Maximum Respect. Porters of Kilimanjaro. Tanzania

Anyone who has climbed Kilimanjaro will know what a huge role the porters played in the climb. About 20,000 climbers attempt to reach the top of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania each year, the highest peak in Africa. Around 70 % of them succeed. Climbing high peaks can make people famous and admired. They get their names and photo in media. It also makes them admired among friends and colleagues. But who are the really heroes in this story? In all of my travelling experiences around the world, I have never experienced such enormous support to fulfill the final goal like in Kilimanjaro. I’ve always been impressed by guides and carriers for their strength, endurance and dedication. I’ve been assisted in jungles, deserts, some very hot valleys but nothing when compared with the porters at Kilimanjaro. These are the real heroes of Kilimanjaro, the ones that makes the magic appear in the summit night. When I reach the top on the 30^th June 2011, I remember standing on top of Kilimanjaro in a sea of clouds and snow and watching curious but in a funny way the porters who had accompanied us to the top muscled in on summit photos, grabbing cameras to record our happy moment. These guys do this as a job. They spend six days on the mountain, climbing in ragged clothes and shoes with 25 kg on their head and back. After you set out in the morning they pack up your tent and all the other equipment, they race past you to set everything up again at the next camp (for lunch also), they help the cook, do the dishes, serve your dinner, carry all the water from the nearest stream, boil it so you can have a hot wash and fill your bottles for the next day. Each day on the mountain is a struggle for life. Porters also carry another big task: they take care of the climbers` life, the big responsibility among all. So, the thing is…If we get to top is because this guys are hard workers and are there to help us. Symbolically I pray here my best respect to them all and loudly I say: MAXIMUM RESPECT.