Tipping Advice for an African Safari

Wherever you may travel with us, we will always ensure that you get the very best of service; service that is most certainly worth a tip.
We are often asked by our clients how much one should offer as a gratuity - for lodge and camp staff, for drivers, and for your expert guides.
It can be somewhat confusing, but is also something that one should plan for in advance. We have compiled this short video to help you understand, who, when and how much to tip as you journey throughout Africa.
There is no right or wrong amount to tip, and it can often be a personal matter influenced by your own experiences. However, there are recommended amounts that we like to suggest to clients as base rates for the staff you encounter on your journey.
The following tip suggestions are per-person rates in US dollars, with tipping not required for children under the age of 18.
DOWNLOAD OUR HELPFUL TIPPING GUIDE HERE:
www.rothschildsafaris.com/wp-...

[@canaldopantanal]

👏👏

[@omitnl]

Ofcourse they earn it but it’s weird if you come from a non tipping country.. I mean we are currently looking for a Safari and we know it will cost us almost 10K voor 13 days.. that’s without the tipping so it means we get to spend another 300 bucks in total or more.. wish they include it in the pakkage

[@erem.5531]

Gracias

[@davidsewell2058]

One thing I would add is always tip in local currency. American dollars (or any European currency for that matter) may be OK in major towns where staff can exchange them fairly easily, but are of little value out in more rural places where the nearest bank may be many miles away

[@davidct2406]

I remember going to India where some tourist were giving the wild animals bits of food until one of our group pointed out that they shouldn’t as the animals get to expect it and can become aggressive when others don’t give them food. Fair point I believe. This American culture of tipping is having the same effect with humans. Some have already commented here the attitude of certain restaurant staff and taxi drivers who are not given a big enough tip. I even read of one occasion where a restaurant waiter in America ran after a customer who hadn’t left in his opinion, a big enough tip and threw it back at him, shouting abuse in the process. American owned cruise ships (of which there are many) have a fixed daily gratuity charge added to your bill, albeit you can modify this at your discretion. On a trip to Egypt this year a member of the staff at Luxor airport pressed the button to summon the lift for me and as the door opened asked for money for doing it. Conversely, in Japan, tipping is not expected and may even be seen as being rude. Has tipping become a culture of ‘thank you for going above and beyond what I would have expected’ or ‘look at me, I’ve got more money than you’.

[@zen_bush]

Hi I'm a safari Ranger and I just wanted to say my side of the story we really wish you didn't have to tip us it should all be included but in South Africa my homeland safari rangers are paid minimum wage and work long hours for on average 6 weeks straight no off days so the lodges have decided that in order to get the rangers to perform at the best insensitive must be put in place which is kinda sad if your curious a standard beginning salary for a safari Ranger in South Africa is around 300 US dollars per month often not including meals so all in all you end up with 150 US dollars at the end of the month so thank you for all the help and this is why it's apriciated

[@carolyndavis9841]

This is very helpful information. Thank you.

[@sternenfee9046]

This crazy 😮 Americans you tip way too much …. If you pay 1000USD or more per day for your Safari lodge it is Nonsens to tip to everybody. You pay for the service already. American Services tend to pay their staff only a minimum wage and let the customers pay them extra. I like the Japanese or German way were tipping is not in the culture. And in Afrika you also spoil the people with over-tipping!! This shows no respect to the welcoming service oriented service society in Africa. Tipping should be a must it should come with respect an intentionally high tip doesn’t show more respect it only gives a reason to the companies to underpay their staff increase the profits. We only give a dollar when we were served accordingly. A tip in any value should not be expected !! If the quality of the service is related to the amounted tip something is wrong (like in the US were waiters spit on you if you do not pay a high tip or Taxi driver shout on you if you only round the bill by 1.5USD … this habit prevents us to go into restaurants in the US!!! We aren’t penurious but we want to decide if the service had more value than expected or not.

[@dong249]

l’m sorry but I agree with the criticisms, this kind of behavior is becoming wild especially when you factor in the sheer amount of money you are charged for each night. I believe that -for example -tipping as you say 15/20 usd per person per day for the safari guide is really too much considering that they are already the best paid personnel, it means on average 100 usd per day. This things in certain places are spoiling other workers, everyone wants to be in the industry because at those tipping rates they would do more than a doctor for example. Come on, this is the typical attitude and advice that turns your vacation in a tipping stress mumbo jumbo, letting few of us think that all this tipping advice is instrumental to just unload some costs to the client. My 2 cents tip…

[@johnofdebar4071]

100USD for a safari guide a day?
Fyi, I climbed the Kilimanjaro 2 months ago, and guide and porters (the people who carry food, tents, assemble and disassemble them to up to 5000m altitude) get paid meager 10 Dollars a day. they are dependent on these tips.
And if 10 dollars a tip a day is too much for a safari, why dont you just stay at home and save this money

[@dong249]

@@johnofdebar4071 ready before answering... I was referring just to tips when I said 100 a day for a Safari guide in upscale lodge not your porters that probably deserve It...And try to be less aggressive or stay at at home tdc.

[@johnofdebar4071]

@@dong249 maybe the underton was a bit agressive, as tbh honest it is mind bogling to me that people actually complain about giving tips to people in Africa, as, as already mentioned in my previous post, what they earn is extremely low, and if you complain about safari costs, that is ceratainly NOT because of labor costs. and that is why nobody should actually complain about tips to service personnel on safari

[@jimbird963]

I always wonder what the safari makes off these laborers ❌💀