MONEY, CREDIT CARDS and TIPS

MONEY HINTS ON A SOUTH AFRICAN SAFARI

CREDIT and DEBIT CARDS:

Payment for your Safari is ONLY with VISA or MASTERCARD CREDIT or DEBIT CARDS, for deposits on booking and at the end of your safari. No other types of cards are accepted.

MONEY:

You Only need about $ 150 in US$ / foreign cash just in case. You may only need to convert about $50 of that into Rands cash as most stores in SA accept credit and debit cards.

NOT ACCEPTED - CASH :

US $, EURO or GBP Sterling traveler’s checks or no FOREIGN currency cash ( forex ). This is because of SA Laws regarding foreign currency cash or travellers checks : at the local Banks there is huge paperwork involved, proof of ID of person banking cash, a verification process, often the person doing forex at the bank is not there or their forex counting and fraud checking machines are not working ( they check each and every note is not fake ), few local banks take forex anymore, the fees are high, the exchange rate is poor and commission on foreign cash are all not in our favour, so this means a timeous process for us to get forex banked in South Africa and our ranch is not near any banks. It is illegal for residents of South Africa ( SA ) to be in possession of foreign money/forex ( eg. US $) - they must bank it immediately, so using your credit card to pay for all is the best for us.

OTHER :

Foreign bank transfer fees, fees to use your credit card overseas and currency conversion fees are the client’s own responsibility .

Everything can be paid for at the end of your safari with the above 2 type of credit or debit cards i.e. extra side trips / tours, tips, curios etc. It is recommended / MUST DO, to contact your credit card company and advise them you are traveling to Africa so they will allow these transactions, so do this BEFORE you leave home. RHS is not responsible nor liable for added costs by the clients bank ( eg. currency conversion fees, fees for the use of your card overseas) , nor fluctuations in the exchange rate.

TIPS:

Tipping of the Staff and PH is welcome and appreciated.

You may leave whatever you wish for tips – below is simply an estimate to assist you.

Example of tipping norm for a 5 day safari is a total of  $ 250 per person.

Use this recommendation to calculate tips for less or more days when on safari here.

Please do NOT give TIPS directly to staff nor to to your Guides - Please give all tips to Richard or Marion for Proportional and Fair Equitable distribution as there are numerous behind the scenes staff that need to be taken care of. Taking care of all involved, including those staff behind the scenes is the African way and accepted norm here because we work as a team. We have been doing tips this way for many years to the benefit of all involved on our safaris and the smooth running of our operation. Our staff and Guides want tipping done this way.

Our staff (the behind the scenes workers) during your safari, will be hard at work to ensure your stay is a most comfortable experience. There are cooks who prepare your  meals along with the food that is in your cool box during the day, there are people who clean your rooms/ make your beds, there are people who collect your laundry daily, wash, press / Iron and return all to you / your room at the end of the day. The guides and trackers will do everything in their powers and knowledge to ensure your safari is a successful and enjoyable one.
Richard or Marion convert the tips to Rands ZAR cash and within only a short time after your safari the staff get their tips in ZAR cash, so no long wait for their tips and the staff don’t loose out on all the costs : bank fees, bank commissions, taxes, currency conversion fees etc., and they receive their tips here on the ranch in a safe and secure environment.

Monetary tips, as opposed to items, is most appreciated.

Tips please to be paid with Credit or Debit card or in ZAR ( ZAR Rands cash, which is the most preferable for us), not with forex cash, eg. US$ / foreign currency cash because forex is a huge headache, paperwork and timeous process to get banked in South Africa and our ranch is not near any banks.
Another option which suits us all the best is before you leave home go to your local bank and convert about $ 500 into ZAR ( into Rands cash at the best rate you can get please) for tipping. Do not do this at an airport vendor as you will get very poor value / rate of exchange for your $ or your currency.

It is illegal for residents of South Africa ( SA ) to be in possession of foreign money/forex ( eg. US $) - they must bank it immediately. Staff using the black market for exchanging forex cash puts staff at risk of their safety and it is illegal and dangerous to our staff as they will have to go into bad areas far away from our ranch - we don’t want staff lives put at risk going into those bad areas of the black market. Most of our staff do not have bank accounts, no acceptable bank identification, nor the time to get to a bank to deposit foreign money, so it is near impossible for them with foreign cash.

Very Poor bank rates on forex cash, high bank costs and commission, taxes and high bank foreign currency conversion fees leave staff with very little Rand from the tip if you give them forex directly, therefore we recommend and we all ask you again, to please to give all the tips directly to Richard or Marion, paid on your Credit or Debit card, which you can simply add to your bill at the end of the safari, or in ZAR Cash - This will make the process of tipping easier on you as well as the staff.