Tipping Guidelines For Kilimanjaro Climb And Safari

Tipping Guidelines for Kilimanjaro Climb and Safari

Before climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and travel to Tanzania for a safari, most travelers and climbers often start worrying about the porter and guide’s tip before the climb and safari starts. They want to know how much it will affect their budget, and to make sure they are paying a good tip for our valuable guides, cooks and porters. Great Minds Tour & Safaris philosophy is just like service in a restaurant, a climbing tip should only be given if you received good service from us. A typical porter on a seven day climb should receive around a $40 tip; a cook could receive about $80; and a head guide could receive $100 or more. These tips are divided by the total number of travelers in the group, not per person.

A general estimate, for your budget, per Kilimanjaro climber runs from about $175 to $250 per person depending upon the following factors: the number of people in your group, the number of the porters, number of guides, cooks and sometimes the route. It’s impossible to predict an exact tip in advance because it really depends upon how much gear is brought up the mountain and how much weight is brought up the mountain. There is not a de facto standard of tipping for all companies, it’s only a recommendation from organizations, NGOs and the Tanzanian government. Some higher-end companies have seen tips in excess of these recommendations. Some budget companies have seen tips lower than this.

 

A couple things to remember when tipping Kilimanjaro climbing and safari team:

  1. Tip directly to the team after your done with the tour.
  2. Bring a packet of letter size envelopes to distribute the tip if possible.
  3. Determine a tip for each component of your climbing group: the porters, cooks, assistant guides, and the lead guide.
  4. Distribute it on the final morning of the descent usually at Park Gate or at the hotel/office.
  5. Tip in either Tanzanian Shillings or US Dollars
  6. The average Tanzanian makes $40 per month. A $40 tip for difficult work for many days is a great wage and supports the local economy.

 

Generally speaking, an example of a tips breakdown is like this:

  1. Porters $7 – $12/porter/day
  2. Cooks $15 -$20/cook/day
  3. Assistant Guides $15 – $20/guide/day
  4. Kilimanjaro Guides $20 – $25/guide/day
  5. Safari Guides $30 – $50/guide/day

 

Please Note: Tip amounts listed for Kilimanjaro and safari are per group, not per individual traveler. For instance, if four people are on safari, they should each contribute $7.5/day when they want to tip the driver.

Enquiry Form