Tipping is anticipated and customary on Kilimanjaro. Many people may be surprised by this, particularly if they are from nations and cultures where tipping is either nonexistent or not very common.
In addition, the gratuity is more than it was on any other trips you may have taken.
This is due to the fact that trekking on Kilimanjaro requires a large crew, in contrast to most other climbs across the world.
The support personnel for a party of six trekkers for example will comprise of 23 people, including porters, cooks, assistant guides, and senior guides.
Why should I tip?
We pay our employees more than the minimum wage. But in order to maintain a reasonable standard of living, the Kilimanjaro staff depends on your kindness to continue providing exceptional service.
The American-style tipping system is used in the service industry in East Africa.
Essentially, a gratuity is not only an award for exceedingly attentive service or diligent labor; rather, it is a much-anticipated sum meant to close the pay gap between the crew’s meager salary and the steadily rising cost of living in East African cities and towns.
We ask that tips be included in the overall cost of the Kilimanjaro climbing tour, in addition to the charges of the climb, the airfare, and any necessary gear rentals.
Why is a tip not included in the cost?
Tipping is deeply ingrained in Kilimanjaro culture. Over the past 20 years, tipping customs have developed to their present state.
We are unable to defy tradition and include gratuities in the rates for a number of compelling reasons.
We give our crew members more than the minimum wage each day. But after a certain point, the crew members much rather get paid in tips rather than as wages because they may keep more of their earnings lawfully that way.
We are unable to raise our pricing to cover tipping and related taxes and expenses and still draw in business by breaking the 99.9% of operators’ tipping conventions, especially considering how price-competitive the industry is.
Our staff would not be happy if we were to substantially raise our pricing in order to avoid tipping, which would go against the widely accepted custom of leaving tips on Kilimanjaro.
As a result, we would experience a decline in bookings, which would mean fewer work hours and lower salaries for all employees.
In order to maximize the team’s service delivery, tips are essential. Tips serve as a check on complacency since they directly tie the performance of the workforce to the incentives they get.
A rewards-based wage is more motivating than one that is fixed.
Can I pay my tips in advance?
Sadly, at this time, it is not feasible.
If the tour operators are engaged in the process, even if it were possible, please remember that around 50% of what you pay may be subtracted from what the crew receives due to various taxes and other charges.
Therefore, we would rather not participate in the tipping process.
Even if I failed to reach the summit, should I still tip?
When you begin the trek, the crew dates are reserved for your whole itinerary, therefore we advise you to budget your gratuities appropriately.
Client failure to summit is frequently attributed to AMS, not the caliber of the crew’s work. Whether you have reached the summit or not shouldn’t influence how much you tip the Kilimanjaro guides and staff for their excellent service.
However, if you feel that our team hasn’t treated you well, you are free to tip whatever you believe is appropriate and are not required to do so.
However, do provide us with your input in these situations so we can better understand what went wrong and plan for the future.
Is it okay to tip more or less than the recommended amount?
Should you consider the service to be outstanding, we recommend leaving a tip up to the maximum amount specified in the guidelines.
Generally speaking, we advise against tipping much more than the upper limit of the suggested guideline because excessive tipping might encourage crews to get dependent on unsustainable tips and develop unrealistic expectations about tipping for subsequent trips.
We recommend tipping in accordance with the rules if you felt the service was good.
Finally, feel free to tip whatever you feel is appropriate for the service your crew provided if you felt the service did not live up to your expectations.
Please provide specific input on the areas in which the crew fell short of your expectations so that we can examine and correct the issues.
Our guidelines for tips
Kilimanjaro guides will be very appreciative if you tip according to the recommendations provided below, while higher gratuities are always welcome.
The sums shown below apply to the entire group. For example, every day the entire group tips USD 15 to the cook. Thus, the group as a whole will split these expenditures.
- Senior guide : $18 – 25 per day from the whole group
- Assistant guide : $13 – 20 per day from the whole group
- Cook : $10 – 15 per day from the whole group
- Waiter : $8 – 12 per day from the whole group
- Porter : $6 – 10 per day from the whole group
- Summit porter : $10 – 15 per day from the whole group
- Toilet crew : $18 – 12 per day from the whole group
How to give tips to the crew?
The best course of action would be to gather all of the tips from the group and distribute them to the entire team.
The climbers can put tips in separate envelopes and give them to each member of the crew individually.
Two envelopes can also be prepared. A single one for the chefs, assistant guides, and guides. This envelope can be given to the lead guide.
The porters should use the other envelope. You can pass this along to the porter’s agent.
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