As the article says, “For every foreigner who climbs Kilimanjaro, at least three Tanzanians, and often many more, swarm up the volcanic slope like worker ants, 50-pound bags perched precariously on their heads and baggy shirts flopping over their skinny frames.”
Embark Adventures was founded on the slopes of Africa’s highest peak, and we continue to work with some of the best porters on the mountain.
It’s also true, as the article points out, that many porters aren’t paid livable wages, and they often have to pay for their own food on the way up, meaning they often barely eat anything while hauling backbreaking loads, and refuse to turn back down the mountain when they experience altitude sickness because they cannot afford to.
So it is with great pride that we at Embark are a part of the great Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project, the nonprofit that focuses on ensuring that porters make livable wages, are treated fairly, and that they actually receive the tips climbers try to give them.
Everest Base Camp, and the amazing high country around it, are high on the bucket list of hikers everywhere. Embark led a fantastic trip there in 2011, and here trip leader Jim Ronning narrates a series of amazing photographs from the trip.
In 2011 Embark led a climb of Island Peak, or Imja Tse, in Nepal. Here, trip leader Jim Ronning narrates a spectacular photo display from the climb. This is what being in the Himalayas is all about.
This, we think, is what technology and the Internet are for.
Embark has teamed up with a website called GPSFly.org to create an amazing video tour of our favorite climbing route on Mount Kilimanjaro, the Lemosho Route via the Western Breach.
You can essentially follow the entire route up Mt. Kilimanjaro, watching the landscape and the hills around you. You can determine your camp by watching the elevation in the bottom right hand corner. You have to use Google Earth and have the plugins. And sadly, this doesn’t work on Internet Explorer.
Don’t forget to push the play button and you can slowly speed it up, by pushing the speeding button.
Amazing, huh? If the embedded video won’t play, use this link to see it on their site.
We read with much sadness an article from The Guardian about so-called “Human Safaris.” This is when local indigenous people are paid to act in a particular way to please tourists and put on a good show.
As awful as that sounds, it is sadly common. The Guardian’sprevious investigation revealed not only payments to, but also bullying of a local tribe in India, all for the benefit of camera-toting tourists seeking a glimpse of “primitive” lifestyles.
We at Embark Adventures deplore this kind of behavior. We certainly understand that one of the lures of all travel is interacting with people and different cultures, but we have some very strict rules about this. For example, we don’t even give candy to local children, because it’s unhealthy for their bodies and their spirits. We do, however, support local efforts like the Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project.
We want to visit cultures and help to preserve them, but do both in a sustainable and conscious way.
So good for the Guardian, and for the Indian government, which is starting to crack down on this nonsense. We hope this starts a trend that goes far beyond India.
Yesterday, we had the pleasure of welcoming to our Portland office two representatives from Africa Bridge, whom we hope to work with in the future.
Africa Bridge helps build community in Africa, in particular by supporting children. In fact, their six-step process beings with “Listen to the Children.” From there, they help organize the community as it develops skills, builds economic co-ops, inspires entrepreneurs and investors, and creates access to education and healthcare. Find out more at AfricaBridge.org.
Their founder, Barry Childs, explains why he started Africa Bridge in this wonderful video:
We thoroughly enjoyed meeting with the people from Africa Bridge, and Embark Adventures looks forward to possibly working with them in southern Tanzania.
We have been following with some interest the exploits of professional baseballer R.A. Dickey as he and two fellow players climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. Since Dickey plays for the New York Mets, The New York Times has given him a blog, and he and his party summited recently. Congrats to them for making Uhuru Peak.
What struck us, though, was that their summit photo clearly shows there’s a new sign on Uhuru Peak. It’s borderline neon green (was it designed by some Oregon Ducks fan?) and we think it’s pretty cool. Not that we needed another reason to climb Kilimanjaro, but now we look forward to seeing that fancy new sign.
