What To Bring...

So....You have done all the research, you know where you going and what country you are going to visit, you have found a good reliable safari company who gave you a great itinerary and you booked and paid for your first African Safari. 

Now, the big question, what do I/we pack, what will we need? I will try and give some advice as to what to bring on safari, bearing in mind that on your big international flight out, you will normally be allowed to take around 30Kg with you but if you are going to do small internal light aircraft flights between camps they only allow 12-15kg/person which is not much, but with careful planning you can pack and fit everything you will need.

The best kind of bags to use is soft duffel kind bag as they fit easy into the undercarriage of small aircraft and the best ones also have wheels so you can pull them around the airports. Clothing wise you really don't need allot, it will also depend on where exactly you are going and what time of the year. Generally in Southern and in East Africa we have warm to hot weather in the afternoons, but in June/July in some regions it can get very cold in the early mornings and evenings so you want to bring a good thick jacket or a nice thick fleece in those months and sometimes even some gloves and a beanie, otherwise normally just a good fleece will be enough. Today in your local outdoor shop you can get all kinds of safari clothing and gear, the best outdoor clothing these days are made from lightweight quick dry material and there are allot of brands to choose from. When you pack your clothing remember don't pack too much, almost all safari camps and lodges provide laundry service and they often bring it back the same day. Colour is also important when choosing your clothes, in the bush the main colours are shades of green, brown and grey and you want to try and blend in a bit so that the animals don't see you coming a mile away, this also does not mean that you now have to go to an army surplus store and by a whole lot of camo gear, the best colour that has been used in the bush for century's is khaki. When it comes to shoes on safari two pairs will be more than enough, you need comfortable closed shoes for when you are in the bush on game drives or safari walks and then a good pair of open sandals for in and around the camp is also good to have. For dinnertime, don't bother packing formal evening ware as most camps do not have a dress code, if you are in a camp that does, you are in the wrong camp.

Cameras and binoculars are going to be a vital part of your luggage so great care and consideration is needed when deciding which kind to buy. Camera talk and specs are huge and to cover all of them on this blog is impossible you will need an entire web page to do that but I will point out some things to take in consideration before the friendly camera shop dealer takes all your money. There are basically two types of cameras the DSLR (digital single lens reflex) and the compact digital (often called the point and shoot) you can also look at various video cameras, as they are great to have when a lion brings down that wildebeest in front of your eyes.

The DSLR is a great choice as it offers the very best in image quality and you get to choose and fit different lenses, they can however be complicated to use and with the lenses they can be heavy and difficult to travel with. When looking at an SLR Canon and Nikon make the best, and try and get the same make lenses. A great tip when it comes to SLR type cameras is spend less on the camera body and but the best lenses you can afford as the lens is what makes the photo. Compact digital cameras or the “point and shoot” are great little cameras and they have developed in leaps and bounds, they are small, light weight and easy to travel with, they also come with great HD video recording capability’s so you get a two in one camera. Whatever cameras you decide to bring with you try and get one with zoom capabilities of at least 300mm (optical not digital), high pixel count of 8.2 and above and loads of spare memory cards, you will be surprised as to how many photos you will take and you don’t want to run out of memory cards as many camps do not sell them, also remember to bring extra batteries and battery charger and a multiplug adapter to fit your different power plugs.

To me a good pair of binoculars is probably the most important piece of equipment you will use on safari and I can’t believe how many guests come without one. Allot of time is going to be spend scanning the area with your binoculars for animals and many of them are not always going to be two meters from your car and they are very important if you want to enjoy the beauty of our feathered friends. Like with cameras the choice of binoculars are great with many different price tags but a good tip when looking at binoculars is to choose a pair that give you a big field of view and the lenses provide a clear bright picture. Popular and good multiplications ratios are 10x32, 8x32, 8x40, 8x42 and 10x42. If you are a family of more than three don’t just bring one pair of binoculars, as you will spend the entire time fighting as to who’s turn it is next.

Other goodies to remember to throw into your bag or backpack is a good hat for the sun, sunblock, sunglasses, insect repellent, a good book to read (for siesta time in camp), malaria tablets (consult your GP, also ask about inoculations especially yellow fever as many country’s wont let you in without one), raincoat (yes sometimes it rains in Africa), swimsuit (some camps and lodges have a pool) and a small torch or headlamp.

I will end off with another great tip especially if you are traveling to East Africa and again I cant believe how many guests were not informed about this. In East Africa, camps, shops and banks do not except American dollar bills older than 2001 so remember when you bring dollars with you make sure they are from 2001 and newer.  

Happy packing!