MEET OUR Mountain Guide:
Emanuel Geofrey Mbuya

I was born in Arusha in a village called Sanawari, where my parents used to live before they moved back to the small village of Msea in Marangu when I was just two years old. From six years old, I went to the Marimeni Primary School until, in 1997, I passed the exam required to attend the Mwika Secondary School, where I stayed until 2001. At the age of 15 years, when I was still in secondary education, my father had an unfortunate accident. At that time, I could not afford to pay for my school fees, but I was determined not to quit high school because I wanted to keep pushing myself to study. Instead, I tried to find a way to fund the school fees, as my father was still in the hospital with his hospital fees to pay.

To solve this problem, I decided to meet up with my uncle, a mountain guide, and ask him if I could climb Mount Kilimanjaro with him during my holidays, and he agreed. However, my mother refused, saying I was too young, and despite getting some relatives to try and persuade her, she still refused. Nevertheless, I decided to go on the mountain without her permission, climbing via the Machame Route. This was very, very tough. I was young, and at that time, there was no limitation on the weight that a porter was allowed to carry – sometimes, this would be more than 30kg. Luckily, I managed to complete this trek, and I came back safely. When I returned home, my mother cried when she saw how tired I was.

Finally, she relented and accepted that I should continue to climb the mountain. Further treks undertaken during the school holidays helped me to get enough money to pay for my father’s hospital fees. It also helped me to pay for my school fees.

When I was in the fourth year of secondary school, I met a German female in one of the trekking groups who inquired why I was doing this tough job at such a young age. When I explained to her that I had to do this job to get some money for my fees, she was so sad, and at the end of the trip, she insisted on paying my school fees and the rest of my father’s hospital bill. He had undergone surgery, which I could pay for due to the help I got from the German guest. After I finished high school, I did not pursue any further education but instead went to Arusha to find another job. This wasn’t easy, so I decided to find another relative in Arusha who was also a guide. With his help, I started hiking again as a porter in 2003.

I saved enough money for the fees to attend Mount Meru Wildlife College in 2004/2005. After that, I heard a training course was being conducted at Kilimanjaro National Park, and I managed to join that. Luckily, I was chosen as a mountain guide and passed the course in 2006. That is my story of how I became a mountain guide. Since then, I have worked with many different, small companies, but then I decided to join Easy Travel and Tours because it is a company that treats its crews exceptionally well and also pays them very well compared to those companies I had worked with before. I am proud to be a mountain guide for Easy Travel and Tours.