A week of cleaning up
In November 2022, during the quiet season on Kilimanjaro, a large-scale clean-up event was organised by the Kilimanjaro Responsible Trekking Organisation to get rid of the litter on the mountain.
Kilimanjaro tour operators were invited to take part by sending a team of their own folks to take part in the clean up. Teams would be on the mountain for between four and seven days.
Many tour operators, including Follow Alice, responded with a "Heck, yeah!" and sent some members of their climbing crews to take part.
The Follow Alice clean-up team
Our fabulous Follow Alice clean-up team
We sponsored 20 men and women from our Kilimanjaro staff to join in this great initiative. Not only do we love a clean mountain, but it was also a great way to provide some further employment during the quiet climbing season on Kilimanjaro.
Our team spent four days and three nights on the mountain cleaning up. They tackled litter in and around Shira 2 Camp, Moir Hut, Lava Tower and Barranco Camp.
Like all the other clean-up teams, they were accompanied by a leader from the Kilimanjaro Responsible Trekking Organisation (KRTO).
Clean up in full swing
Who is KRTO?
The Kilimanjaro Responsible Trekking Organisation โ or KRTO โ is a new NGO spearheaded by the Kilimanjaro's Porters Assistance Project (KPAP). We partner with both KPAP because we believe in fair payment and good treatment of porters on Kilimanjaro.
The KRTO leaders who led the clean-up teams are all trained in the principles of Leave No Trace, an NGO that does great work in educating and empowering communities and travellers to protect the natural environment.
The Follow Alice team being briefed by their KRTO leader
We partner with LNT because we want to protect the natural heritage of the beautiful spaces where we operate trips. We even had our Kilimanjaro crew attend a Leave No Trace workshop earlier in 2022 in which they were trained in sustainable trekking practices.
KRTO is going to be organising annual Kilimanjaro clean-up projects like this one. And we're stoked to be a part of it, now and into the future!
Just a group of eco-warriors!
We're stoked to be doing our small bit to help preserve this beautiful and precious mountain!
A boggy issue
Much of the clean-up crews' efforts involved using tongs to pick up used toilet paper.
This is because sadly not everyone on the mountain abides by Kilimanjaro National Park's "leave no trace" policy. If they did, they'd carry away and dispose of toilet paper in the bins provided at camp. (We discuss this issue and what climbers should be doing in Toilets on Kilimanjaro.)
Used toilet paper is a big issue on Kilimanjaro
Let's protect the integrity of Kilimanjaro
The animals on Kilimanjaro, as well as the mountain's five beautiful ecosystems, deserve to be protected and treated with respect.
Did you know that the Kilimanjaro impatiens is a flower that grows only in the forest encircling the base of Kilimanjaro, and nowhere else in the world?
The Kilimanjaro impatiens is endemic to its rainforest
To ensure you never become a part of the problem, please read 7 ways to reduce your eco footprint when hiking, trekking or camping. In it we address the obvious โ like no littering โ but also other ways to 'tread lightly'.
We know you're with us when we say we want to look after Kilimanjaro and enjoy litter-free climbs up this majestic mountain well into the future!
