we enforce it anyway.

Food, shelter and kit

Crew eat the same three cooked meals a day that you do, not a separate cheaper kitchen. Crew sleep in tents we maintain, not in the mess tent after dinner. We provide jackets, boots and gloves to any crew member who needs them, checked before each climb, because a porter in worn boots at 4,600 metres is our failure and not his.

Why publish it

Two reasons. The first is that climbers ask and deserve a straight answer. The second is that publishing a number makes it harder to quietly reduce it. A rate on a public page is a commitment.

We would rather compete on this than on price.

What to ask any operator

• What do you pay a porter per day, in numbers?
• Is that rate the same in low season?
• How are tips split, and is the split published?
• Do you weigh loads at the gate, and what happens when a bag is over?
• Do you provide crew with boots and jackets?

An operator who cannot answer the first question immediately is telling you the answer.

Tipping

We hand you a tipping sheet on day one with suggested amounts per crew role for the length of your climb. It is guidance, not an invoice, and the wages above are paid regardless. Tips go into a pool and are distributed in front of the crew on the last morning, which is how we avoid the quiet disputes that happen otherwise.