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Peru Treks & Adventure -
Porter Welfare
Without doubt, for many visitors to
Peru, the arrival at the magnificent ruins of Machu Picchu after
having completed the Inca Trail is the highpoint of their trip.
For others it is a fulfilment of a life long dream. No matter what
your religious beliefs are, the Inca Trail really is a special
pilgrimage passing through spectacular mountain scenery, beautiful
cloud forests with orchids and hummingbirds dotted with Inca
ruins, finally arriving at the mysterious ancient city of Machu
Picchu for sunrise. Visitors cannot help but feel an inner
satisfaction and a sense of personal achievement at having
completed the trek. Some people say that this feeling is enhanced
by the spiritual energy that is derived from the sacred stones at
Machu Picchu. However you feel, it is certain that this positive
feeling is greater in the knowledge that your haven't contributed
to the exploitation of the porters who have helped you achieve
your goal by carrying the trekking equipment.
The majority of the porters on the
Inca Trail are from the countryside, simple farmers who supplement
their income by working on the Inca Trail during the busy months.
Their first language is Quechua, the official language of the
Incas, although many now speak Spanish. In fact the majority of
these people are still pure blooded Quechua, the people who were
governed by the Incas almost 500 years ago. Many of their
traditions and superstitions have remained unchanged since well
before the Spanish arrived. However, most would agree that these
people have remained a quiet and humble folk and easily
manipulated by both governments and tour operators who have been
quick to exploit this hardworking source of workers.
Porter Issues
1. Wages
As from August 2006 we have increased
our porters pay to 164 Soles. This followed discussions with the
Porters Syndicate and the Ministry of Work who wanted the porters
to be paid the equivalent to Peru's minimum legal wage of 41 Soles
per day as written in the Porters Law. This figure equates to
about US$50 for the 4 day trek.
To many people a basic wage of 41
Soles per day amounts to exploitation. By Western standards
this wage appears to be low, however wages have to be seen in
perspective, and in relation to what other people earn in Peru.
Most of our porters depart on the Inca Trail at least 4 times a month
(16 days work) earning about 756 Soles ( 4 x 164 Soles plus tips
of about 100 Soles). This is about the same wage of a professional
school teacher in Cusco who earn between 700 and 800 Soles for
working 22 days per month. Teachers in the villages earn much less
than this, some as little as 400 Soles per month. It should be
noted that teachers have to study for a minimum of 5 years at a
university or institute and often have to work the first couple of
years for wages between 250 and 300 Soles per month!! A master
tradesman such as a carpenter may charge about 25 Soles per day
for his services and a labourer will charge about 15 Soles. A
farmer in the villages earn about 10 Soles per day so a porter can
earn about the same as a village school teacher and has enough
left over to pay a neighbour to work his fields while he is away
on the trail. Most porters are land owners and do not pay rent, so
their outgoings are fairly minimal. So on the whole if porters are
paid the legal wage they are not badly
off compared to other professions. Even though the Porter Law
states trekking companies should pay their porters 41 Soles per
day only about 10% of the trekking companies are actually
complying with this requirement. Some
trekking companies are still paying their porters as low as 20
Soles per day and getting their porters to sign receipts for 41
Soles per day!! Many porters feel that they cannot complain or
they will be sacked and even put the jobs of their fellow workers
in jeopardy.
2. Loads
The same "Porters Law" that requires a
minimum wage to be paid to porters also states that the maximum
weight that a porter can carry on the Inca Trail is 25kg. This
comprises 20kg of equipment from the trekking company plus 5kg of
personal items such as warm clothes and bedding. At the start of
the Inca Trail there is checkpoint where all porters have their
loads weighed. Companies that are found to be giving their porters
over 25kg receive a notification and fine. Too many notifications
can lead to having their trek license withdrawn although this
hasn't happened to any company to date. The list of companies that
receive notifications is not made available publicly so it is
difficult to identify those companies that regularly overload
their porters. Most trekking companies state that since all the
porters are weighed at the start of the trail, all the porters on
the Inca Trail are carrying loads no more than 25kg. Just looking
at the size of the load carried by the porter is no way to assess
the weight. Some porters loaded high with sleeping bags and foam
sleeping pads may only be carrying 15kg while porters carrying the
stainless steel cutlery and gas bottle in a small pack may be
carrying 40kg! Many companies have become expert at using the
absolute minimum number of porters in the group. So how do they do
this ? Basically in a group of over 8 trekkers companies must use
2 guides. These guides are not weighed at the start of the trail.
