Kilimanjaro tipping can be bit confusing. Is it mandatory? Who do I need to tip and how does it work?
DIFFERENT ROLES
Porter
Porter is a person, who is carrying heavy load. They also set up the campsite and fetch water from water sources around the campsite. They might be asked to help to do any additional to tasks to make sure the customer has best possible experience. Maximum permitted weight limit they are allowed to carry is 15kg and this is strictly regulated at the start. The requirements for this position are minimal, English is not required.
Cook
Cook is a porter that in addition to the porter responsibilities described above also needs to cook. The only requirement is ability to cook, they are also not required to speak English in most cases. They are responsible for planning the menu and purchasing all the ingredients.
Waiter
Waiter is a porter that in addition to the porter responsibilities described above,, also needs to serve the customer. They are responsible to set up the table, carrying dishes to the table and clearing out after. They sometimes help with the cooking. There are no specific requirements, and some do not speak English.
Guide
Guide is a person looking after the customers. They are also carrying some load although not as heavy as the porters as at times they might need to carry daypack of struggling customers. They must have completed official guide training and speak English well. If the group is larger, further guides might be required. There will be always guide lead and then supporting guides.
HOW BIG WILL BE MY TEAM
The number of Kilimanjaro guides and porters required is actually fairly large. This is because there is no infrastructure on the mountain and all food and supplies needs to be carried.
As a solo trekker, I had team of 7 = 1 guide,1 porter/cook,1 porter/waiter, 4 porters
If I had booked personal toilet, that would require 1 additional porter.
This ratio is not fixed, it all depends on the weight being carried because porters are allowed to carry maximum 20kg. In case of group of 2 people or more, the ratio might be anywhere between 5-8 crew per person.
The company will inform you in advance what is the expected number of crew, so you can budget your Kilimanjaro tipping. However you will find the size of your definite team only at the registration point. When you arrive to the Kilimanjaro start, there is a point where the crew has to register and weight in everything. They will weight the packs and distribute the weight equally up to 20kg maxiumum. In case the group has more weight than the assigned number of porters, new porter might be assigned by the authorities to help with the weight. There are few unassigned porters hanging around this area for this specific reason.
CAN I TRUST THE GUIDES AND PORTERS
Yes, you can trust your guide and porters. Of course you need to take caution, however it is not in interest of the guide that something happens to you. For example if something gets stolen, they will likely not get any tips. If they are employed they might get fired and if they are freelancers, they might not be hired again. So they will do what they can to protect you, also from others.
My guide advised me to be cautious at the last camp of the trek. Some companies might send porter from the end to the campsite to bring additional supplies. My guide has told me that during covid some porters or even non-porters became desperate and there were few occasions where items were stolen from the customers at the last camps. So he advised me to sleep with all my valuables tacked in at the bottom of my sleeping bag.
One other point I read somewhere about it is that some crew might try to cheat with the number of porters. They might give you impression that for example you have 20 porters with you but on the mountain are only 18 and the other 2 will pop up only at the beginning and at the end for the tipping ceremony. I’m not sure if this is actually happening, but wanted to bring awareness to this. I had only 7 crew and I get to know them all.
TIPPING ETIQUETTE
Kilimanjaro tipping is very much expected by the crew. Even if you travel with KPAP certified company, the crew will expect tips. When I did my research, I read that some crew bluntly ask for them or even specific amount. Personally I had only good experience and my crew were very polite. They only hinted at the topic to signal they do expect them.
I understand that the trip is very costly for some people. We already pay the company a lot of money, we expect that the crew is paid well. But I would urge you to save up good money for the tips. The tips will make massive difference in the life of the people, who were taking care of you and made sure you get to achieve your dream.
My crew shared with me afterwards that some people leaving very poor or no tips and how that impacts their life. It might be the difference for their family to be able to eat in the off-season. They might try very hard to make you happy and if you or several people do not leave any tips or only minimal, it is not helping with their motivation to deliver good service.
The recommended tips by my company:
- Guide – 20 USD/day
- Cook – 15 USD/day
- Waiter – 12 USD/day
- Porter – 10 USD/day
Kilimanjaro tipping if part of group
If you are in the group, you can split the cost of tips, but if you can afford it, try to give more.
If you join open group and other people do not sign up or cancel last moment, you might suddenly be expected to pay higher tips. It happened to my friend and she learned that only while she was in Tanzania. She did her best but the crew got less than half of the tips that they expected and deserved.
More about how Kilimanjaro tipping works for KPAP certified companies HERE
HOW CAN I SUPPORT THE CREW
In addition to Killimanjaro tipping, there are other ways how you can support the crew.
Review
Leave sparkling review where you specifically name the guide. Say praise about the crew to the company, even if they do not ask. This will assure they will get hired more often if they are freelancers. Also go on tripadvisor or other trip review platforms and leave good comments not only about the company but also the guide and suggest that people specifically ask for that guide.
Gear and clothes
Other non-monetary way to help is donate gear and clothes. One regret I have is that I have not organised collection with my friends and family before I went asking specifically for hiking gear for men. I suggest to distribute your donations to the whole crew, not only guide. Depending on the guide, they might not share if you give everything to them. You will see the clothes and gear of the porters often in very sorry state. In case of clothes, I learned that SOME porters are doing this on purpose as they do not want to damage nice clothes, so they purposely wear their worst clothes even if they have better one available.
List of items to donate:
- Backpack with a lot of volume (no daypacks), like 60l or more
- Trail runners or trekking boots, even regular sneakers, also highly needed since it wears out quiet quickly especially with all the heavy load they carry
- Rain gear, including ponchos and umbrellas
- Hats
- Gloves
- Warm socks
- Buff
- Down jacket
- Head torch, small lightweight lamps
- Power bank, so they are able to charge phones to call their families
To consider
I gave some other small items to the guide (medicine, hand warmers, wet wipes…) with intension to give it to crew but the guide mentioned he will keep for next customers. Although I told him I’m not happy about as I wanted it to go to crew. I’m not sure if the items went to the crew at the end.
Be aware that some items you donate and the crew doesn’t really need (trekking poles, sleeping bag liner, new clothes) the crew might sell them.
You can also bring some practical kids stuff as the crew usually have some kids and they might appreciate some treasures for them. Things such as clothes, backpacks, sunglasses, hats, rain gear, books.
I purposely brought more cookies or other candy and gave some to the crew each day. They were extremely happy about this. It is of course more weight, so be cautious about this. I had fairly light pack, so could afford to bring couple packs. But at the end I wished I brought more gear for them instead.
INTERACTING WITH YOUR CREW
Part of the reason why I went in private tour rather than open group is to get to know the locals. I actually loved doing the trekking my own as I get to know many people both local and Western. I spend a lot of time chatting to the guides and porters to learn about them, the culture, their job and lives in general. Even if you go with a friend or open group, I would suggest you make an effort to interact with locals.
Few Swahili words will go long way. I learned few phrases, also silly ones, and it caused many smiles and laughs of the crew. Also crew from other companies got to know me thanks to this and interacted with me whenever they saw me and it was very fun and lovely experience.
