Fuck clothespins. BINDER CLIPS. The duct tape of the office: use to clip shut any open bags (snacks, etc) or even as a hair clip … in addition to having a firmer grip on clothes being hung to dry.
Plus the handle/tab thingies are a loop, allowing you to hang them.
I did a safari in Botswana and Tanzania two years ago in May, so weather might be a little different, but I think the principles will be the same. I’m going to repeat some things that have already been said, so I apologize for that.
[ul]
[li]Layers of clothing. I would bring one hoodie or sweatshirt or similarly warm-ish thing that you can layer on top of other clothes, and then remove when things wartm up. It shouldn’t get too funky or smelly if it’s always your outer garment. :-)[/li][li]A rain jacket or poncho. I prefer a packable jacket, because I can also wear it for a little warmth, but other people prefer ponchos. Your call.[/li][li]Small, cheap, LED flashlight. Tents will probably have flashlights for getting around at night, but it doesn’t hurt to carry one with you (mine was on a carabiner hanging off my backpack). I left mine with one of the guides who liked it.[/li][li]A hat. I like Tilleys, but anything that will keep the sun off your head is a good idea. I would take one with a brim over a ball cap. Packable/squishable is good also.[/li][li]Scarf or similar. I took a shemagh that I got cheap off of Amazon. It was really useful for warmth, keeping the sun off my neck, pulling over my face on dusty/buggy game drives.[/li][li]Sunglasses/glasses. I had a regular pair of sunglasses on most of the time; in hindsight I wish I’d taken my running glasses, which are photochromatic. There were dusk/nighttime game drives where the bugs were so thick I wished I’d had something over my eyes.[/li][li]Lightweight/quick-drying clothing. Leave the jeans at home; “tech” fabrics will pack lighter and dry more quickly. Most tented camps will have laundry services (and they have surprisingly quick turnarounds), but in case you need to clean some clothes yourself, tech fabrics can be washed in the sink or shower, and will usually dry over night.[/li][li]Nylon/Polyester/Modal underwear. See above.[/li][li]Insect repellant/Permethrin. Take as strong as you can stand (I used 100% DEET). I also treated all of my clothing with Permethrin before leaving, and it seemed to work really, really well.[/li][li]Packing cubes. You won’t have a lot of luggage space, and I found that packing cubes really helped me stay organized. I would pack an outfit or two in each one, so when I got to camp I just had to pull a cube out of my bag.[/li][li]Anti-diarrheals, analgesics, band-aids, azythromycin, and any prescription drugs you need.[/li][li]Extra contact lenses (if you wear them).[/li][li]Smallish binoculars. Packing space will be at a premium, so I wouldn’t bring a big giant pair. I have some 8x25s that worked well.[/li][li]Small bills for tips and such.[/li][li]A water bottle[/li][li]Universal travel adapter (with USB ports). Most of us are traveling with devices that will charge via USB; there are any number of travel adapters you can by that will plug into most outlets, and have multiple USB ports (as well as an AC recepticle). If you have something that must run on AC power, check its ratings; there’s a good chance it will handle 220V as well as US-standard 110V. This does not hold true for things with heating elements and/or motors, but I would advise leaving the hair dryer at home. :-)[/li][/ul]
Above all - bring your sense of adventure and wonder. My safari trip was literally life-changing.
Yes - binder clips. Much more useful than you think they will be.
Very good list - thank you. I’ve been thinking about bringing a water bottle. Should I just stick my regular, reusable water bottle in the holder in my backpack? What about a collapsible one? They do give us a bottle of water at the start of each drive. Should I just keep one of those and refill it?
I do want a Tilly hat but I hate the idea of it being squished and thought I’d buy one there. I suppose wearing it is an option but I have over 24 hours of travel and really don’t want to wear it the whole time.
I have Icaridin spray instead of deet. They recommended it at the travel clinic where I got my shots.
I stuck a stainless steel water bottle in the holder on my backpack, but really it’s whatever you like and are comfortable with.
