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Pack for an East African safari in neutral, lightweight layers, carried in a soft sided duffel under the 15kg limit that light aircraft enforce. Leave behind camouflage, dark blue and black, plastic bags and hard shell suitcases, all of which cause problems at some point. East Africa here means Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda, where game drives, forest treks and cold dawn starts all sit in one trip.
Almost everyone overpacks the first time, then spends the trip living out of the same four garments. Camps do laundry, the dust wins regardless, and nobody on a game drive is looking at what you are wearing.
Start with the bag, because it decides everything else. A soft sided duffel with no rigid frame and no wheels is the requirement, since it has to be squashed into an awkward cargo pod on a small aircraft. A wheeled hard case will be refused, and rightly so.
The standard allowance on bush flights is 15kg per person including hand luggage, which surprises people who are used to checking twenty three kilos without thinking. Safarilink, AirKenya, Governors’ Aviation and Coastal Aviation all work to that figure. Auric Air and some Tanzanian carriers allow up to twenty. Confirm yours, since the number covers everything you carry, cameras included.
Pilots do weigh bags. Some carry a pocket scale.
If you are arriving on a long haul flight with a bigger case, most Nairobi and Arusha hotels will store the excess free of charge while you are in the bush. Repack into the duffel the night before you fly out, and collect the rest on the way home.
The neutral colour advice is not aesthetic tradition, and there are three separate reasons behind it.
Dark blue and black attract tsetse flies, which live in the woodland and riverine pockets of Tarangire, Lake Manyara and parts of the Serengeti. Research published in a peer reviewed tropical disease journal tested dozens of fabric colours against tsetse populations near Lake Victoria and found blue and black the strongest attractants, with red behind them. The bite is painful rather than dangerous for most travellers, and the flies can get through thin fabric, so cover and colour both help.
Bright white is the opposite problem. Red laterite dust settles on everything within an hour and shows on white immediately.
Then there is animal behaviour, which matters less than people assume from inside a vehicle but matters a lot on foot. Muted tones simply draw less attention on a walking safari.
Khaki, olive, beige, tan, stone and light grey all work. Medium weight, tightly woven, loose fitting. Skip denim, which is slow to dry, heavy and exactly the shade tsetse prefer.
The temperature swing catches almost everyone out. Highland mornings can sit below ten degrees at six o’clock and reach the high twenties by lunchtime, a shift of twenty degrees inside a single day.
Early game drives in an open vehicle at speed are properly cold. A fleece or light down mid layer and a windproof outer earn their space every morning, and you will peel both off by nine. The Ngorongoro Crater rim is cold enough at night that some camps run heaters, while the crater floor is warm and dusty by mid morning.
A workable wardrobe for a week: three long sleeved neutral shirts, one short sleeve, two pairs of lightweight trousers, one pair that zips off or a pair of shorts for camp, a fleece, a windproof jacket, and a rain shell if you are travelling anywhere near the wet months. Add something a little smarter for dinner if you are staying somewhere that bothers, plus swimwear and sleepwear.
Long sleeves and long trousers on drives do double duty against sun, dust and biting insects. A bandana or light face covering is worth having for the crater floor.
Heavy hiking boots are unnecessary for a straightforward safari, and they eat your weight allowance. Trainers or light trail shoes cover game drives and camp perfectly well, with a pair of sandals or sliders for the evening.
Walking safaris in the Mara conservancies or Laikipia call for something with more grip and ankle support, though still nothing heavy.
Gorilla trekking is the exception, and the only activity that justifies proper boots. Several pairs of moisture wicking socks matter more than most people expect, and long socks pulled over trouser cuffs are the standard defence against both tsetse and safari ants.
Which country you trek in changes the ground underfoot, and Uganda and Rwanda compare differently on terrain, permit price and travel time.
A gorilla trekking safari asks for a different kit from a savannah trip, and if your itinerary includes both, pack for the forest and strip back for the plains.
On your body
Long sleeved shirt and long trekking trousers against stinging nettles, which are everywhere in the Virungas. Waterproof boots with ankle support for wet volcanic soil. Gaiters if you have them.
Hands and rain
Gardening gloves are the item nobody mentions and everybody wishes they had, because you will grab vegetation to steady yourself. A waterproof rain jacket with a hood goes in the daypack whatever the forecast says, and rain trousers are worth it in the wet months.
Daypack contents
Water for several hours, snacks, a dry bag for the camera, and a well fitting face mask. Great apes catch human respiratory infections easily, so masks are recommended or required on primate treks.
For the porter
Pack so your daypack can be handed over. Porters wait at every trailhead, the fee is small, and the work supports families living on the forest edge.
Bring binoculars, one pair each rather than one to share. Some vehicles carry a spare set, usually basic. Nothing changes a first safari more than being able to actually see the leopard everyone is pointing at.
On the open Kenyan plains they earn their weight several times over, as the Masai Mara safari guide sets out.