They carry 30kg each across the check point and then drop the
loads on the other side to be collected by the porters. Often
trekkers who have paid extra to hire a personal porter to carry
their bags are asked to carry their bags across the check point
and dropped the other side !! The cook and assistant cook also
have their loads weighed, each carrying 25kg through the weigh
station. However when they reach the other side they often
"lighten" their load by 5 or 10kg which is distributed amongst the
remaining porters. Porters are seriously worried that when their
loads are weighed they will be overweight and receive a
notification which may lead to them being sacked. Although they
are allowed to carry 5kg of their own personal belongings many
porters rarely use their full allowance meaning that they take
little warm clothing or bedding. Peru Treks and Adventure has
calculated the exact loads required for our various group sizes
and employs the correct number of porters required to carry this
load. For example, the camping equipment and food for a group of 12 persons
weighs about 295kg. We therefore employ 14 porters (14 x 20kg)
plus a cook (15kg). The guide and assistant guide do not carry any
of the camping equipment of food. Instead they carry just a day
pack with first aid equipment and emergency oxygen.
Group sizes:
4 clients + 1 guide + 1 cook + 9
porters
5 clients + 1 guide + 1 cook + 10
porters
6 clients + 1 guide + 1 cook + 10
porters
7 clients + 1 guide + 1 cook + 11
porters
8 clients + 1 guide + 1 cook + 11
porters
9 clients + 1 guide + 1 assistant
guide + 1 cook + 12 porters
10 clients + 1 guide + 1 assistant guide + 1
cook + 13 porters
11 clients + 1 guide + 1 assistant guide + 1
cook + 14 porters
12 clients + 1 guide + 1 assistant guide + 1
cook + 14 porters
13 clients + 1 guide + 1 assistant guide + 1
cook + 15 porters
14 clients + 1 guide + 1 assistant guide + 1
cook + 16 porters
15 clients + 1 guide + 1 assistant guide + 1
cook + 17 porters
16 clients + 1 guide + 1 assistant guide + 1
cook + 17 porters
It is the responsibility of our assistant
guide to ensure that the loads are evenly distributed among our porters.
He/she carries a spring balance to weigh the porters loads at several
random locations along the trek itself. Although the porters start with
the maximum weight this load obviously decreases along the trail as food
is consumed. When clients hire the services of porters to help carry their
personal items these porters are extra to the numbers calculated above.
3. Warm accommodation
At the beginning of 2004 Peru Treks &
Adventure bought sleeping bags which were issued to ALL of our porters. We
originally bought a cheaper make of bag for our porters which were
rated to 2 degrees above freezing. We also bought better bags
rated to freezing which we rented out to our clients. After the
bags had been rented out to our clients just 10 times (effectively covering the
cost of purchase and cleaning) we allocated them for porter use.
By the middle of 2005 all of our porters were using the better
quality sleeping bag. In 2005 we bought high quality sleeping bags
that are rated to 15 degrees below freezing. These are our standard
rental bags. As these bags become older we will give them to the
porters to use. It is our company policy that every porter is issued with a
good quality sleeping bag. All the bags are collected at the end
of the trek and returned to our stores. The porters take turns to
clean the bags on a weekly basis. The bags are provided free of
charge to our porters. Unlike many companies we do not deduct the
price for their sleeping b ag from their wages. At night our porters sleep in the
communal dining tent. After our clients have finished their meal
we attach a waterproof floor to the tent (zipped or felcro) to
provide accommodation that is both warm and waterproof. This sound
like very basic measures but incredibly 90% of all trekking
operators do not provide accommodation with a waterproof floor.
4. Sufficient food
Providing plentiful food to the
porters on the Inca Trail is not usually very costly. Most
porters, by request, prefer simple meals that include vegetable
soups and a main course with plenty of carbohydrates such as rice,
pasta and potatoes with meat. Although these meals are cheap to
buy (well within the budgets of even the cheapest agency) the big
problem is the weight. Plentiful food means added weight and added
weight means extra porters, extra wages, extra trek permits and
sufficient accommodation which obviously costs extra money. Being
able to reduce the number of porters in your group by 2 or 3 can
be the difference between profit and loss. Since very few trekkers
actually get to see their porters eating their meals, cutting back
on the amount of food provided to the porters rarely leads to
complaints from the trekkers. At Peru Treks & Adventure we have
included for plentiful nutritious meals for everyone in our group
and that includes the porters. If you don't believe us we invite
you to ask the guide on the trek to show you the portions being
prepared by the cook or ask to read the trek reviews kept in out
office from clients who have already witnessed the meals. Our
porters do not rely on leftovers.
