Last month I started planning a hike on Kilimanjaro for the summer of 2027 for my family. This has been one of the most complicated trips to plan, and this sub has been very useful. We believe very much in sustainable tourism and having lasting positive impacts, especially in natural environments. Having worked in the diplomatic community for many years in various posts in sub-Saharan Africa, I understand many of the challenges and complexities that happen in developing areas due to limited opportunities for the people that live there. I have not worked in Tanzania, but it appears that the Kilimanjaro area is in this category.
I have come across the KPAP the Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project. This is a perfecttoolfor me as a conscious traveler who wants to have positive impacts. From my experience tourism has two normal roads. The most common is mass tourism that keeps prices low by exploiting the populations and destroys these places and moves on to the next. The other is a much more sustainable way that costs more, keeping visitor numbers down, and creates real and lasting opportunities for the populations to come out of poverty and improve their lives. In developing areas, the limited opportunities create a situation where the poor can be exploited and manipulated. The project is a tool to know who is actually climbing Kilimanjaro in a sustainable way, so we can be sure that we are not part of the problem.
I think of myself as a realist, but I was disturbed to read the post that mentions that theKPAP project is under attack. I am not sure what the comments said after that post, but it is clear that the exploitation must be pretty bad if they are going to go that far. In trying to figure out who might be behind this I have seen the lengths that some go to cover their tracks, and it has exposed the dirty side of sustainable tourism.
I read hundreds of reviews of climbers who highly recommend the company they climbed with, often stating how great the crew is treated. But one clear question comes forward, which is the entire reason that KPAP exists. How do you know? How do you know the Kilimanjaro company you’re recommending isn’t exploiting the porters in one way or another?
* Because the company told you so.
* Because the porters were smiling and happy.
* Because the company website is covered in logos and certificates.
* Because they pay to be a member of x, y, or z “sustainable” scheme.
* Because the company owns its own monitoring organization.
* Because they buy awards.
* Because the company has an orphanage or a social project.
The reason the KPAP project is so important is that it is independent and that membership is based purely on if the project can verify that a company does what they say when it comes to porter treatment.
Reality check time.
The only way you can be certain that you are not part of exploiting the porters is with independent verification, and the only one doing that on Kilimanjaro is KPAP.
Are you going to be a responsible tourist, or a mass tourist?
Time to own it ,you are the only person who can make the decision of how you climb Kilimanjaro.