Cameras and long lenses count toward your fifteen kilos, which is where photographers run into trouble. A padded bag or cube matters, because tracks are rough and vehicles bounce hard for hours. Bring more memory cards and spare batteries than you think, since charging in tented camps can be limited to certain hours or a solar system.
The plug is Type G, the British three pin, across Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. A universal adapter and a battery pack cover the gaps. A headlamp is genuinely useful in camps where paths are unlit and you are escorted to your tent after dark.
Drones are banned in and around national parks across the region. Do not bring one expecting to fly it.
A repellent containing DEET is the standard recommendation for mosquitoes, applied to exposed skin at dusk. Camps in malarial areas provide nets over the beds, so there is no need to carry your own. Speak to a travel clinic about antimalarials well before departure, since some need starting in advance.
Sun at the equator and at altitude is stronger than the temperature suggests. A wide brimmed hat, high factor sunscreen, lip balm and sunglasses do more work than any garment.
Carry your own small kit for the obvious things: prescription medication in original packaging with a copy of the prescription, rehydration salts, antihistamine, plasters, hand sanitiser and wet wipes. Dust and long drives are hard on contact lenses, so bring glasses as backup.
The two items guests thank us for most are gardening gloves and a decent pair of binoculars. Neither costs much and neither takes up space.
This half of the list saves more trouble than the packing half.
Actually banned or restricted
Single use plastic carrier bags are illegal in Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda, with real fines attached, though resealable bags for electronics are normally accepted. Camouflage patterns are prohibited or restricted in Tanzania and Uganda among others, since they are reserved for military and police. That includes jackets, hats, bags and camo trim on backpack straps. Drones are not permitted in or near parks.
Allowed but a mistake
Hard shell suitcases and wheeled bags, which will not fit the aircraft. Dark blue, black and denim, for the tsetse. Bright white, which the dust ruins in a morning. Heavy hiking boots for a drive only trip. Strong perfume or cologne, which draws insects. Expensive jewellery, which is impractical and unnecessary.
Also leave the idea that you need a new safari wardrobe. Four shirts on rotation is genuinely how most people end up travelling.
Almost every camp and lodge offers laundry, often included or for a small fee, hand washed and line dried and back with you inside a day. That is what lets you pack light rather than heavy, and it is the single biggest reason first timers overpack.
Documents matter more than clothing. Passport valid at least six months beyond departure with blank pages, printed visa approval, yellow fever certificate dated at least ten days before arrival, insurance policy number and the emergency assistance line. Keep printed copies and photographs, because remote gates and airstrips lose signal.
Carry cash in clean, undamaged United States dollars in small denominations for tips and incidentals. Older series notes are frequently refused across the region, so ask your bank for recent bills.
Plan on roughly US$20 to US$40 per person per day in total, split about evenly between your driver guide and the camp staff. Over a week that comes to around US$140 to US$280 per person. Carry it in small United States bills, ones, fives, tens and twenties, from a recent series and in good condition, since worn or older series notes are often turned away.
Around US$15 to US$20 at the trailhead in both Uganda and Rwanda, with a tip on top at your discretion. It is money well spent even if you are fit, and it puts income directly into the villages bordering the forest.
Yes, and you do not need to spend a fortune. A serviceable pair sits around US$150 to US$300, with 8×42 or 10×42 the usual recommendation for safari use. Cheaper models under US$50 tend to be dim and hard to hold steady, which defeats the point. Renting is occasionally possible through operators but rarely worth the hassle for a short trip.
In Nairobi, Arusha and Kigali, yes, for most things. Sunscreen, repellent, batteries and basic clothing are all available, though imported items carry a premium and specialist gear such as camera equipment or quality boots is limited and expensive. Prescription medication should always come with you. In the bush there are no shops at all beyond a small camp curio counter.
Fifteen kilos per person including hand luggage on most Kenyan carriers, up to twenty with some Tanzanian operators. Excess is not simply charged as it would be on a commercial flight; on a small aircraft it may not fly at all, or you may be asked to buy an additional seat. Camera gear counts, so photographers travelling with long lenses should tell their operator in advance rather than discovering the problem at the airstrip.
Nothing specialist. Muted colours matter more on foot than in a vehicle, closed shoes with grip are needed rather than sandals, and long trousers protect against grass seeds and ants. Night drives are cold in an open vehicle even after a hot day, so take the fleece you wore at dawn.
No. Camps and lodges in malarial areas provide nets over the beds as standard, and tents are screened. Bring repellent, cover up at dusk, and follow the antimalarial advice from your own clinician instead.
Packing lists are easy to overthink, and the truth is that a handful of neutral layers, a decent pair of binoculars and the right bag cover almost every trip we run. Ancient Africa Safaris is owner led and East Africa is all we do, so once we know your route and your months we can tell you exactly which of the items above you actually need and which you can safely skip.
There is no hurry. Write to us whenever it suits and one of our team will reply in person, usually with a question about where you are heading before sending anything through.
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