5. Adequate clothing
Rain ponchos - During the wet
season (December - April) we issue heavy duty rain ponchos to all
of our porters. The ponchos cost about US$23 each and are clearly
marked with our company logo. From May to November the ponchos are
issued only when asked for as there is less chance of rain. The
ponchos issued free of charge and collected at the end of the
trek. During the dry season we recommend that the porters take
cheap plastic ponchos which cost just US$1 which is well within
the budget of each porter.
Walking boots - The Porters Law
requires trekking companies to provide their porters with adequate
footwear. This is a somewhat loose requirement as many companies
have their own definition as to what "adequate" means. At the
beginning of 2006 Peru Treks purchased 100 pairs of quality
walking shoes for our porters. The shoes are similar to sports
shoes and have a strong flexible sole. After consulting with the
porters this was the type of shoe that they wanted. The porters
agreed to pay a 25% contribution towards the cost of the shoe
rather than settle for a completely free cheaper design. We were
in agreement with since if they paid some of costs themselves then
they would more likely look after the shoes. Although we have
issued all of our porters with shoes we have not insisted that
they use them at all times on the Inca Trail. This is because
after many years of working in their farms wearing just rubber
sandals some of the porters feet are quite splayed and too wide to
fit into a standard walking shoe. Due to the thick skin on their
feet their is a high risk of fungal infections if they use
enclosed boots all the time where their feet become humid.
There are many porters on the Inca
Trail that use rubber sandals without socks. Although in icy
conditions I am sure they feel the cold, they certainly do not
feel the cold to the same extent as we do. However after having
introduced the shoes early in 2006 few of the porters actually use
them. Most of them prefer to use them only for football!!
Backpacks - In 2004 we designed
and tested a metal-framed backpack for our porters. As a result of
feedback from the porters we have undertaken several design
improvements during the last 2 years and we now have 50 backpacks
in use. All the porters who want to use a backpack should now have
access to one. Metal-framed backpacks with padded waist straps
help distribute the loads onto the hips and reduce strain and
long-term damage to the back. The design of the pack is "patent
free" and available to all other trekking companies to use. Since
the beginning of 2006, backpacks have been provided to ALL of our
porters, either the metal-framed type more suitable for heavy
loads such as gas bottles or cutlery or a standard backpack
similar to those used by most trekkers.
6. Payment on time
Having decided to pay a porter a fair
wage it is important that a porter receives his payment on time.
Peru Treks & Adventure pay our porters on a weekly basis.
Sometimes a porter is too busy on the Inca Trail to come to the
office so we pay the porter's wife providing he has left us
written instructions to do so. All porters must provide us with a
proper receipt for the full amount paid. These receipts are kept
in our office and are freely available to trekkers who want to
check on the wages that we are paying.
7. Life / Accident Insurance
Since the beginning of January 2006
Peru Treks has insured ALL of our porters for life & accident
insurance. The insurance cover is 24 hrs all year round not just
whilst on the Inca Trail itself. This has been something that we
have been wanting to do for many years but a suitable insurance
policy did not exists until the end of 2005. A new law came into
effect in March 2006 that requires all trekking companies to
provide such insurance cover and we are pleased to see that most
trekking companies are now complying with this.
8. Projects to help porters communities
We have decided that paying our
porters a basic rate of 100 Soles for the Inca trail is a fair
price and increasing their wage does not bring about any real
benefits to their community. In fact, from experience, paying
higher wages has led to some of the porters drinking more alcohol.
Receiving wages greater than the village school teacher and wages
almost four times greater than a farmer may also have a
destabilising effect on the local economy. Instead we prefer to
put a large percentage of our profits directly into helping the
community. This is best done in the form of helping schools mainly
in the provision of basic supplies such as pens, crayons, paper
etc. We have made over 50 such school equipment distributions in the last 3 years mainly
to porters communities near Ollantaytambo, Pisac, Lares Valley, Chinchero,
San Salvador and Ausangate. In March 2005 we also built a new school in the village of Checaspampa which is a small community in the mountains near
Ausangate. People from this community are mainly shepherds looking
after llamas and alpacas. We are committed to building a school
every year and are currently involved in a project to build a
primary school near Ccattca on the road between Cusco and
Ausangate. For more details of our projects please visit our
Community Projects page.
NEXT >>
Community Projects >>
The information provided above is specific to
Peru Treks and is original material. The work is subject to copyright and
cannot be reproduced in part or in whole by any other company without
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