Good subject line as -- even after having just returned this morning from helping my husband lead a 9-day photo tour there -- I'm still a bit perplexed about the whole matter.
Before setting out we were told (in the SouthWild literature that we were sent and also gave to our clients) that it was a simple matter of tipping the boat drivers (who would help us find jaguars) about $10 per day, per person, the main guide about $15 per day, per person, and putting any amount we saw fit into the box at the lodge for the rest of the staff at the end of the tour.
Well, it didn't turn out that way at all (one lodge didn't even have a box). When all was said and done we -- as the photo tour leaders -- ended up dishing out about $900 in tips, while each set of two clients dished out about an average of $500!!!!!!!!!!!!
We have never had to tip this much -- not even in Costa Rica where it is VERY expensive.
We were a SMALL group, too -- only 8 of us (that includes my husband and me) so it's not like they had a lot to put up with for us. We were NOT prepared for this and felt terrible on behalf of our clients, but like I said, we just went by the literature that we were provided.
Here's the breakdown of what was REALLY expected of us:
Restaurant at each lodge (we stayed at SouthWild's Flotel and Santa Tereza): $15 per couple, per day -- we all thought this was far too much considering it came out to $5 per meal for self-serve, buffet style meals that were included in an "all-inclusive" package -- especially considering that in the U.S. at a 20% tipping rate we wouldn't be leaving a $5.00 tip for breakfast and probably not for lunch, either. And, honestly, at Santa Tereza, the service was NOT with a smile, we often had to wait for plates, cold water, and coffee. (With regard to the service, if we'd gone out to eat at a restaurant, we would've left a 15% tip, not a 20% tip.)
Maid Service: $5 per couple per day, for a total of $25 per couple for the Flotel and another $20 at the other lodge for a total for the 9-days of $45 for maid service.
Jaguar Boat Driver: $10 per couple per day, but...they really expected more. Some gave more and some didn't.
Other Boat Drivers: We went out on two other boat excursions at the other lodge. They helped find wildlife. When they found something particular cool I was told, "You might want to give him a little something extra." We did, but I thought, "Isn't finding something cool his job?"
Truck Drivers: One guy drove us there, loaded our luggage (with the help of our ultra-hardworking main guide), and fixed the truck when it broke down. He ended up with about $25 total. Another guy was great; he actively looked for wildlife and stopped and with a lot of excitement attempted to speak as much English as possible to point it out and tell us about it. We had no problem tipping him. Not all tipped, but he ended up with about $28 total.
I'm all for tipping, but I'm going to take a minute to vent here: it's no longer tipping. It's become expected. To whit: one of our couples' rooms was skipped one day, yet it was apparent that we were expected to tip the $25.
So to total it up for our clients: tipping for a 9-day Pantanal Jaguar adventure was about $500 per couple (we spent more, but were were leading the tour and felt we had make the staff extra happy in the hopes that they'd take extra good care of our clients next time...):
Boat Driver for 5-days at Flotel: Minimum expected was $50 (most tipped $60)
Restaurant at both lodges: $135
Maid service: $45
Main guide (he was awesome - he should have received ALL the tips...now there is a tip that none of us minded dishing out a bit!! He loaded and unloaded all our luggage, enthusiastically found lots of wildlife, and pretty much saw to all the needs we couldn't as tour leaders): $200
Other boat drivers: $20
Box in Santa Teresa: $60 (for other staff not included - some guides tell their people not to worry about this and hand pick their favorite friends for tips - not fair! Next time we will tell our clients to tip whoever they want - restaurant if they want, box if they want, a favorite employee if they want...)
Truck drivers (who brought us back and forth from two lodges): $5
** TOTAL per couple: $525
** TOTAL for us a photo tour leaders: $880
