- King Mufasa Expeditions
- Tipping Guidline
Tipping Guidline
Tipping culture and its origins in Tanzania.
Tanzania is not a wealthy country, and travelers from Western countries may find local wages to be low. Because of this, it’s traditional to tip your safari crew, mountain guides, and others who help you during your trip. In fact, tipping is expected in Tanzania, and not leaving a tip can make the crew or service workers feel unappreciated.
Why is tipping so important?
Guides, cooks, and other staff rely heavily on tips to supplement their income, as their wages are often low. While we strive to ensure our crew receives fair wages, paying better than the market average, tips play an important role in supporting their livelihood.
Tipping is a way to show gratitude and appreciation. The crew often goes above and beyond to make sure you have the best experience, working tirelessly to meet your needs. For example, on a hike, porters might carry small backpacks that belong to clients or even help carry clients to improve their chances of reaching the summit.
Tips also motivate and encourage the crew. We, as employers, know that the best guides and chefs will often leave for better-paying opportunities if they can earn more in tips. By understanding this, we hope you see how important tips are in ensuring your crew’s commitment and the overall quality of your experience.
How to make sure your tip gets where you intend it to?
It’s best to give your tip directly to the person it’s meant for. This ensures that your wishes are followed and that the right person receives the tip. If you prefer, you can put your tip in an envelope or give a group tip to be shared evenly. However, it’s important to let the crew know your intentions so that everyone receives their share as planned.
When to tip?
Most clients choose to tip at the end of the safari, which makes sense since the tip is usually based on your overall satisfaction with the crew’s service.
Note: Why doesn’t King Mufasa Expeditions add a surcharge to the trip price to cover tips?
Tipping in Tanzania is tax-free, and adding it to the trip price would make it subject to an 18% VAT. This would also mean that the tips are considered official income for the crew, which would then be taxed as income, reducing the amount the crew receives or increasing the tip amount for the client.
We believe in transparency and want to maintain the trust our team has in us. To avoid any confusion, we encourage clients to tip directly and recommend using envelopes for those who prefer to keep their tipping discreet.
Who to tip?
- Guides
- Cook
- Drivers
- Servers
TIPPING GUIDELINES ON A KILIMANJARO HIKE.
Unlike tipping on a safari, tipping on Kilimanjaro is not seen as a bonus or reward for exceptional service but rather a necessary payment to help subsidize the low wages that porters and guides receive.
To give you an idea of the wages, the minimum pay is 10 USD per day for a porter, 20 USD for a guide, and 15 USD for an assistant guide or mountain cook. We want to emphasize that there may be gaps between jobs, but many companies don’t even meet these minimum figures. If you pay less than 1800 USD for a 5-day trip or 1900 USD for a 6-day trip, it’s highly likely that the wage requirements are not being properly met.
Each group will have;
- Head guide
- Assistant guide
- Cook
- Porters
- Toilet porters & assistant cook (occasionally depends on package purchased or group size)
Tanzania Tipping guidelines per Group per day
- Head Guide: 20 – 25 USD.
- Assistance Guide: 12 – 20 USD.
- Cook: 12 – 20 USD.
- Assistant cook: 10- 15 USD.
- Porter: 7 – 10 USD
The Contents
- Tipping culture and its origins in Tanzania.
- Why is tipping so important?
- How to make sure your tip gets where you intend it to?
- When to tip?
- Who to tip?
- Tanzania Tipping guidelines per Group per day;
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