My Tilley packs really flat and seems to come to no harm from it. I had it in my carry-on bag as the last thing packed and it did just fine.
One other thing, on a more somber note. When you are in a city like Nairobi, practice good personal security. Sightseeing is fine, but stay off your cellphone and pay attention to who is around you and to your surroundings in general. If possible, walk with another tourist. Ask the hotel desk for recommendations. You may want to avoid going out at night. Don’t leave your passport or money in the hotel, if you can avoid it. I think someone mentioned having a photocopy of your passport: this is excellent advice. If your passport is stolen, you will have to go to an embassy and prove that you are an American citizen. Keep the original and the copy in separate locations. Hopefully, your hotel will have a safe where you can keep important documents.
Oh, and from personal painful experience, don’t try to see how sharp the acacia thorns are. 
That’s what I do. I get a liter bottle of water or two on arrival (often hotels will provide it free) and keep the empty bottle to refill as needed. I think many ecologically responsible tour companies these days will bring large bottles of water from which you can refill your own one. If not they will provide individual bottles, but I try to minimize the number of plastic bottles I use.
I went to Kenya as a teenager, having failed to pack any warm clothing at all. I wound up wearing my school uniform jumper, as my parents picked me up from school on the way to the airport, so I had it on.
Oh, we were also camping, and I didn’t discover one of my tent poles was missing until I went to put it up at the first place we stayed. Luckily a helpful local managed to hammer a metal tube to shape, but I had to carry that around like a staff for the rest of the trip as it was too big for my backpack
Do I remember the marvellous wildlife I saw on that trip? Well, yes, but nowhere near as much as the chaos bits. Which went waaay beyond packing errors, due to a near total lack of any kind of planning, but that’s not relevant.
I guess my point is, don’t worry too much about getting the absolute 100% best possible experience, 'cos that ain’t going to happen. You got the medical stuff done, the passport and backup info sorted, and sufficient clothing to not get hypothermia/killer sunburn. That’s the basics required. The best possible flashlight/superoptimal clothing may be nice to have, but it’s not necessary. Relax and enjoy your trip!
A note about binoculars. If you are accustomed to frequent use of them, the ones you have are good enough. If you don’t already own a pair, simple basic binocs are good enough, and you can get Bushnells for $50-75, and you’ll probably be happy with compacts. Avoid the bubble-pak brands from Walmart. If you pay five or ten or twenty times as much, you would probably not notice the difference in casual use. 7x power is fine, there is little to gain (except carry-weight) with a larger number. For stationary distant game, someone in your group will have a spotting scope set up, you can take turns with.
But your own binoculars will be the single most essential thing you need to pack. Don’t leave home without it.
On my trip in Peru the outfitter made a point to try and reduce single-use plastic bottle use. I brought two 1-liter reusable Nalgene bottles (that I already owned), and they provided purified water in the hotel lobby from a 5-gallon bottle, which we filled our own bottles from regularly for drinking and brushing teeth (remember not to use un-purified water for this). I opted not to bring a rubber bladder with a hose fearing it would get a hole and become worthless and un-fillable - the Nalgene bottles are more durable and fairly light. However, on my Andes trek the hose would have been more convenient. Personal preference.
Another thing I just thought of is a small bottle of hand sanitizer in case that was not already mentioned.
And, a small roll of TP in case that was not mentioned already as well. I keep mine in a ziplock.
I’ve got my handy Bushnells that have served me well for years. But this is a private safari so the only binoculars will be mine and my cousins. I don’t even know what he has. Or if he has any - I’d better ask him in case he needs to borrow a pair. I’ve got another pair that were my dad’s.
Got my hand sanitizer and toilet wet wipes packed.
Surely the water at upscale hotels will be safe for drinking? At the camps I’m not sure but I assumed it would be fine at hotels/resorts. Should I not brush my teeth with the tap water at all and only drink bottled water? What about drinks? After a long day game driving I plan to relax at the pool with some type of slushy, fruity drink.
