Porters of Kilimanjaro

In a recent study porters on Kilimanjaro earn an average of $5.00 a day, and clients pay an average $300 per day for a six-day trek. Kilimanjaro National Park regulations deem the porters should carry no more than 20kg each. With most porters coming from impoverished families, there is fierce competition for jobs, many carry much more so as to be chosen by unscrupulous climbing companies, who make a greater profit by having to pay fewer porters. Many of the porters are ill-equipped, climbing in tennis shoes and using rice sacks to help protect them against the rain.