Today I thought it would be helpful to give some tipping guidelines for South Africa and the rest of Southern Africa. In recent years we have noticed some game lodges suggesting quite high tipping recommendations. When chatting with other industry colleagues we feel that we shouldn’t leave it up to the game lodges to recommend tipping guidelines for their own staff!

So, without further ado…
•    A tip of 10 to 12% is normal in hotels, restaurants and for taxis, depending on the service.
•    In a hotel you might give a porter US$1 (R10) to carry a bag, more if there are several bags to be carried.
•    Chambermaids always appreciate a tip at the end of your stay – perhaps R10 per night
•    If you have a private tour guide during your stay, you may like to tip $10-15 (R100-R150) for a full day or $5 to $10 (R50-R100) for a half day

At South African Private Game Lodges

You may feel under pressure to tip generously here but this is entirely your choice, depending on how well your ranger and tracker have done their jobs. Typically your stay is co-ordinated by your ranger and so he is your main point of contact with the lodge. So often the lodges leave out three envelopes for tips: one for general staff, one for your ranger and one for your tracker.

The following is a loose guideline - depending on how you feel…
$5 - $8 (R50-R75) per person per day for a ranger/guide ie R100 to R150 per couple
$2 - $3 (R25-R30) per person per day per tracker
$3 - $5 (R30-R50) per person per day to be shared among general camp staff.

At Southern African Game Lodges

At many Botswana or Zambia Game Lodges you may enjoy different activities with different guides. If this is the case, we recommend:
$2.50 - $3 (R25-R30) per person per guide ie $5 to $6 per couple for each guide

Some safari operators feel that it is fairer and more beneficial in bush camps to give a general tip to the camp management to be shared out among the camp staff (not including the management) but this is your choice. A guideline would be US$5 – US$10 per person per day.

Aside from the current global economic downturn, one of the major reasons why people decide not to travel to South Africa is their perception of the crime situation here.

Over the years when we have reviewed our client’s post-travel questionnaires, the same message has been given over and over again. Their perception of safety risks was high before they travelled to South Africa but always much lower after their visit.

Recently our own experience was re-enforced by research done by management consultants, Monitor,  across several countries.  Before their visit to South Africa visitors had a below average perception of our country’s safety & security versus other destinations. After their visit, their perception improved by 28% so that their final perception of South Africa was that it was above average for safety and security.

Undoubtedly South Africa’s crime statistics are a cause for alarm so why are our clients NOT feeling a sense of danger and fear. And what does this mean for you?

•    Crime is localized. As in many cities around the world, there are parts of a city which you do not visit lightly and there are parts of the same city which are very safe. So is the case in South Africa. Much of the crime takes place in the poorer areas of the cities where you are highly unlikely to visit. Once you leave the cities, the crime levels drop dramatically.

•    Our clients  often travel with a private guide for the duration of their holiday. Many of our clients, especially from North America, take a private guide for the sightseeing part of their holiday. This guide collects them from their hotel, takes them on their tours and is usually with them in the evenings for dinner as well, if our clients wish it. Thus many of our clients don’t have to worry about whether they are heading in the right direction, or in the right place. Your private guide not only adds to your understanding, knowledge and enjoyment of South Africa but ensures that your safety is never compromised

•    South Africa stands to gain a lot from increased tourism spend and so in the last few years have pumped significant resources into policing tourist areas. They have installed CVTV cameras in the city centres, recruited security guards and increased the police presence on the streets all of which has led to dramatic reduction in the amount of crime in these areas.

•    As in many other large cities, our clients have found that taking simple precautions such as you might do in Rome or New York mean that they are not a target for muggers.

•    South Africa has a far lower risk of being the target of a major terrorist attack than many countries in the Western World. We also have no internal civil strife unlike many other developing countries.

•    South Africa is the only country in Africa which is mostly malaria free. Clients can choose whether to visit the Kruger National Park and adjacent private game reserves (which are in a seasonal malaria area) or choose from three big five non-malaria game areas (Madikwe, Eastern Cape and the Waterberg.)

