Before you begin your climb you will meet your guide and porters. Typically guides can speak good English, porters less so. Kilimanjaro Tipping Recommendations is standard to tip your mountain crew while Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. The choice on the amount to tip depends upon whether you arrive at the highest point, however by how well the guides, cooks, and porters served you while you were on the mountain.
You will always need at least one guide and porters to accompany you throughout the climb to carry your camping equipment, food, and other essentials. This is where you will need to know about the Kilimanjaro Tipping Guide as you will need to tip the mountain crew who accompanied you and made it easy while Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.
The standard tipping amounts are roughly $20/day for guides, $12/day for assistant guides, $12/day for cooks, and $6/day for porters. These figures are based on recommendations by the Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project (KPAP)
Tipping on Kilimanjaro – The Breakdown & Recommendations
Kilimanjaro is one of the mountains which need to be climbed with the help of Kilimanjaro Porters, guides, and cooks. These are the only mountain people who strive to make your climb successful. Hence, it becomes your responsibility to give them back for your success because of their hard work.
If you are going in a group, then each group will have one head guide and an assistant guide with porters as per the number of climbers. A cook and waiters are also assigned for a group of climbers. If you are climbing on a route with fewer itineraries, then the porter will be limited to 2 and longer itinerary will have 3 porters per climber.
You can tip for a group, individual, or simply drop it in the tipping box but be sure you are doing it as per Kilimanjaro Tipping Guidelines.
Kilimanjaro Tipping Guide – Who To Tip And Why To Tip?
The Kilimanjaro Crew is the important group of personnel who will be your support and motivate you throughout your Kilimanjaro Climb. The mountain crew is the only team that works selflessly to make sure the climbers reach the summit safely and successfully. Make sure you tip them well as per Kilimanjaro Tipping Guide.
The Mountain Crew Include:
- Chief Guide – In reality, The chief guide has a lot of experience, they are medically train and have the responsibility to oversee the entire group including the routine health checkups.
- Assistant Guide – These guides have the knowledge of Kilimanjaro and are responsible to walk with each group. If someone is not able to climb further to the top, the assistant guide will accompany them downwards.
- Cook – The cooks are responsible to prepare delicious food with locally sourced meat, vegetables, and fruits.
- Waiter – The waiter has the responsibility to help the cook and also serve food and bring coffee/tea in the morning.
- Porters – Finally, the superheroes of the mountain porters. They are responsible to carry tents, tables, chairs, and emergency equipment. There are several responsibilities assign to the porters while Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.
Kilimanjaro Tipping is an essential and customary way of paying your mountain crew.
How Much Should You Tip On Kilimanjaro?
However, the main reason for your successful summit is the mountain staff who worked selflessly for you. So, it is important to tip them a minimum amount which will be an addon amount to the basic salary which they receive.
Moreover tipping is based on the service done to meet your expectations. Following KPAP’s Kilimanjaro Tipping Recommendations will ensure your crew is paid an appropriate living wage for the labor-intensive work that supports your climb.
Here are the details of tips to be given as per Climb Kilimanjaro Guide:
- $20 to $25 for a senior guide
- $15 to $20 for an assistant guide
- $12 to $15 for Cook
- $10 to $12 for a waiter
- $8 to $10 for porter
- $12 to $15 for summit porter
- $10 to $12 for toilet crew
How Much To Tip Kilimanjaro Porters?
Kilimanjaro Porters will always back you and motivate you throughout the climb. You can tip the porter $5 to $7 per day and if you are more satisfied, you can gift them something which is valuable and can be used with them.
This is going to depend on your experience, but at the very minimum, you’ll be tipping around 15% of your trip cost. If your guides and crew go above and beyond what you expect, you’ll want to shell out something extra. Budget AT LEAST $300 USD per person.
How Much To Tip Kilimanjaro Guides?
Kilimanjaro Guides take care of the complete climb and safeguard the climbers from any emergency situations. You can tip the head guide for $20 per day and an assistant guide for $12 per day.
Recommending tipping amounts for Kilimanjaro climbs are the same no matter what route you choose to do. You should tip $20-$25 per day for the lead guide; $10-$15 per day for the assistant guide; $10-$15 for the chef; and $5-$10 for each porter.
Kilimanjaro Tipping Recommendations – Important Things to Note
- Starting in June of 2018, Jerry Tanzania Tours will provide individual envelopes (by request from previous travelers) to make the tipping process run more smoothly. These will typically be handed out to trekkers by the head guide on the first night of the expedition.
- The Kilimanjaro Tipping Ceremony generally occurs after breakfast before the final descent to the entrance gates at the end of the trek. You will be provided with 2 envelopes to list how many tips the particular staff should receive.
- The Kilimanjaro Porter’s Assistance Project (KPAP) recommends climbers give tips directly to each crew member in individual envelopes to ensure that the full amount of tip is received by the crew member.
- Travelers can tip in Tanzania Shillings (TZS) or US Dollars, though USD is typically easier. Be sure to bring small bills (nothing higher than $20) in order to tip evenly among all staff.
- Since it is common to tip the few porters who assist clients on the final summit night an additional $20 total from the group.
- Regardless of the size of your expedition, we recommend budgeting around $250 – $350 for the trekking portion of your expedition. If you are also doing the group camping safari, we recommend budgeting around $50 – $100.
KPAP has published recommendations on the amount that it is customary to tip Kilimanjaro porters. For groups of three or more for a seven-day climb, tips work out to between $200 and $250 in total per climber. Longer climbs would be a bit more, and shorter climbs perhaps a bit less, at your discretion.
In reality, the mountain staffs are the only people to be your support during the entire journey, and hope the above Kilimanjaro Tipping Recommendations will be more helpful to decide how much you can tip to the particular mountain staff. Our guides are happy to provide you with information on the total number of support staff, names, roles, etc.
We at Jerry Tanzania Tours as a responsible tour operator make sure all the support staff is treated equally and as per norms. Get our Climb Kilimanjaro Guide & plan your next trip with us for an incredible experience.