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Kilimanjaro

FAQ about Trips, Expeditions & Safari

Below are the Frequently Asked Questions about the Kilimanjaro and Safari trips

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Kilimanjaro Trips FAQ:

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About the 7summits.com trips: terms & conditions, useful info and more : How much should I tip the Kilimanjaro and safari guides, cooks and porters?  

Q: How much should I tip the guides, cooks and porters after our Kilimanjaro and safari trip?

A:


First of all, tipping is not compulsory but expected; the amounts below are given as a guideline only. Poor service should result in lower tips; serious circumstances should be reported with our staff.

Also tips should not depend if you summit or not, but on the effort the personnel has made to make your trip as enjoyable as possible.
Tips in kind are always welcome (hats, t-shirts, shoes, backpacks etc) as an addition to cash tips. What you consider old and useless might be better than the porters own...

These are the recommended amounts per Guide/Porter/cook, per day. So realize that the tipping amounts will be higher on longer trips (more days), or with smaller teams (as you will have relatively more personnel per person to carry the fixed gear, such as kitchen/gear, dining tent etc):

Staff

Tip in USD/day

Porters

6-7

Safari or Mountain Guide

15-20

Cook / Assistant Guide

10-12


As mentioned above: these are standard amounts, if you feel the service was terrible, you should give less, if it was outstanding (which it should be :), than you could think about extra’s either, in cash or in kind.

(These amounts are per group, not per climber)

Normally there will be about 3-4 porters per hiker, 1 guide and one cook per 8 hikers, and 1 assistant guide per 4 hikers (assistant guides can be porters or cooks as well).
Longer trips (8-10 days) or with a Crater camp will have more porters as more food needs to be carried. Reserve about $250-350 tipping money per climber for an average climb.

These are the recommended amounts per Guide/Porter/cook, per day. So realize that the tipping amounts will be higher on longer trips (more days), or with smaller teams (as you will have relatively more personnel per person to carry the fixed gear, such as kitchen/gear, dining tent etc):

 

Note that some other operators might mention that a regular amount is 10% of your total trip costs, but that is based on their much higher prices. On average our groups tip about 15% on our expeditions.

We recommend not to exceed the following amounts except in special circumstances; they are averages (for the whole group) and are based on 6days (Marangu) or 7 days (Machame), longer trips should result in proportionally higher tips.

Machame and other 7 day routes
- Guide: $110-150
- Assistant: $70-85
- Cook: $70-85
- Porters (each): $45-60

Please add the daily amounts for extra days (8, 9 or 10 days climbs: Porters U$D 7, Mountain Guide U$D 15, Cook / Assistant Guide U$D 10

Safari (per group/car):
- Guide, cook, about $15 per day
- assistant guide/cook $10 per day

Let the guide know how much you are going to tip him and the porters/cooks on the evening before the last day of your trip, even though you might only pay out the last day. Do not react to requests for tipping during the first days and report this to the head guide.

PLease note: Just as much as negotiating is part of the way of life in Tanzania, it will be on the mountain.
If you stick to these guidelines then the guides will not be dissappointed, even though they will appear to be when you tell them what tip you are going to give.

It's just their way of trying to get something extra. It might very well leave a very uneasy feeling, especially if you have little experience with haggling and negotiation in developing countries, but try not to let that get you down!
Rich tourists have 'spoilt the market' by giving enormous tips, so who can blame the guides for trying again?

Again, the size of the tip depends only on how good you felt about the service, how much they have done extra for you, how much you have given them in goods during or after the trip etc.
Give them what they deserve, but do not spoil it for less fortunate climbers.

The total number of personnel will often only be determined when leaving, depending on the amount of luggage etc. This is no problem as there are always porters on stand-by and the guides know who to trust. Smaller teams (1-4 persons) will have relatively more porters per person (3-4, depending on trip length), than larger groups (about 3 porters/person).

It will be easy for the guide and porters (and yourself) to divide the tips properly if you bring banknotes in low denominations, so bring many small bills instead of a few large ones.

Also you might want to give some tips to the porters in the Hotel and other places off the mountain, so it is good to have very small bills for that, either $1 or small Tanzanian Shillings notes.

 

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