Tipping on safari is customary, expected, and almost never explained in advance. The result is travellers who spend the last morning of a good trip anxious about an envelope.
Your driver-guide. The main one. Around $20 to $25 per vehicle per day is the widely used range — that is per vehicle, not per person, so a couple contributes it between them. A guide who has worked hard, found difficult animals and been good company deserves the top of that; there is no obligation to reach it if the week was ordinary.
Camp and lodge staff. Around $10 to $15 per guest per day into the communal box, which is shared among everyone including the people you never see — kitchen, laundry, night watch. Most camps have a box at reception. Use it rather than tipping individuals, unless someone has genuinely gone out of their way.
Kilimanjaro is different and much larger. A climb involves a crew of guides, cooks and porters, often more than ten people for two climbers, and tips are a meaningful part of their income. Budget roughly 10 to 15 per cent of the trek price. Your operator should give you a breakdown before you start; if they do not, ask.
Currency. US dollars are fine and often preferred, but bring small denominations — nobody can break a hundred at a bush camp. Tanzanian shillings are equally welcome. Notes printed before 2009 are frequently refused by banks here, so check the year before you fly.
What is not expected. Restaurants in Dar or Arusha: rounding up is plenty, ten per cent is generous. Taxis: no. Shops: no. And you are never expected to tip for something that went wrong.
The honest bit. Tips are a real part of what guides and camp staff earn, and everyone knows it. That does not mean you should tip out of guilt or that a bad week deserves a good tip. Tip well for good work, normally for ordinary work, and do not agonise about it on your last morning.
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