Welcome To kilimanjaro!
Kilimanjaro
Porters and Guides
From the guides that have
acquired their guide qualification we select those that have worked with us in
the past and have an excellent record of working on the mountain. Their
professionalism is hard to rival anywhere in the world and one of their prime
objectives will be to help you achieve your dream and gain the summit of
Kilimanjaro, safely. If at any stage they suggest you should turn back then
trust them, respect their experience - they must have an excellent reason for
this as this is one of their last resorts.
Our reputation depends on
our guides. We hope to have some of the best there are. We hope you will enjoy
their company on your trip up the mountain. If you have already climbed the
mountain please contribute a comment about your experience. Just send us an
email or leave a comment in the comment book.
Mount Kilimanjaro Porters Society (MKPS)
The Kilimanjaro
Porters Society was created in 2004 by Zara Tours to improve the working
conditions of all porters on Mount Kilimanjaro and other hiking areas in
Tanzania.
Our main goals
are:
1. Health
and safety of guides and porters
2. To preserve the environment through
sustainable tourism
3. Support of porter's families and the whole local
community
We try to achieve this through guide and
porter
1.
Training
2. Healthcare and micro-finance programs
3. Year-round
employment
4. Equipment and clothing
rental
Classes Taught To
Porters
The MKPS is
now offering free English classes to all porters. There are two sessions every
day to meet the needs of people of different ages, skills, experience, and
education level. All who successfully complete the class get a certificate.
Further MKPS is sponsoring porter's medical bills and further
education.
Intensive training courses are offered during the rainy seasons of each year, including classes on mountain safety and basic first aid. In 2009, we have started to offer advanced classes in first aid and sustainable development.
Mount Kilimanjaro National Park
Kilimanjaro. The name itself is a mystery wreathed in
clouds. It might mean Mountain of Light, Mountain of Greatness or Mountain of
Caravans. Or it might not. The local people, the Wachagga, dont even have a
name for the whole massif, only Kipoo (now known as Kibo) for the familiar snowy
peak that stands imperious, overseer of the continent, the summit of
Africa.
Kilimanjaro, by any name, is a metaphor for
the compelling beauty of East Africa. When you see it, you understand why. Not only is
this the highest peak on the African continent; it is also the
tallest free-standing mountain in the world, rising in breathtaking isolation from
the surrounding coastal scrubland, elevation around 900 metres to an imperious 5,895 metres
(19,336 feet).
Kilimanjaro is one of the worlds most accessible high
summits, a beacon for visitors from around the world. Most climbers reach the
crater rim with little more than a walking stick, proper clothing and
determination. And those who reach Uhuru Point, the actual summit, or Gillmans
Point on the lip of the crater, will have earned their climbing certificates.
And their memories.
But there is so much more to Kili than her summit. The
ascent of the slopes is a virtual climatic world tour, from the tropics to the
Arctic. Even before you cross the national park boundary (at the 2,700m
contour), the cultivated footslopes give way to lush montane forest, inhabited
by elusive elephant, leopard, buffalo, the endangered Abbots duiker, and other
small antelope and primates. Higher still lies the moorland zone, where a cover
of giant heather is studded with otherworldly giant lobelias.
Above 4,000m, a surreal alpine desert supports little life
other than a few hardy mosses and lichen. Then, finally, the last vestigial
vegetation gives way to a winter wonderland of ice and snow and the magnificent
beauty of the roof of the continent.
Kilimanjaro Porters and Guides
Kilimanjaro porters and guides all receive
a licence to work on Kilimanjaro from the National Park. Without this they are
unable to operate as guides. The licence is obtained after several years of
experience of working on the mountain as porters or cooks then as assistant
guides after which they attend courses in First Aid, Mountain Rescue, Flora and
Fauna and History.