Even though you may be leaving your family and friends behind for this big adventure; you will be surprised to get a whole new family in Tanzania made up of guides, porters and a cook who will all look after you very well. These are really the people who make your climb special, comfortable, safe, clean, and successful.
This is also what really differentiates companies. Most of the costs associated with your trek are fixed (park fees, food, transport) and the only place budget operators can compromise is on the salary for those who work the hardest on the mountain. We are not one of these companies and pride ourselves in a strong and experienced support team who are externally monitored for fair treatment standards.
All our staff excluding the cook (who is handpicked by your guide) are hired directly from our office with no middlemen, bribes, commission payments etc. Each person is contracted directly by our company and paid the full salary intended for them within two working days after the climb.
Head Guide
All groups will have 1 lead head guide (possibly 2 for large groups) who acts as the chief of the trek and coordinates our policies, mountain rules and your requirements with the rest of the team. This is not just a name, a head guide has many more responsibilities compared to assistants and commit more time before, during and after the trek for the success of the tour.
Our head guides usually have the most experience and some have been with us for decades and are some of the best guides available on Kilimanjaro. All guides are English speaking, and we also have some special language guides which can be arranged for on request.
Assistant Guides
For groups larger than 1, you will have additional guides called ‘assistants’. These guides are committed to coordinating with your requirements and the head guides instructions for the safety and success of your tour. You may even find you are closer to assistant guides compared to the head guide as assistants are more dedicated to our clients and have limited other responsibilities to allow them to focus on you.
Our assistant guides go through the same training as lead guides, and you may even find many of your assistant guides are also head guides for other treks and also have tons of experience on the mountain.
Cook
As there are no restaurants on the mountain, your group will have a dedicated cook who prepares breakfast, tea, lunches, dinners, and snacks throughout the trip. Cooking at a high altitude is a difficult task and you may be surprised what your cook can produce with limited ingredients and harsh conditions.
All cooks are trained regularly and each has their own unique style and signature dishes. We are used to all sorts of dietary requirements and if you let us know in advance, we can plan for the cook and menu accordingly. Your cook will feed you and your fellow hikers as well as all of the support team with local staff meals. Large hiking groups may have additional cooks as required.
Waiter
Usually the most loved person on a trip, a waiter is a standard luggage porter with extra duties at the campsites for bringing you your meals and setting up your dining tents. The waiter will coordinate between you, the guide, and the cook to bring you hot and fresh meals at campsites and ensure you have plenty to fill your stomach.
Luggage Porter
Luggage porters are general porters whose primary function is to carry items on and off the mountain. More than public toilet facilities, campsites don’t have anything else and everything from your tables, tents, chairs, spoons, pots, pans, personal luggage etc. are carried by these hardworking porters.
A porter can carry up to 15kg of your personal weight, 20kg of our company weight and an additional 5kg for their personal luggage allowance.
You can hire extra luggage porters if you plan on having more than your allocated 15kg of luggage on the mountain.
Tent Crew Porter
The tent crew porters are standard luggage porters who have additional training for setting up and dismantling our camping equipment. These usually are the first to reach camps (to pick the best spot) and last to leave.
A tent crew porter will still carry the 20kg of weight in addition to their other duties on the mountain.
Personal Assistance Porter
Although not included in our standard packages, you can hire your own ‘personal assistance porter’ who will accompany you on the trek and carry your day pack. This porter will accompany you all the way to the summit.
Your day pack is usually below 5 kgs but this can feel like tons on the long hikes or at high altitudes.
Safety Porter
A recent addition to our team, the safety porter ensures that our crew strictly adheres to the company’s safety guidelines. This dedicated porter vigilantly monitors the crew, ensuring proper setup of tents and dining areas, frequent hand-washing, and regular checks to maintain everyone’s health and safety. Their primary role is to ensure that every facet of the expedition aligns with our high safety standards, guaranteeing a secure experience for all participants.
Private Toilet Porter
A private toilet porter (if you have included a portable toilet on your package) will carry a portable toilet system and tent and set this up for you at each campsite, clean it, dismantle it for the next camp. We usually call these porters the heroes on the treks as this is not a glamourous job.
The ‘Undercover’ Porter
Each one of our treks will include at least 1 ‘undercover’ porter provided to us by the Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance project to monitor our company and the guides for fair treatment standards.
This porter acts as a standard luggage porter and is called ‘undercover’ as most on the trek do not know who this person is to allow for the fairest and truly independent monitoring. Their training and reporting is external to our company and they monitor key activities including fair weights, meals provided as expected, no bribery issues, salary payments on time and more to ensure we are operating an experience that is fair to all of those involved.