Things to Bring: We all have our own travel habits and you know best what you need on the road but here are some ideas for you to consider.
A: Flashlight: This is called a “torch” in Africa; you ought to have one. The headband kinds are the best. They are very useful for walking around camp at night, especially in Hlane which has no electricity. Bring some extra batteries because batteries in South Africa can be expensive. Or just bring a spare headlamp.
B: Old Fashioned Paper Notebook: For your field notes and personal diary. Don’t forget pen/pencil.
C: Binoculars: Optional if you are bringing a camera with a zoom lens but generally great for viewing animals at a distance. Bring the smallest, lightest pair that you can.
D: Pocket Knife, Swiss Army Knife or Leatherman Tool: Optional, but very useful in the field; pack it in your suitcase; don’t carry it on your person when boarding an airplane.
E: Small backpack: Optional; extremely handy in the field or in the city. Go to Good Will or a yard sale and buy a scruffy used one so you won’t look like a tourist. Throw it away upon leaving Africa.
F: OTC medications, etc.: You can get whatever you need in South Africa but it will be expensive and might be hard to find. Ibuprofen or aspirin, sunscreen, anti-diarheal such as Immodium, anti-itch medication, vitamins, supplements, Chap-stick are all items to consider.
G: Personal items: Be sure to pack personal items such as prescriptions (best to keep prescriptions in original bottles with pharmacy information on the label) and toilet articles. Carry your prescriptions with you, not in your checked luggage. We will have linens everywhere we go but you can pack a small towel just in case. Pack something with your home school “colors” for photo ops!
Tipping:Tipping for services is an expected “way of life” for many who provide those services in South Africa but in general tipping amounts to very little money compared to the United States.
Restaurant Tipping:
Individual meals: You can tip up to about 10% in rands, dollars or euros for excellent service, which you are likely to get because wait staff will instantly recognize you as an American and Americans have a reputation as big tippers. You pay these restaurant tips out of your own funds-better to use cash than put tips on your card.
Group Meals: We will cover these tips out of a “Tip Fund” that we plan to establish (see below) or we will pass the hat for tips if we decide to stop for a group meal on the spur of the moment.
For group meals, alcoholic beverages must be paid for and tipped for separately. Asking wait staff to keep a separate tab for alcoholic beverages warrants a big tip in South Africa which drinkers will pay with private funds, along with the actual cost of the alcoholic beverages.
Luggage:
Any people who handle your bags at one of our hotels need to get a tip. A dollar or so from each traveler is fine. In most of the places we are staying you will end up handling your own bags so will not have to worry about tipping for this service.
Airport transfer drivers usually get a tip for their services certainly if they handle luggage.
Only our hotel people or airport transfer people are allowed to handle our baggage. Do not let some random airport person touch your bags and do not accept an offer of help from one of these people. It might take a firm “NO!” to discourage them. If you let them handle your bags then you will have to give them a tip.
Tipping Room Cleaners and Laundry Personnel:
You do not have to tip the people who clean your room for you although you can if you want. You do not have to tip the laundry people either but it would not hurt. Give a big tip on the first day if you are planning several days of laundry.
Tipping Drivers, Guides, etc.:
These are the tips that you give to people who are usually with you for more than a quick trip or single event. These are the people with the expertise to drive you around, guide you, advise you, keep you on schedule and watch over you for a more significant portion of the trip. They get the big tips.
I am asking each traveler to chip in $50 into a “Tip Fund” which we will use for tips to drivers/guides and for miscellaneous tips as mentioned above. I can be in charge of the Tip Fund if you wish but anyone else is welcome to volunteer as a substitute. I propose to use the approximately $800 Tip Fund as follows, but if the group works with additional kitchen or housekeeping people we may have to make some adjustments.
Recipient / Days of Service / % (approx.) / $ (approx.)Mzansi / 15 / 71.1 / 560 (2 drivers)
Unforgettable / 2.5 / 11.9 / 100 (2 drivers)
Bayete / 2.0 / 9.5 / 80 (1 guide, cooks)
Shakabarker / 1.5 / 7.1 / 60 (2 guides)
If there is anything left over at the end of the trip we can vote on how to distribute remaining funds.
IUP wants us to handle the tips informally and off the record so we will not be getting any receipts for these tips.