Mawenzi Adventures

 

TANZANIA TIPPING GUIDELINES

Like any other country, Tanzania has its own habits when it comes to tipping. In day-to-day life, it’s common to give a small tip when going to a restaurant or a bar but people’s salaries don’t depend on tips. In tourism however, this is different, and salaries are always considered as a combination of a fixed salary and a tip. We pay all our crew members some of the highest fixed salaries in the industry and in order for them to reach their full salary, it’s important that you add the necessary tip. 

We don’t add tips to the price of our packages as it would increase the amount you’d have to pay. If we receive the money and have to pay it as a salary, there’s a lot of extra costs involved.

Below we’ll give you our guidelines for how to tip our crew members to give you an idea of what’s expected. 

 

SAFARI TIPPING GUIDELINES

On all safaris except camping safaris, you’ll only be accompanied by a safari guide. There’s 1 guide per max. 6 or 7 people as that’s the maximum capacity of a safari car. The recommended tip for a safari guide is 25 USD per day, to be divided by all group members. 

On camping safaris, there’s also a cook that travels with you. He prepares your meals but also sets up your tents while you’re exploring the parks. There’s normally also 1 cook per car. The recommended tip for a cook is 15 USD per day, to be divided by all group members.

 

DAY TRIP & EXCURSION TIPPING GUIDELINES

For day trips, the number of crew members that will accompany you depends on the destination and the planned activities. Please have a look at each itinerary to have specific recommendations. 

In general, we recommend a tip of 25 USD per day for your guide and 15 USD per day in case you’re accompanied by a driver (eg. for our Hotsprings day trip). 

 

TRANSPORT TIPPING GUIDELINES

The appropriate tip for a driver depends on the duration of the drive and – in case of an airport pick-up – waiting time. Please keep in mind drivers sometimes wait outside the airport for hours. We recommend a tip of 5 – 15 USD.

 

KILIMANJARO TIPPING GUIDELINES

For any Kilimanjaro climb, there’s a relatively large crew and each crew member has their own function with specific tipping guidelines. Here’s our general recommendations for each crew member, following the guidelines of the Kilimanjaro Porters Association Project. 

 

  • Guides: 20 – 25 USD per day per guide
  • Assistant guides: 15 – 20 USD per day per assistant guide
  • Cook: 10 – 15 USD per day per cook
  • Waiter, tent crew and summit porter: 8 – 12 USD per day per crew member (these crew members are porters with extra duties)
  • Porter: 6 – 10 USD per day per porter
 

All amounts are to be divided by all group members.

So how many crew members will accompany you on climb?

MARANGU ROUTE

The amount of crew members per climber depends on the number of climbers in your group.

1 CLIMBER

  • 1 guide
  • 1 cook
  • 2-3 porters
  • 1 waiter
  • 1 summit porter

2 CLIMBERS

  • 1 guide
  • 1 assistant guide
  • 1 cook
  • 4-5 porters
  • 1 waiter
  • 1 summit porter

3 CLIMBERS

  • 1 guide
  • 1 assistant guide
  • 1 cook
  • 6-7 porters
  • 1 waiter
  • 1 summit porter

4 CLIMBERS

  • 1 guide
  • 1 assistant guide
  • 1 cook
  • 7-8 porters
  • 1 waiter
  • 2 summit porters

5 CLIMBERS

  • 1 guide
  • 2 assistant guides
  • 1 cook
  • 8-9 porters
  • 1 waiter
  • 2 summit porters

6 CLIMBERS

  • 1 guide
  • 2 assistant guides
  • 1 cook
  • 9-10 porters
  • 1 waiter
  • 2 summit porters

All numbers are average estimations. Exact numbers vary based on the length of your climb (Marangu can be climbed in 5 or 6 days), the weight of your luggage, the exact weight of the food etc. We buy fresh food depending on what’s available so the total weight can vary. 

MACHAME ROUTE

The amount of crew members per climber depends on the number of climbers in your group.

Contrary to Marangu route, Machame route offers accommodation in tents, so there will be more porters as well as tent crew.

1 CLIMBER

  • 1 guide
  • 1 cook
  • 3-4 porters
  • 1 waiter
  • 1 tent crew
  • 1 summit porter

2 CLIMBERS

  • 1 guide
  • 1 assistant guide
  • 1 cook
  • 5-6 porters
  • 1 waiter
  • 1 tent crew
  • 1 summit porter

3 CLIMBERS

  • 1 guide
  • 1 assistant guide
  • 1 cook
  • 7-8 porters
  • 1 waiter
  • 1 tent crew
  • 1 summit porter

4 CLIMBERS

  • 1 guide
  • 1 assistant guide
  • 1 cook
  • 8-9 porters
  • 1 waiter
  • 1 tent crew
  • 2 summit porters

5 CLIMBERS

  • 1 guide
  • 2 assistant guides
  • 1 cook
  • 9-10 porters
  • 1 waiter
  • 1 tent crew
  • 2 summit porters

6 CLIMBERS

  • 1 guide
  • 2 assistant guides
  • 1 cook
  • 10-11 porters
  • 1 waiter
  • 1 tent crew
  • 2 summit porters

All numbers are average estimations. Exact numbers vary based on the length of your climb (Machame can be climbed in 6 or 7 days), the weight of your luggage, the exact weight of the food etc. We buy fresh food depending on what’s available so the total weight can vary. 

LEMOSHO ROUTE

The amount of crew members per climber depends on the number of climbers in your group.

Like Machame route, Lemosho route offers accommodation in tents, so there will be more porters as well as tent crew.

1 CLIMBER

  • 1 guide
  • 1 cook
  • 4-5 porters
  • 1 waiter
  • 1 tent crew
  • 1 summit porter

2 CLIMBERS

  • 1 guide
  • 1 assistant guide
  • 1 cook
  • 6-7 porters
  • 1 waiter
  • 1 tent crew
  • 1 summit porter

3 CLIMBERS

  • 1 guide
  • 1 assistant guide
  • 1 cook
  • 8-9 porters
  • 1 waiter
  • 1 tent crew
  • 1 summit porter

4 CLIMBERS

  • 1 guide
  • 1 assistant guide
  • 1 cook
  • 9-10 porters
  • 1 waiter
  • 1 tent crew
  • 2 summit porters

5 CLIMBERS

  • 1 guide
  • 2 assistant guides
  • 1 cook
  • 10-11 porters
  • 1 waiter
  • 1 tent crew
  • 2 summit porters

6 CLIMBERS

  • 1 guide
  • 2 assistant guides
  • 1 cook
  • 11-12 porters
  • 1 waiter
  • 1 tent crew
  • 2 summit porters

All numbers are average estimations. Exact numbers vary based on the length of your climb (Lemosho can be climbed in 7 or 8 days), the weight of your luggage, the exact weight of the food etc. We buy fresh food depending on what’s available so the total weight can vary. 

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Wildlife safari - 4 days 3 night, Lake Manyara or Tarangire National Park, Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro conservation area / crater, Tanzania - big five
Wildlife safari - 4 days 3 night, Lake Manyara or Tarangire National Park, Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro conservation area / crater, Tanzania - big five
Wildlife safari - 4 days 3 night, Lake Manyara or Tarangire National Park, Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro conservation area / crater, Tanzania - big five