How Much Should You Tip on Safari?
Picture this: You’ve just spent the most amazing three days in the Masai Mara. Your guide had a sixth sense for where the animals would be and exactly how to position the vehicle to get up close and personal. You were even able to approach some elephants on foot! It was scary but you knew with your expert guide leading the way, all would be well.
Now the time has come to check out. You’re stuck wondering… “how much should I tip?” There’s never an easy answer to this question but we’re here to provide some guardrails.
Important Context
Most of the staff you’ll meet at safari camps are far from home. They typically leave their families in major cities for weeks at a time to work in the bush. They do this because the income they can make working at a safari camp far exceeds what they can make in their home city. A large part of this income is derived from tips.
How Much to Tip Each Person
If you haven’t been on a safari before, you might not realize how large the teams are that run these camps. There are cooks, waitstaff, various cleaning teams, etc. We’re going to split our guidance between guides and the rest of the camp staff.
Guide
This is the most important one to get right! A guide can make or break your trip. Most go through years of education and training to become a guide. They are your narrator, wildlife expert, driver, drink mixologist, and the list goes on.
We recommend $25 per day per traveler. Note: this is significantly more than many safari companies recommend but this is how much our team tips and feels comfortable recommending.
It’s best to hand this tip directly to your guide at the end of your stay.
Other Camp Staff
Most camps have a tip box that’s shared across the camp. They’ll have a policy for how these tips get divvied out to the staff. This is great because it saves you from having to separate the tip for your waitstaff, room attendant, etc. (although it’s worth noting that a few camps do require you to do this).
We recommend another $25 per day per traveler for the shared staff tip. This can be added to the tip box at the end of your stay.
Stand-out Staff Members
Every so often, a member of the staff who isn’t a guide will significantly contribute to your experience. This might be a hilarious waiter who kept you entertained with crazy stories, a butler who tracked down a rare bottle of wine for you to enjoy on your deck, etc. For anyone who stood out, we suggest handing a separate tip to them directly. That’s the best reward for a job well done!
Drivers
You might be transferred by someone other than your guide when moving between camps. In these cases, it’s nice to tip $5-10 per transfer.
How to Tip
Not every camp is able to accept tips via credit card so it’s best to bring cash (USD). Depending on your group size and the length of your trip, this might entail carrying a lot of cash with you. If this makes you feel uncomfortable, talk to your Kamira advisor to learn which camps accept tips via credit card and which only accept cash so you can minimize the amount you’re bringing.
Insider Tips
Try not to bring $100 bills as these can be difficult for people to exchange for local currency.
It can also be nice to bring envelopes so you can address the tips to specific people. Some camps provide these but it can be hit or miss.
Have a question that wasn’t answered here?
Tipping on safaris can be confusing, particularly when each camp seems to have their own way of doing things. That’s why we’re here! Please contact your Kamira travel advisor directly for questions related to tipping (or anything else!) while on safari.