Our outfitter was clear that no tap water in Peru was safe for us to drink or brush teeth with, and only use purified water. In the shower I had to be careful not to let water in my mouth as well. Our hotel was very clean, modern, and western in every way. I cannot say what the situation is where you are going, so better ask now and not assume. Another fun fact from my trip is that the sewers there cannot tolerate TP down the toilet, so there was a small trash bin next to each toilet for that. :eek: Be prepared for fun, unexpected things!
I’m not particularly paranoid about health risks, but my feeling is, why take a chance when it’s easy to avoid? Probably upscale hotels have filtration systems and resorts treat their water, but all it takes is one slip up to cost you several days of your once-in-a-lifetime trip to the misery of Montezuma’s revenge. I make it strict policy to only drink bottled or purified water (or beer :)) when traveling in the developing world, no matter how ritzy the hotel or resort. That goes for brushing teeth too (although it’s hard not t reflexively rinse your brush under the tap.) I always keep a bottle by the bathroom sink for brushing.
Most resorts will make their ice using bottled or purified water, but if in doubt ask.
Earplugs.
For those drums you’d hear, echoing.
Hard to sleep.
Otherwise, I recommend the list en Toto.
There is a small convenience store type shop at the entrance to Serengeti, across from the building where you pay the entrance fees.
Also in Serengeti there was a guy who came by the campsites in a truck every evening selling beer and soft drinks and snacks. Our guides warned us that his stuff was expensive, but from a Western perspective it still seemed cheap, just more expensive than the grocery stores and bars.
Actually, that’s not a bad idea. I always pack earplugs, which can be effective against loud music from that disco or cantina in town, barking dogs and crowing roosters, or just the person snoring in the next tent.
Noises on safari may be more concerning. One night while camping in tents in the Samburu in Kenya I and my companions were kept awake for hours in the middle of the night by a battle royal between a pride of lions and a pack of hyenas a few hundred yards away. In that case, earplugs wouldn’t have been much help in getting to sleep.:eek:
At our first tent camp in Botswana, we woke up at night to the sound of distant roaring. It gradually got closer and closer, as we lay there sweating bullets and trying not to make any noise. Then, suddenly, they were on the other side of us, which means they walked right through the camp. By then, I had to piss like a giant racehorse and crept across the tent to the toilet. I was never so glad for an en suite facility. In the morning, we found paw prints near the tent. :eek:
In the Samburu, I thought long and hard whether to stay in the tent and be inconspicuous or make a dash for the vehicle. In the end, I decided to stay put. We found the tracks of the scuffle the next morning.
Camping in Gabon, I awoke one morning to find leopard tracks within about 30 feet of my tent. I was glad I hadn’t had to take a leak during the night. (In Panama, I’ve had a jaguar grunting in curiosity in the night about 30 feet from my tent. Another night where I didn’t get much sleep. :))
Oh go on, if we’re starting that game…
The stay I had, my family wound up camping one night in the Maasai Mara (due to a puncture driven change of plans), at a lodge ‘campsite’ that was literally the remains of a fireplace and a watertank where, when we turned the tap, an entire dead dragonfly came out. No fence, no one else around. Not sure why we paid the lodge, in retrospect.
Midway through the night, my parents heard a noise and stuck their heads out the tent. There was a bull elephant just the other side of the fireplace. They scooted into the vehicle, which was next to their tent, when it moved away a bit, but decided it was too risky to try and wake me or my brother, camped opposite. They watched the elephant circle our tents, carefully stepping over the guylines, even passing between the two tents (only just over elephant width apart) for several hours until it wandered off around dawn. I vaguely woke up, heard crashing branches, muzzily thought ‘Why are Mum and Dad getting firewood this late?’ and fell back asleep, my brother even didn’t wake up that he remembered. At the closest, had I been awake, not in a tent and insane, I could have reached out and touched it.
Best dangerous wildlife story I’m ever likely to have, and I basically slept through the whole damn thing. Some of us don’t need earplugs 