A question everyone has and few operators answer directly. Here are actual numbers.
Nobody wants to ask this and everybody wants to know. Most operators answer vaguely. We will not.
Is it compulsory?
No. It is customary, widely expected, and a meaningful part of income for guides and camp staff. Nobody will be rude to you if you do not tip. But it matters.
Your driver-guide
The person you spend every day with, who finds the animals and manages the whole trip. As a broad guide, most guests give in the region of US$20–30 per vehicle per day — not per person. A couple travelling for a week would be somewhere around US$150–200 in total.
Give it at the end, directly, in an envelope if you want the moment to be less awkward.
Camp staff
Most camps have a communal staff box, and it is shared among the people you never meet — kitchen, laundry, maintenance. Something in the region of US$10–15 per guest per night into the box is a normal figure.
If someone has looked after you personally and exceptionally, a separate note to them directly is perfectly acceptable.
On Kilimanjaro
Different scale, because the crew is large — guides, assistant guides, a cook and porters, often fifteen or more people for two trekkers. Tipping is usually done as a ceremony on the last morning and pooled.
Budget meaningfully for it and ask your operator for their recommended breakdown before you go. Ours is written down and we hand it to you at the briefing.
Practical points
- Bring US dollars in cash. Notes must be dated 2009 or later — older ones are frequently refused outright by banks and businesses.
- Bring a mix of denominations. Nobody can change a hundred at a bush camp.
- You do not tip in restaurants at safari-camp rates; ordinary restaurant practice applies in towns.
The thing worth saying
Tips should be a bonus on top of a proper wage, not a substitute for one. Ask your operator what they pay their guides and porters. A company that answers straightforwardly is telling you something; a company that changes the subject is telling you something too.
