TIPPING GUIDELINES ON UGANDA SAFARIS

TIPPING GUIDELINES ON UGANDA SAFARIS

Though tipping is a very old practice, it still remains a debate and source of confusion for many travelers especially those on African safaris. It’s always a familiar dilemma, whether one should tip a service provider or not, and if so, how much?

Even if tipping is not a mandate, it is very important to get it right while on a safari in Africa. For most tour guides, drivers, waiting staff and porters, tips make up a noteworthy portion of their salary. And it’s much better if one over tips than under tipping.

Despite the fact that there are no hard rules for tipping, knowing when to give a gratitude and how much is always bewildering. But for any global trotter planning to visit Uganda will never be clueless again with the simple tipping guidelines listed here.

Size of a tip. The fact that tipping is offering gratitude in appreciation of the service provided, it is always the will of a person. The gratuity size depends on how well you are served and handled, including how fast your inquiry or order was responded to and how frequently the server checks on you during service delivery. If in a restaurant, don’t base your tip on the taste of the food as the waiter has nothing to do with that. But note that anything from $5 and above is very OK.

When to tip. It shouldn’t have been etiquette to skip a tip every single time a service is provided, whether a guide, ranger, waiter, porter or consultant on any Uganda safari. However it is appropriate for one to tip only when someone went above and beyond regular service. Travelers in Uganda reserve all the rights to tip or not, and when to tip as well as to whom? Don’t just tip out of sympathy, tip when you are showing a sign of gratitude to the service provided.

Form of the tip. Generally, cash is more valued that material things. It simply gives the receiver the liberty to spend the money in their own best way possible. So if you have no change left with you and it’s a gift that you are offering, it should be done responsibly.

On any safari in Uganda, whether gorilla trekking or wildlife safari, it’s always a very important idea to keep changed money, either in US dollars or the local currency. This gives the travelers freedom to clear all the small bills as well as awarding the exact amount they would wish to tip.

Always give the tip directly to the person you wish to reward. Don’t ever assume that you can leave a tip with someone else and it reaches the right the person. And when tipping, do not do it openly, showing off how much you tip isn’t impressive.

Why tip? Almost all, if not, all trotters or clients tip to show gratitude, ensure great service through motivation, and also liven up the person serving us. Tipping is very important especially on Uganda trips where workers in the tourism sector get minimum wages yet they have to endure a lot to put food on the table and afford decent medical services.

For any great traveler knows when and how to tip the people that serve him. Even if it’s not a must to tip, the only occasion one should not tip is when the service was completely bad and the server did totally nothing to better it.

While on a tour in Uganda, tipping is an essential act that should almost be done by all travelers in Uganda because one can never know the change that a small tip could make in the life of a poor ranger or porter or the whole community at large. Make it a habit.