It is customary to tip your mountain porters and guides. Tips are paid at the end of the trek and are given to the guides. You may well have more than one guide, but there will be one “head” guide, who will lead the trip and be the person in charge of the expedition and all the staff.
At the end of the trek, you will pool the tip with the rest of the group. The total amount gathered for the guides will have to be split amongst the head guide and the other guides. The decisions on how to divide this up will be over to the group, but guidelines are below. The total amount gathered for the porters should be given to the head guide, who divides the money amongst the porters. Used gear and trek clothing can be an additional way to express appreciation to your support staff at the end of your trek. Simply leave all the items you’d like to give away in a pile (at the end of the trek), and the head guide will appropriate the gear accordingly.
The staff will never ask for a tip, and you should not ask them the amount you should tip. You should take into consideration the quality and type of service rendered. If you are particularly pleased with the service, you may want to adjust the tip upward. If you aren’t so pleased with the service, you may want to tip less. Tips administered by any climber to staff members during the trek are not advisable. Only tip when the trek ends.
For waiters/servers/bartenders at hotels and lodges, a 500 to 1000 shillings (per person) tip is appropriate. You may wish to tip the hotel porter 500 shillings per suitcase. For the driver dropping/picking you at the gate/hotel, you may wish to tip him about $5 per half day.
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