MOUNTAIN CULTURE
“OUR GOAL IS NOT TO MAKE LOCALS INDIVIDUALLY RICH, BUT RATHER TO MAKE THEIR COMMUNITIES RICHER.”
Success! on the roof of Africa.
Nelson, Sara and myself are the directors of Trekking MAD. The other two are paid, but I will never take a penny. We are committed to paying our staff properly and equipping them with boots, external frame rucksacks to spare their necks, and decent sleeping bags to keep them warm at night. We pay all our staff standard local rates, plus the equivalent of the usual tips, plus 20%. Trekking MAD’s all-inclusive prices already include the “tips” expected by other companies. Yet, while we pay well, we are mindful that violent inflation won’t help the local economy, and nor will making non-skilled work look more attractive to locals than pursuing further education and skilled employment. Our goal is not to make locals individually rich, but rather to make their communities richer. We are only interested in providing quality, competitively priced and properly paced treks, not five-day-thrashes. Those short, cheaper Kilimanjaro treks are at best unpleasant – offering headaches and low summit success rates – and at worst down-right dangerous, with woefully inadequate time for acclimatisation. We favour the eight-day Machame (very popular without being unpleasantly overcrowded) and Lemosho (tranquil and remote start) routes.
Western Breach from near Barranco campp
The often overlooked Mount Meru is also a great alternative to Kilimanjaro: it may be 1,500 lower and less iconic but it’s shorter, cheaper, readily achievable and highly enjoyable with stunning vistas of Kilimanjaro and excellent game viewing opportunities. Time will tell whether Trekking MAD will live up to its acronym and “Make A Aifference” to the lives of disadvantaged people in the Kilimanjaro locality, but I hope that in years to come I’ll look back and be mightily proud to have made the leap of faith to trust that these two capable Tanzanians, just given the opportunity, could achieve something spectacular.
Essential info: Kilimanjaro
UIAA Kilimanjaro advice sheet
theuiaa.org/kilimanjaro
Guidance for Kilimanjaro trekkers
www.thebmc.co.uk/guidance-for-kilimanjaro-trekkers
Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project
kiliporters.org
Words: Jon Mills.
Jon Mills is a British trekker who funded the start-up costs of Trekking MAD to get the project going. Find out more at
www.trekkingmad.com
R Sunset over Mawenzi from the Kibo hut, Kilimanjaro.
72 | CLIMB. WALK. JOIN.
PHOTO: ALEX MESSENGER. PHOTO: JON MILLS.
PHOTO: JON MILLS.
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