The Kilimanjaro tipping ceremony is an important and fun custom that happens at the end of every Kilimanjaro climb. Amidst song and dance, climbers give their mountain crew tips – money that is an important source of supplementary income.

Your mountain crew is the team that accompanies you throughout your Kilimanjaro climb. The team consists of guides, a cook, porters and helping porters.

Tipping is a well-established practice and is expected. We really encourage our clients to budget money for the tipping ceremony.

As mentioned above, our Kilimanjaro crews rely on climbers' tips to supplement their salaries.

Our guides and porters work very hard, putting themselves at risk over and over to make sure you accomplish your goal of making it to the “Roof of Africa”. At Winrika Adventures, one of our main missions of the company is to help the community here in Tanzania, break the generational cycles of poverty that have literally enslaved some of the hardest working people we have ever met. While we pay them the minimum wage stipulated by the Government, their salaries are, in fact, inadequate on their own to provide them with a liveable wage. It's not that we are being stingy, but rather that we're forced into following the system set in place by the Tanzanian government.

So tips are really very important to Kilimanjaro mountain crews.

Your tips are a key way of acknowledging and thanking your crew for all of their hard work in helping you to safely summit the mountain.

Also, we've never met anyone who has climbed Kilimanjaro and not wanted to tip their mountain crew! These guys (and ladies) are truly the salt of the Earth and you will leave feeling as if you have “family” in Tanzania.

Every single Kilimanjaro climb group is accompanied by a mountain crew.

This crew consists of:

• A main guide

• Assistant guides

• Porters

• Helping porters (porters with additional duties)

• A cook

These men and women are incredibly hardworking individuals who are specially trained to support you throughout the climb. Their support extends to the logistical, practical, emotional, medical, and more. Whatever is needed, they're there to help and they go above and beyond to do so.

The majority of the Kilimanjaro guides and porters are local Tanzanian men (and a few women) between the ages of 18 and 40. Most Kilimanjaro porters are not employed on a permanent basis. Instead, they freelance for different companies.

For many, their work on Kilimanjaro climbs is their main source of income and how they survive. This is another reason why tipping on Kilimanjaro is so vital to the welfare of your support crew.

The size of your Kilimanjaro crew depends on how many climbers are in your group. The more people in a group, the more porters and guides that are required.

Kilimanjaro climbing groups generally vary from two to 20 people.

Here are their different duties and how many are needed per group of climbers:

• Main Guide - 1 per group - their job is to be the overall trek leader, responsible for everyone's health and safety

• Assistant Guide - 1 for every 2 or 3 clients- They lead you safely and efficiently up the mountain, answer your questions, and monitor your health

• Cook - 1 per group. Prepares all your food (breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks)

• Porters - 3 per climber. They carry food, camping equipment and everyone's personal belongings, set up camp, and take on various other duties.

• Helping Porters - The number varies per group. They work as porters but each has an additional duty such as serving as your waiter, washing dishes or servicing the toilet tent (if you have rented this option)

If you're wondering why each trekker needs three porters:

The reason for this is that everything you need for your six to nine days on the mountain must be carried there and back.

This includes:

• Food, crockery and cooking equipment.

• Chairs and tables

• Sleeping tents, a mess tent and a toilet tent (if you have rented this option)

• A chemical toilet (or toilets, depending on group size, and if this option has been added through our renting options)

• Sleeping bags and sleeping mats

• Medical supplies

• Personal belongings

As you can see above, the porters have a lot of stuff to carry! And each Kilimanjaro porter is only allowed to carry a maximum of 20 kg (44 lb), excluding their own personal gear.

As per Tanzanian law, it's illegal to climb Kilimanjaro without a mountain crew.

Climbing Kilimanjaro is a challenge and a serious commitment. You need an experienced team of support staff with you in order to have a safe and enjoyable trip.

One of the reasons why Kilimanjaro tour operators don't increase crew members' salaries and do away with the tipping ceremony is that many crew members – and the porters especially – are in favour of the tipping custom. This is because the tipping system allows them to earn a liveable wage while staying below the tax threshold.

Another reason the mountain crew prefer the tipping system is that a set wage isn't as motivating as a rewards-based one. Mountain crews who work hard and deliver a really good service enjoy the prospect of earning bigger tips.

Most Kilimanjaro climbs are six to nine days. The longer your climb, the more you'll tip.

in keeping with industry recommendations for tipping, we suggest that each individual in your climbing group tip the following amounts based on the amount of days your trip on the mountain was, after your climb, during the tipping ceremony:

* These tip amounts are our recommendations based on industry standards as of January 2023

• 6 day trek - $320- $370

• 7 day trek - $350 - $400

• 8 day trek - $370 - $420

• 9 day trek - $370 - $420

If the tip amount above seems a large amount at first glance, remember that you’ll be dividing it between your whole mountain crew.

Also, don’t underestimate how important these folks are to your climb – they work so hard, smile while doing it, encourage you when you’re feeling tired and demotivated, and much more. We’re pretty confident you’ll want to thank them with every penny you have on you.

Please consider donating some of your clothing and trekking equipment to the porters in addition to tipping them. (We stress, donations should never take the place of the tips.)

Mountain crews climb Kilimanjaro many times a year and can go through their clothes and gear rather quickly. Your donated items are of great assistance to them and they appreciate such generosity tremendously.

Think gloves, hats, thermal socks, hiking boots, trekking trousers, backpacks, and so on.

While we recognise the temptation to give items to your favorite porters, not all porters are as visible to climbers as others. Yet all of them work hard and it’s recommended that (to make things fair) items be laid out and a method like picking a number from a hat be used. If you can think of another way to provide a fair distribution, by all means, please go with that.