Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Question on tipping

Planning a PG safari to RSA in 2011 and have a qustion about tips for camp staff and trackers.
Should the tips be in Rand or Dollars?
How much to tip?
Thanks

I was going to ask same question. My 1st time to SA is June 2011. 8 day plains game & curious what others suggest tipping.

I am getting close (leaving end of this July for RSA) and I contacted the people that were listed as references for my PH. They all said that the camp policy was to give all the tips to the PH who would distribute them. Apparently it is their policy and makes things go smoother. My research showed this to vary though.

Again, this was just from the references listed from my PH, but they tipped 10% of the bill (animals + daily rate) for plains game. This covered everyone and was in US or wired. I do plan on giving knives, candy, smokes, to the staff as we go along though in addition.

One cool thing I have seen is the suggestion that after dinner the first night give the PH a paper and pen and ask him to list everyone on his staff and what they do. Seems like a great idea to see what they all do, plus helps to remind you years later when you can pull out that list again.

Tip in Rands.

Tipping has been a hotly debated subject here, and I've had some strong views on what I think is appropriate, and what has become expected in some quarters has changed over the year to be ridicules. No need for me to rehash it unless we want open that can of worms once again.

Definitely tip in Rands. You can't change dollars into Rands unless you have a business which makes it impossible for the little guys; trackers, etc. to use a tip in dollars you've given them.

You may ask what is an appropriate amount to tip trackers, etc. but, it's your money and if a tracker has been especially good to you I see no reason not to tip him directly. Also, if whoever does an average or not so good job for you, I would suggest no tip at all.

IMO, this tipping thing has gotten WAY out of hand.

Thank you wildfowl, hatari, and grumulkin for the advise.
Tipping can be a touchy subject and since this will be my 1st trip, I want to be as prepared as possible.

btb,
Since this is your first trip, I'll say my peace on tipping. If your PH works hard, is organized, and you enjoy yourself, then a tip of US$100 per day certainly would be reasonable, and more if he's earned it and it meets your budget. If the PH is sloppy, drunk, unorganized, or otherwise objectionable, you are under no obligation to tip. That said, i hope that never is the situation.

Camp staff is another matter. When I did my first safari 20+ years ago, cigarettes, Bic lighters, tennis shoes, or the = of US$10 in local currency were all good tips. Now there is a trend by outfitters to expect the camp staff to be fully compensated by tips from the hunters. A couple of years ago, I had this situation In Tanzania where it was suggested that I give this to the skinner, this to the trackers, this to the camp staff etc. It quickly came to over US$600! I objected, in a civilized manner, and pointed out the more I give the staff, the less is left for the PH. My point of view was quickly acknowledged.

I expect the entire camp staff to be adequately compensated from the daily rate. If that rate is insufficient to do so, then I advise outfitters to adjust it. Hidden taxes and charges bug me no end, because i never want to be taken advantage of, and certainly never want to be caught short of cash when fulfilling my obligations.

Both times I've hunted Zambia, I ran short of cash to tip my PH, who I think the world of. The first time I sent cash later via a mutal friend to his wedding, and the second time I flew to SCI Reno just to give him his tip. He earned it.

Definately tip the camp staff and trackers in Rand, as they will not have the chance (normally) to exchange to USD. The PH's get into town quite a bit to pick up clients, etc and have more oportunities to exchange USD to Rand, but I would suggest Rand for all.
As far as gifts / trinkets about all we gave out last year (our only trip over so far) was candy & gum for the kids and camp staff, cigarettes to the tracker (who was the only smoker we ran into). I would not give out knives, etc because they can only use so many knives, binoculars, etc.
Also, after you see the skinners sharpening their knives on a rock (they really do this) you would wish that you had not given a good knife for a gift.

My skinner used a rock with a flat surface that acted just like a wet stone, and I touched up my knife on it to test the theory. It was a sediimentary that worked very well. It rode in the box of the lorrie. They had a larger one of the same material at camp with a 10/' by 5" straight face. I was impressed with the edge they got on their knives.

Randy

Hatari, I agree that tips should reflect satifaction with service. I will tip accordingly.
I don't intend to give knives, and such as tips, as I'm sure they get plenty of those.
Candy and gum is a great idea.

Whew, theres a lot of planning for one of these trips.

