09/09/2024
Should You Tip On Safari?
In Africa, it is customary – but not obligatory or mandatory – to give tips to service staff in gratitude and thanks for good service. Gratuities can be increased or decreased depending on the level of service you are given: a high tip for exceptional assistance or a low one for going-through-the-motions, just-doing-my-job mediocre service.
This is hard to answer as it’s not a clear-cut issue for many travellers. To help answer the question of whether you should be tipping on safari, let’s look at it from
Guests’ Perspective
Travellers from the US generally come from a culture where tipping is the norm and expected, while those from Europe or Australia generally don’t, so are often unsure of how to tip on safari.
Some would simply like to do away with tipping on safari altogether and add the money onto the final bill for a trip. Although this is a commendable idea, it’s hard to put into practice because a safari has so many moving parts. Also, would brilliant staff at one lodge sacrifice a good tip for average staff at another?
Some guests object to tipping on the grounds that the workers’ salaries should be enough to cover their living expenses and that lodge owners should pay more.
This, once again, is a commendable idea but your safari costs cover not only wages but also concession fees, fuel, insurance, security, maintenance, food, beverages, Wi-Fi, entertainment, maintenance – the list is endless! An increase in wages would cause an increase in costs to you as other costs – like conservation fees or pumping borehole water – are fixed. Many lodges are using solar power, starting their own kitchen gardens and so on, in order to cut costs where possible and pay workers as much as possible.
Staff’s Perspective
Of course, you say, staff will want tips. Who wouldn’t want ‘free money’ on top of their salaries? Once again, it’s not as simple as that. Think of a tip as more than just a ‘thank you’ for making your bed or showing you a lion – it’s also in recognition of the following:
* The long periods that staff spend away from their children, families and friends. They are often on duty for weeks at a time because getting in and out of the bush is difficult. It’s compensation for not being able to return to a spouse or child after a long day at work.
* The expense incurred travelling home. Most staff live in far-flung rural areas or cities that are difficult and expensive to get to. Your US dollars go a long way to helping families reunite.
* The bittersweet burden that almost every employed person in Africa carries is the expectation to support their extended family members who are unemployed or at school. This support network is vital in bringing up children and stopping unemployed people from turning to alcohol or crime. A good tip has wide-ranging and positive ramifications. The vast majority of workers do not fritter their money away on frivolous luxuries but pay for school fees, doctor’s visits, groceries and so on. They may not have access to social security or medical aid like workers in the rest of the world.
* The long hours that staff work. They’re up way before hot tea or coffee gets delivered for your 5am wake-up call in the morning and go to bed way after your last nightcap to put out the campfire, patrol the perimeter, prep the game-drive vehicle, and countless other chores that go into running a slick operation in the middle of the wilderness.
* The little extra lengths that staff go like remembering your name, mixing your favourite drink without being asked, finding the specific bird you’ve always wanted to see… Again, our clients consistently remark on how incredible the staff in Africa are because of all the little things that they do with friendliness and grace.
Safari staff are responsible for our safety, comfort, health and nutrition, often under difficult circumstances that we know nothing about. While we’re enjoying drinks in the boma, kitchen staff may be fending off marauding vervet monkeys. While we’re out on a blissful boat cruise, they may have to contend with pipes broken by elephants looking for water.
The behind-the-scenes dramas of a lodge are incredible, and a safari tip is often a welcome recognition of that extra work.
Some guests may feel that a ‘safari is expensive enough’ so tips are an unnecessary added expense. From a worker’s perspective, who returns to a village with no running water or electricity, it may be puzzling to see visitors who have pricey cameras, binoculars, watches, and jewellery worth several years’ salaries baulking at paying a relatively small amount in tips. The thinking – rightly or wrongly – may be that a guest who can afford a $10,000 safari could surely afford to tip $100.
