Before
climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, most climbers often start worrying about the porter
and guide’s tip before the climb starts. They want to know how much it will
affect their budget, and to make sure they are paying a good tip. Moonlight
Tours Expedition philosophy is just like service in a restaurant, a
climbing tip should only be given if you received good service from us. A
typical porter on an seven day climb should receive around a $40 tip; a cook
could receive about $80; and a head guide could receive $100 or more. These
tips are divided by the total number of people in the group, not per person.
A
general estimate, for your budget, per Kilimanjaro climber runs from about $175
to $250 per person depending upon the following factors: the number of people
in your group, the number of the porters, number of guides, cooks and sometimes
the route. It’s impossible to predict an exact tip in advance because it really
depends upon how much gear is brought up the mountain and how much weight is
brought up the mountain. There is no a de facto standard of tipping for all
companies, it’s only a recommendations from organizations, NGOs and the
Tanzanian government. Some higher-end companies have seen tips in excess of
these recommendations. Some budget companies have seen tips lower than this.
A couple things to remember when tipping
Kilimanjaro porters:
Tip
directly to the porters, not the guides.
Bring
a packet of letter size envelopes to distribute the tip
Determine
a tip for each component of your climbing group: the porters, cooks, assistant
guides, and the lead guide.
Distribute
it on the final morning of the descent usually at Mweka Camp or the Park Gate
Tip
in either Tanzanian Shillings or US Dollars
The
average Tanzanian makes $40 per month. A $40 tip for difficult work for many
days is a great wage and supports the local economy.
Generally speaking, an example of a tips break down
like this:
Porters $5 per day per porter
Cooks $8 to $10 per cook
Assistant Guides $8 to $10 per guide
Kilimanjaro Guides $20 per day per guide
Safari Guides $20 per day and up per guide
In
other words, if you had four porters, 2 assistant guides and 1 lead guide. The
total trip would be around $420.
4
porters X $40 = $160 Total
2
assistant guides X $80 = $160
1
lead guide X $100 = $100
Total
= $420 / Number of people in the group
Please Note: Tip amounts listed for Kilimanjaro and safari are per group, not
per individual traveler. For instance, if four people are on safari, they
should each contribute $5/day if they want to tip the driver.