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hi !

i am going mountaineering in bolivia this summer and i was wondering what was the average tip for guides and staff ? we are going to be 2 climbers and were planning 3 ascents, 4 days, 6 days and 8 days all with the same agency but separated by days off in laPaz. So what would be a good tip for the 2 of us for each trip(considering we are not super rich and want to minimise our budget, but still we dont want to be assholes to bolivian workers who obviously are poorer than us... ) any idea ? should we tip the lead guide only or tip every member of the team(probably one guide and one cook, but maybe one porter too on the longer trip) ?

thanks !

lelf wrote:i am going mountaineering in bolivia this summer and i was wondering what was the average tip for guides and staff ? we are going to be 2 climbers and were planning 3 ascents, 4 days, 6 days and 8 days all with the same agency but separated by days off in laPaz. So what would be a good tip for the 2 of us for each trip(considering we are not super rich and want to minimise our budget, but still we dont want to be assholes to bolivian workers who obviously are poorer than us... ) any idea ? should we tip the lead guide only or tip every member of the team(probably one guide and one cook, but maybe one porter too on the longer trip) ?

I was there last summer and had a great trip. Bolivia is wonderful. As for tips: tip out guide, cooks and porters. Normally in that order of amount also. Since you are using the same agency you might ask them for tip guidelines. You may not have the same people on each trip so plan to tip out at the end of each venture out of La Paz. I normally use a percentage of my cost that I pay the agency~10% or so. Cheers!

My TR.

thanx for the infos !

so how would i split the 10% ? 5% guide, 3% cook and 2% porter ? and is it 10% each climber or we tip 10% as a team ?

lelf wrote:thanx for the infos !

so how would i split the 10% ? 5% guide, 3% cook and 2% porter ? and is it 10% each climber or we tip 10% as a team ?

10% is just a rough guide. Do check with the agency as they want to make sure their staff is fairly tipped but not shorted/overdone as both can create problems. Your 5/3/2 ratio would work based on the level of service each provides. I usually collect all the tips and then distribute to each person directly. Some guides might take an additional cut if you give them all the money to redistribute. Cheers!