Tipping a Safari guide/range - which currency
Mar 24, 2015, 3:29 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: LHR
Programs: BA Gold, TG Gold, HHonors Diamond, SPG Plat
Posts: 8,665
Tipping a Safari guide/range - which currency
We are headed off to one of the upscale Safari Lodges in the Sabi Sands area. We will be in shared jeep for about 3 days as oppose to private drives.
Should we plan to tip in US$ or in South African Rands? US$ is easier even though we are not Americans but I wonder about what access these guides/rangers get to banks.
Should we plan to tip in US$ or in South African Rands? US$ is easier even though we are not Americans but I wonder about what access these guides/rangers get to banks.
Mar 25, 2015, 4:38 am
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2000
Posts: 14,352
Well, yes, of course they would, for all the glaringly obvious reasons.
Not all game lodge guests carry local currency, though. Both € and US$ are quite acceptable. Most, if not all, lodges will also allow guests to add any and all tips to the bill and pay by credit card.
Johan
Not all game lodge guests carry local currency, though. Both € and US$ are quite acceptable. Most, if not all, lodges will also allow guests to add any and all tips to the bill and pay by credit card.
Johan
Mar 25, 2015, 1:30 pm
#6
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 529
If one cares about the guides and porters, tip payment will be in local currency and the tips will be paid directly, not through an intermediary. Guides should not be trusted with porter tips. Nor should lodges or hotels be trusted to pay 100 percent of the client's money exactly as the client wants.
Mar 25, 2015, 1:44 pm
#7
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Oxon, UK
Programs: Mucci des canapes, Skywards Gold, BAEC, IC Plat Amb, LH FTV
Posts: 1,952
The lodge may well give you guidance in the information pack (or you could send an e-mail). Around R150-200 per day for ranger and tracker seems to be generally recommended. Some differentiate between ranger and tracker but they seem to do much the same work (I appreciate the ranger will have probably taken extra exams). I understand that at some lodges they divide the tips equally between themselves whatever the guests decide.
Mar 25, 2015, 4:54 pm
#9
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Dublin
Posts: 188
These are typically poor people with extended families to support; they're not currency speculators. This isn't a Zimbabwe-type situation, where the local currency collapsed as store of value / medium of exchange. It's a lot more hassle for them to change USD into ZAR than it is for you to change USD into ZAR (expensive for them too) - so preferably pay them in ZAR.
Mar 26, 2015, 4:29 am
#10
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2000
Posts: 14,352
At a game lodge is it neither practical or possible to tip all the staff individually. The usual procedure is to tip the guide and tracker separately, and everybody else (housekeeping, catering, maintenance, etc.) separately, often by placing the envelope provided in the tip box provided.
Johan
Mar 26, 2015, 1:02 pm
#12
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 529
These are typically poor people with extended families to support; they're not currency speculators. This isn't a Zimbabwe-type situation, where the local currency collapsed as store of value / medium of exchange. It's a lot more hassle for them to change USD into ZAR than it is for you to change USD into ZAR (expensive for them too) - so preferably pay them in ZAR.
Mar 28, 2015, 1:21 pm
#13
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2000
Posts: 14,352
Years ago, I heard from the head ranger at an upmarket lodge that the basic salary for a guide was R 6,000.-- per month. The guides worked six weeks on and two weeks off. They went home with an average of R 35,000.-- in tips.
The minimum wage in South Africa is currently R 2,420,41 per month. Somebody who earns over twice that in basic pay and takes home ten times that amount in tips is not poor by local standards.
Johan
Mar 28, 2015, 1:30 pm
#14
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2000
Posts: 14,352
In over 25 years I've only heard of one instance where the staff suspected that the manager was taking a cut from their tips. They revolted and went straight to the owner of the lodge, who fired the manager.
I routinely add tips to my bill at lodges where I'm a regular repeat guest of long standing. It has never dented my reputation as a generous tipper.
Johan
Mar 28, 2015, 7:35 pm
#15
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 529
I said no such thing. It is far less complex and safer just to pay the tips directly in local currency. No misunderstandings. No potential "he said/she said" controversies. No currency exchange fees for those least able to manage them. Everybody leaves happy.
Congrats on having a good rep.
Congrats on having a good rep.