One thing I had not anticipated when I journeyed to Tanzania to hike Kilimanjaro for the first time was the way the people there would change me forever. Their kindness, warm hearts and huge smiles were enough to melt my heart but over the 7 days of hiking getting to know them and their stories would make me reassess my life forever.
Before we started the trip I had a meeting with Nelly who coordinates all our logistics. I wanted to understand if there was a project that AdAstra could help with or create that would directly help the communities we were working with. I was thinking of something where we could work with the guides and porters but had no idea then that on the trek this project would become a reality.
Innocent, Michael, Julio, Stanley and Honesty (Left to Right)
This was the largest team we had ever worked with on a trip. We had a team of 39 to help our group of 9 to get up the mountain. At the gate we met our five guides, Julio our head guide, Michael our camp manager and additional head guide and Stanley, Honesty, and Innocent. Michael had a huge smile and incredible personality to go with it. He would be keeping us all smiling and motivated throughout the week. Julio had been guiding people up Kilimanjaro for over 15 years, respected by his team he had an air of authority surrounding him. Stanley, Innocent and Honesty had been guiding for several years but were still young on the mountain. Their energy and smiles were infectious.
It was easy to get to know all the guides throughout the week. We were able to chat away to them all day. I was fascinated to understand that they had all trained at collage to become guides. Once they were qualified they received a licence for either a full or assistant guide that they would have to present at the park entrance every time they guided a group. Before doing the training they had to spend several years as part of the the porter team. This not only helped them to understand how difficult this job is but also ensured there was respect between guides and porters. Every crew works as a team, helping each other. No man is left behind and no man more important than another.
Our guides and porters were vital in encouraging us when we found the trail hard. They sang to us to encourage us on route, they laughed with us and they never judged us for our slow pace or our breathless chit chat. When we arrived at camp in the evenings they would cheer and before we left in the morning they would often sing and dance in the sunshine to wish us luck for the day ahead. The energy at camp was infectious.
The guides are often at the forefront of our minds as we spend so much time with them. But there is a whole network of men who are responsible for moving camp from one place to the next, cooking our food and encouraging us to get up and down the mountain. This is the porter and camp crew and what an incredible bunch they are.
They each carry a maximum of 20kg of camp equipment, they start after we leave and are always there waiting for us when we arrive. Most people carry the heavy loads balanced perfectly on their heads but some prefer to carry them on their shoulders often balanced on top of a rucksack.
Even after a day carrying our loads, taking down and setting up camp they cheer and smile every time we walk into camp. We are often so tired after the days hiking and many people want to take time to rest. I on the other hand loved spending time with our crew and had some of my best moments at camp with them. I was lucky as Michael help teach me their card games and let me join in, I find it hard to sit alone or rest but playing cards and laughing with the boys gave me all the energy I needed. When I could I would sneak into the chef’s tent where is was always so warm, you would often find, Michael, Julio and anyone else who could squeeze in chatting away while our wonderful chef Nuru cooked, with a huge smile on his face. It’s often hard to tell each person just how grateful you are for their time and openness to let you in but our group tried their best to show their appreciation to our wonderful team.
All the boys have different jobs and Salumu on this trip was our waiter. He had great english and would help us with our meals. He always had a huge smile for us and made sure we enjoyed all the food. I got to know him well over the week, he was shy to start with but our whole group came to love him. He had moved from Arusha to Moshi so he could work as a porter and had been trying to save for the training to become a guide. I remember on the second day I was sat in the mess tent waiting for the others and we spoke about his job and if he enjoyed it and he said how he would like to be a guide one day. I thought he would make a fantastic guide which seemed to surprise him and he asked why. I said ‘because you always have a smile for me when I’m worried or need help and although a smile is free it can change someone’s day.’ Over the week he was always there to help me, when my jacket was soaked through he would take it away and bring it back not only dry but warm to the touch, when I was exhausted and struggling to get my waterproofs off he’d help me, when I told him I was getting cold at night he brought me hot water bottle, he was always there to help me with small things that made a huge difference. 
Over the week I found out more about the guide training from the other guides and Mark. I asked why Salumu hadn’t yet done his training and discovered that he was responsible for supporting his family (as many of the porters are) so it was almost impossible for him to save enough to complete the training. This was something he never told me, not once did he complain, his heart was full as he tried to help me in every way he could to make my trip and the rest of the groups as good as it could be. When I looked at the way I often complain about things in my life with all the privilege I have been given I knew I had to find a way to make all our future trips count to making the lives of those who give us so much on the mountain better. Salumu is just one story, there were 39 men supporting us on the mountain all with similar stories, all with big hearts and all with smiling faces.
I had decided about 3 days into the trip that the project I wanted to work on was going to be our Porter 2 Guide Scholarship program. Throughout the week I found out as much as I could about the guide training and spoke with our group to get feedback on what they thought of the idea. They loved it now I just had to work out how to put it together.
When I returned to Moshi I spoke to Nelly about what I had planned and she was delighted that we could help. I also found out that aside from the project I wanted to start Terry one of our wonderful guests had already pledged to help another porter Simon with 50% of his training fee. All the stars were aligning and we were getting close to our goal.
We decided we would pick two of the porters Simon (Terry’s choice) and Salumu as our first porters to sponsor through this scheme. We are aiming to raise £1000 to cover the cost of their training and food and hope this will be the start of an alliance with the fantastic people who tirelessly help us to achieve our mountain goals.
Back in Moshi with Nelly, Simon and Salumu
We are also delighted that Craghoppers have agreed to donate two down jackets to Simon and Salumu which will be much needed when taking guests to summit Kilimanjaro.
Would you like to come and meet our amazing team and summit this Kilimanjaro?