And just think, tipping is only about 1/80th of the planning. Don't forget passports, 4457's, insurance, gun permits, plane tickets, etc. Enjoy yourself, the planning is half of the fun!

Mike

Tips should be for good to excellent sevice/hunt. We figured $100USD per day for PH and all staff. We did bring clothing and hats as an added extra. Our hunt/adventure with Huntersgame, RSA, was well worth the $800 tip that we left. Plus, we were taken on a tour of the Kimberley diamond mines and then to lunch at a Portuguese resturant that absolutely topped our day. Good luck and good hunting.

Hatari sums it up well!

Give the camp staff theirs in Rand as some of the other posters noted, they can't change it, if in $US.

I give each individual their tip, if they earned one, personally, if it is at all possible logistically. It is a gift from me to each individually for their individual contribution to my hunt.

The PH/Outfitter pays them their wages.

I don not care if the PH's or outfitter prefer that I give him the tip money for later distribution, I give it personally, since it is a personal gift from me and neither wages or a general bonus.

BTW, the grateful expressions and warm thanks are worth the small hastle of doing it individually.

On the $ amounts, I ask for guidance from the PH. I have never been told a number that I didn't think was reasonable, even cheap on occasion. And PH's have sugggested very reduced or no tip for a couple of individuals who weren't up to par. In general, I will tip more generously than the PH has recomended when I think the individual has gone above and beyond, or has in some other way made his or her contribution to my hunt substantially more than typical. But I have been more inclined toward downward departures from recomendations if I believe someone could have done better.

JPK

I wish I would have known a bit more about tipping before I went. My PH gave me guidelines for every person he had on staff including the gardiner, maintenence guy, his wife, cooks, 3 housekeepers, all 5 trackers (I would have been happy with one each) and the assitant PH who was just riding along for training.

The conservative end of his guidelines gave me a total suggested tip of nearly $4000. My hunt was only $6000. I talked to the guide about it and he explained that his staff is mostly paid on tips. So, I explained that I was the only hunter in camp that week and could not afford to pay wages for the entire operation. I ended up giving him $900 USD and let him divide it up.

In the end they were quite understanding and good about it but it was a source of stress in an otherwise flawless week. When I go again I'm going to bring plenty of rands and divide them up as I see fit with a total of about 10-15% of the hunt cost in mind.


Bb

Often outfitters web sites have suggested guidelines.For example, it's common to see 10% of the daily fees suggested for a PH on plains game hunts.

Last year, I found several sites in Zimbabwe with suggested tips as follows:

7 day plains game PH 400.00 Trackers 50.00each Camp Mgr 100.00 Cap Staff 75.00

10 day plains game PH 500.00 Trackers 75.00each Camp Mgr 125.00 Camp Staff 100.00

10 day buffalo/plains game PH 750.00 Trackers 150.00each
Camp Mgr 125.00 Camp Staff 300.00

Some give more detailed breakouts for waiters, gardener, cooks, etc.

The above seemed low and I upped the suggestions above by 40% or more since it was a very difficult hunt and all worked tirelessly to see that I was successful and had a good hunt.

Gotta watch the definition of "cost of the hunt." 10% - 15% may work well for some hunts and some definitions of "cost of the hunt" but be exhorbinant for others. For example, a 10 or 14 day elephant bull hunt, prime time in a good concession, may run $50k all in, meaning daily rate, trophy fee, travel to/from the concession if you ride with the PH, assuming nothing is hunted but an elephant. Daily rate might be between $20k - $25k. 10% - 15% of the daily rate might be appropriate, but unless that elephant ends up with tusks weighing 100lbs a side, 10% of the daily rate plus trophy fee, or $5k is too much.

I've done a couple of hunts that were damned expensive. Hunting three or four of the big five adds up trophy fees and also in daily rate. (Pricing is two legged, the more DG you hunt on a safari, the higher the daily rate typically goes for given time period. Cut the time and the daily rate will go up...) % of the all in costs in tips drops as the price goes up, and still can be a lot of $'s.

JPK

Wow! I would have told the PH that his wife & cleaning maids need to get on there knees for that kind of tip.

That's a perfect illustration of the trend that bugs me. The pay for staff need to come from the daily rates. The daily rates should be the figure that is needed to run the operation with a margin of profit. To suggest that a client cough up US$thousands to tip the staff is beyond absurd.

hatari, AGREED!

maddog