Tipping is not a local custom in Tanzania; it is common only amongst tourists and expatriates who live in the country. Giving monetary gifts to friends or relatives is common, however, both in the city and in the countryside. As tourism is growing in the country locals who work in the tourism industry are getting used to the notion of tipping and sometimes even expect a tip from clients.
Tips will vary depending on the length and complexity of the trip, the number of staff on the trip and the number of clients on the trip. Generally groups like to meet together before the end of the trek to discuss how much they would like to tip each staff member based on their individual trek experience. See our suggestions for tipping.
Tipping is an expected and highly appreciated component of your Mt. Kilimanjaro trek. It should be an expression of satisfaction with those who have assisted you throughout the expedition. Tipping is one of the most direct ways that you can have a positive economic impact within the East African community. Although it may not be customary for you, it is of considerable significance to your guides, assistants, cooks, and porters, as an important source of and supplement to their income.
During the welcome meeting the CEO can confirm to the travelers the total number of guides and cook but not porters, the total number of porters will only be confirmed once all the luggage and equipment are checked by Kilimanjaro national park rangers at the gate. Normally 2-3 porters per hiker.
You are not introduced to the porters at the gate because there is no enough time and when you arrive at the first hut or camp on Day 1 the staff is busy and travelers are tired. On Day 2 of the hike travelers will have enough time to meet everyone when they arrive at the hut or camp.
Upon completion of your climb it is ideal to have a tipping ceremony with the crew at the last meal on the mountain. Tips should be placed in a group envelope and a member of the climbing team can hand the envelope directly to the Lead Guide because there are many people to share the tips with. It is encourage announcing the amount in front of the group to ensure each crew member knows the total amount.
A method that’s popular is for everybody to contribute 10% of the total cost of their trek towards tips. So if you paid US$2000 for your trek, you should pay US$200 collectively for your crew. (If there were only one or two of you, it would be better to pay slightly more than 10 %).
A realistic amount for a trip of 5-7 days length would be between 200-300 USD per climber for tips. Here is a suggested amount per trip:
5 days on Mountain, common tip amount = $200-250
6 days on Mountain, common tip amount = $225-275
7 days on Mountain, common tip amount = $250-300
***Please note that these are only guidelines and tips can be based on personal opinion. If paying each crew member individually, you can use the following chart as a guideline:
Tipping guide in USD (or equivalent in local currency) per group per day spent on the mountain:
Per Chief Guide: US$10-15 per day
Per Assistant Guide: US$8-10 per day
Per Cook: US$7-$10 per day
Per Porter: US$5-8 per day
Gifts in addition are also appreciated – e.g. warm clothing or footwear.
These are mere guidelines, and you may wish to alter them if you feel, for example, a certain porter is deserving of more than his normal share, or if your trek was particularly difficult. Without the porters you cannot be able to reach the summit. Because porters are the one who carry your luggage up to the mountain the porters carry camping gears. The porters they have responsibility of setting up your tents, preparing your meals and being mindful of your safety. They are the one they involve in hard working they are suffer than anyone on the trip. They ensure that your wish of reach to the top of Africa is achieved, want to see you make it to the top of mountain.
All tips presented when climbing Kilimanjaro should not be dependent on whether you made it to the summit. The team you have choose should be relate with your tip. Your tips should reflect whether your supporting team were professional and had your safety and best interests in mind from start to finish
These are ceremonies which are being cerebrated after finishing or returning from the mountain. These ceremonies are very important because makes customer feel happy comfortable, and enjoyable. Not all these advantages but also these ceremonies make clients remember your services and return to climb with you on another time. Kilimanjaro tipping ceremony is an important and fun custom that happens at the end of every Kilimanjaro climb. Here people are cerebrating with a lot of fun through dancing cultural dancer and other many fun. Climbers give their mountain crew tips and these are an important source of supplementary income. Your mountain crew is the team that accompanies you throughout your Kilimanjaro climb.
These ceremonies are not involved in climbing Kilimanjaro price because are ceremonies which prepared by the tour company itself in order to make the clients come again and travelling with then. Others customers or clients ask if does tipping included in climbing price but the answer is no because Tipping is a very cultural thing on Kilimanjaro.
The reason why tipping ceremonies does not involved in price of mountain climbing these ceremonies are not included when clients booking because is not his/her goal of coming Africa in Tanzania. If we include the tips in the price, we will be accused of overcharging the clients for tips and underpaying the tips to the crew. The other reason is tips vary depending on group size. The company is prepared the ceremony according to number of people or clients after returning from the mountain.
Tipping ceremonies are not compulsory because are cerebrating after you returning from the mountain so if you have a time after finishing g your holiday it is your choice if you are remaining to cerebrate or you choose to go. Is the ceremony made by tour Operator Company itself to make the clients when returning in Kilimanjaro to book for them.
This is your choice as how you care your porters and guides. If the manager of the company decide to do also tipping ceremony to his porters and guides it will also be good choice. Tipping is not always involved only custom but also the porters, guides, assistant guides, cookers and other staffs on group of climbers.
These ceremonies are also involves the activity of giving monetary gifts to friends or relatives in a group of climbers with a lot of fun and enjoyment. As tourism is growing in the country locals who work in the tourism industry are getting used to the notion of tipping and sometimes even expect a tip from clients.
Always they prepare the tips but they check if the group depending on the length and complexity of the trip, the number of staff on the trip and the number of clients on the trip. However many company which providing tipping ceremonies to their clients are more check the number of group or the number of trekkers on such trip. These groups are meeting together after the end of their trip. The group discusses how much they would like to tip each staff member based on their individual trek experience.
Ordinarily the sum of all the contributed tips is collected together and presented to the chief guide at the gate when leaving the National Park. The guide then divides this amount himself amongst the crew. As will probably have been inferred from the above, it is not necessary to tip all the staff individually; indeed doing so will remove the guide’s prerogative to reward workers that only he knows have worked especially hard, often behind the scenes away from the attention of climbers
The best way would be to collect the tips from the whole group, and then divide it amongst the whole crew. Tips can be placed in individual envelopes and the climbers can hand them directly to each crew member. You can also prepare two envelopes. One for the guide, assistant guides and cooks. You can hand this envelope to the lead guide. The other envelope is for the porters. You can hand this over to the porter’s representative.
This is depending on the type of tour operator you choose and how they arrange their budget of tipping their crew. Where a number of climber or member is in a large group of eight climbers each climber will usually choose to contribute some amount of money. But the exact amount being dependent on a number of people involved. The tipping ceremony also involves the climbers’ own culture of tipping like Americans tip, French tip and others cultural of different countries.
With smaller groups, the overall staff to climber ratio is increased and so climbers tend to tip more, but since our per climber climb costs increase as the booking group becomes smaller, the relationship of scale between the amount tipped and the amount paid for the climb, still remains roughly the same, with each climber in a group of just a pair climbing
There are some tour companies which provide clothing and equipment for their crew like t-shirt which have a company label. It is more important to consider donating your clothing and equipment to the climb team in addition to tipping them.
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