Firstly, one should remember that tips are optional, not compulsory, so if an individual is unhappy with tipping then simply don't tip........... I doubt very much that anyone will complain and certainly if any of my own staff did, they'd get short shrift from me. I'll also say that in the 30 years I've been involved with the African hunting industry, I've never heard anyone beg for a tip! Everyone I've come across (both black and white) are highly professional and proud of what they do and I'm sure would be deeply offended by the suggestion that they beg for anything.

However, this thread really does prove how deeply ingrained the various tipping cultures are into the various national psyches.

What I find especially interesting is that a lot of guys seem to expect people who come to their country to follow their (tipping) culture but also when they go elsewhere, they want to take their own (tipping) culture with them.

As I see it, it should be a case of 'when in Rome' and all that but I sure as hell don't worry about it if someone chooses otherewise.

I will point out that there seems to be a bit of confusion with some here. The PH is usually an employee not the boss and it isn't usually the PH who sets the prices.

Also that the entire social structure in Africa is different to that found in the western world. The society is basically considerably more fuedal in that employees and the entire family are aften housed by their employer and pretty much always fed, clothed and given some kind of medical cover. I'm not suggesting that one is right and the other wrong, just that they're different and that no matter how much people from the west might think that should perhaps be altered, it ain't gonna happen in the foreseeable future.

As Mr Kipling said, East is East and West and West, and never the twain shall meet.