Tips for increasing your personal safety
1)    Don’t wear expensive jewellery or carry expensive camera equipment when sightseeing in urban areas. Leave that for dining in your restaurant in the evening.
2)    If in doubt about an area, ask a local security guard whether it’s safe.
3)    Don’t go for a late night stroll in the downtown city centre of our major cities. You wouldn’t do it in many US cities and so don’t do it in South Africa.
4)    When in a smaller town, take advice from locals or your hotel manager about the immediate area. Usually it will be safe to walk at night but there’s no harm in checking.

A few years ago, Zambia decided to boost its tourism appeal by introducing a Visa-waiver for visitors who had pre-booked accommodation in Zambia. It began with Victoria Falls and has spread to the whole of Zambia.

In theory this is how the process works. Our clients send us their passport numbers about three weeks prior to arrival and we send this information onto the first lodge where they are staying in Zambia as well as out clients’ total length of stay in Zambia. This information is handed into the immigration authorities at the airport or border post where the clients will be arriving. It is usually, though not always, filed under the name of the lodge. When the client arrives at the immigration desk, they tell the officials where they are staying and the official looks up their names in the file for that particular lodge or safari company. The client’s name is found and the visa is granted.

However in practice recently we’ve found that the system is not working as well as it should, and that the success rate for receiving the fee-waivered visa is hovering around 60%. It seems that certain border posts are more efficient than others.

What this means is that all clients should be aware that we cannot guarantee a fee-waivered visa. Even if you give us your passport number at the correct time and we pass it on to the lodge and the lodge hands it into the authorities, we are at the mercy of government administration. Be aware that you might have to pay, and then when it all works smoothly, you can rejoice that you received a free visa.

If you are at the immigration counter and they cannot find your name, make sure that they know exactly where you are staying. It is worth standing your ground a little bit so that they do more than just a cursory search. But the visa is not that expensive, in the context of your overall safari, so if a reasonable search does not produce a positive result, we recommend that you accept it with good grace. However please tell your lodge that the system didn’t work, as they can then follow-up with the authorities to improve the situation in the future.

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If you are coming on safari during the peak (dry) season, this is winter in Southern Africa. What this means is that it’s cold in the early morning and after the sun sets but usually pleasantly warm, but not hot, during the day. So far so good…

But keep in mind that most safari lodges are built to enjoy the bush as much as possible. What this means in practice is that many lodges are open to the elements so that even if you dine in the lodge, instead of in the boma, this might not necessarily mean that you will be completely enclosed. Be warned!

So I advise you to bring very warm clothes with you for the game drives and that means hat, scarf, gloves and warm jacket. You probably won’t need these for the afternoon part of the drive but once you’ve enjoyed your sunset drinks, you’ll want to start putting on your warm clothes.

Back at the lodge, your evening wear also needs to be warm. If you are dining in the boma, then the dress code is as casual as on the game drives. But many lodges alternate boma dining with fine dining in the lodge or on the lodge’s deck. You may wish to dress up a little. Think  thermal vests (from your skiing gear perhaps?)  to enable you to wear smarter, ( thinner) clothes on top and still be warm. I also recommend liberal use of pashminas. Finally if you are cold, don’t be shy to ask for more blankets even a hot water bottle. South Africans tend to assume that if they ignore the fact that it is winter, the winter will go away. They sometimes under-cater on this score so tell them!

Game drives
Wear comfortable casual clothing on a game drive. I also recommend that you take the following:

• Camera
• Binoculars (at least one pair between a couple)
• Sunblock
• Lipsalve
• Introductory Animal & Bird book – a number of lodges have inexpensive guides in their curio shops. This really enhances your enjoyment.

Children
If you are on a family safari, I strongly recommend taking or buying the following:

• Disposable camera for each child (so that they have something to do and don’t fight)
• Plenty of binoculars (for the above reasons)
• A children’s safari guide. I recommend the Bushveld Safari Guide for Children published by Struik.

Khaki?
Do you need to wear khaki? This is not strictly necessary though it is a very practical colour for the bush and helps you to feel in the mood. You’ll find that most people around you will be wearing a mix of darker, natural colours. The only time we suggest that people keep to the neutral bush colours is when you’re participating in a game walk.

For more Information & Travel ideas visit our main website at http://cedarberg-travel.com/