Inca Trail Porters

Thousands of people make the Inca Trail trek each year. They typically complete the 43km mountainous trail in 4 days. For many the experience is an trip of a lifetime and the fulfillment of a personal ambition. The satisfaction of having completed the trek and arriving at the spectacular Inca ruins of Machu Picchu is hard to beat. However the feeling is even better if you know that all the porters helping you along the way have been well looked after and treated with the respect and dignity that they deserve.

Now that most trekkers on the Inca Trail take a trek organized by a local tour operator, the camping equipment (tents, dining tent, kitchen tent, tables, chairs, stove, gas bottle and food) is carried on the backs of human porters. Pack animals such as horses, mules and llamas are now banned from the trail. The prices that tour operators charge for this 4 day trek can vary considerably as can the rates of porter pay and conditions provided by each company. However trying to find out if a company looks after its porters can be quite difficult. Often tour companies are not completely honest about the wages that they say that they pay their porters and real facts are difficult to verify. If you ask a porter how much he gets paid then very rarely you will get a straight answer. If a porter is well paid he is likely to tell you that he is poorly paid so that you give him a better tip! If he is badly paid it is likely that the company has instructed him to lie and tell you that he receives more than he actually does. If he complains about his pay to tourists on the trek then he is unlikely to work much longer!

How you can help

1. Book your trek with a responsible trekking company.

At the moment none of the trekking agencies are perfect and there is still plenty of room for improvement. However if you pay under US$350 for a 4 day group Inca Trail trek it is very unlikely that porter welfare is high on the company's concerns. When you book with a company let them know that the treatment the porters receive is important to you. Porters need fare wages, decent meals and warm and dry accommodation.

  

2. Hire a porter.

Hiring a porter will make your trek more enjoyable, giving you time to enjoy the scenery rather than looking at your boots! You'll also be giving employment to people who really want and need to work. 

 

3. Interact with your porters.

Talk to your porters, learn about their traditions and villages. Share some coca leaves. Even ask them to sing some of their local songs. Most porters suffer from low self-esteem so make the first move, don't wait for them to talk to you first.

   

4. Thank your porter.

Show your porters that you appreciated them. Thank them verbally and leave a tip.

  

5. Report instances of porter neglect.

If you are unhappy about how your porters are treated then complain to the guide. If he/she can't resolve the problem then make a big fuss back at the office when you return to Cusco. Make sure the office is full of other potential clients. If you bought your trek in another country then make a complaint in writing when you return home.

If you are a member of South America Explorers let them know that you were unhappy with the service.

   

The Porters Law

  

Porters' Wages

The Peruvian government can be praised for introducing the Porters Law which states that a porter should receive a minimum wage of 41 Soles per day (about US$14). Sadly not all trekking companies are paying their porters this wage.

 

Weight Limit

The maximum weight that a porter can carry on the Inca Trail has been limited to 25kg. This includes a 5kg personal allowance for items such as blankets and clothes. Each porter is weighed at the start of the trail and then again at Wayllabamba at the start of the second day. This regulation was introduced in 2002 and has been strictly enforced. Companies that are caught overloading their porters receive fines and the risk of losing their licenses. However, as with most regulations, many companies make great efforts to get around them. Tourists who have hired a personal porter are often asked to carry their own bags through the check points and guides and assistants temporarily take some of the load. If you hire a personal porter to carry your equipment do not accept this practice and ensure that you porter is fully loaded when he is weighed at the check points. Some of the worst companies also restrict the amount of personal items that a porter can take with him, imposing upon his personal allowance of 5kg.

       

Meals & Sleeping Conditions

The biggest difference between a responsible company and an irresponsible one is how they look after their porters on the trek. Many porters are given very little to eat on the trail. They have to wait to see how much the tourists have eaten before the left-overs are divided up amongst them. Many porters end the trail tired and hungry. In general porters sleep together in the group dining and kitchen tents. This is fine since there is warmth in numbers. However, when you are on the Inca Trail remember not end up talking all night in the dining tent as there may be tired and cold porters outside waiting to go to bed. You may also notice that very few dining tents have integral floors to keep out the cold and damp. When it rains the floor can become like a river running through the tent. Very few porters have sleeping mats or even warm sleeping bags.

  

Porter Culture

The Quechua race has a history of being down-trodden, first by the Incas, then by the Spanish and then by the landowners. Only in fairly recent reforms have the Quechua people started to own their own land. Because of their long history of being dominated by others many have a low self-esteem. It is important on the Inca Trail to try to involve the porters in your group. Take some coca leaves to share with them and try to learn a couple of basic words in Quechua (your guide will be pleased to help you). Many of the porters have amazing stories to tell about traditions and life in their villages. At the end of the trek don't forget to show them that you appreciated their work and valued their contribution towards the trek by thanking them verbally and giving them a tip.

 

How much to tip?

Tipping the guide and cook should be dependent on the quality of the service that you received. If their tips are consistantly poor then they will soon get the message that they need to improve. However, even if the food was terrible and the guide spoke no English (which we hope will not be the case), the porters were probably still working away hard carrying the camping equipment and tents so don't forget to leave a tip. The amount you pay depends on you but as a guideline we recommend that each porter in your group takes home an extra 25-30 soles (a combined tip from everyone in the group). Try to take plenty of small change so that you can give the tips directly to the porters. This is much better than giving the money to the cook or the guide to be divided up later amongst the porters as often the money is unfairly distributed.

 

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