Safari packing list: what earns its place and what stays at home

Short version: a soft bag rather than a hard case, muted colours, one warm layer for the mornings, and considerably less than you think. Domestic flights to the airstrips commonly cap you at 15 kg in a soft bag — not a suggestion but a loading limit.

The bag itself

Bush planes have narrow holds. A hard shell case often will not fit, and you find that out on the apron rather than in advance. Bring a soft holdall or a rucksack.

Whatever has to stay behind is usually stored at your hotel in Arusha or Nairobi — manageable if you were expecting it, infuriating if you were not.

Clothing

Muted colours: beige, olive, khaki, brown, grey.

Two colours are a genuine problem rather than folklore:

• Dark blue and black attract tsetse flies. The bite hurts. In Tarangire and parts of Nyerere National Park you will notice the difference.
• White stops being white after half a day of dust.

Camouflage print is illegal for civilians in Tanzania and several neighbouring countries. That includes children's clothing.

What is enough:

• 3–4 long-sleeved shirts (sun and insects)
• 2 pairs of long trousers, 1 pair of shorts
• One warm layer. Mornings in the Ngorongoro Crater are around 8 °C in an open vehicle. Almost everybody underestimates this.
• A light waterproof
• Closed shoes plus sandals
• Brimmed hat, sunglasses

Most camps do laundry daily for a few dollars. Ten days does not need ten outfits.

What genuinely has to come

• Binoculars. The single biggest difference between "there is a dot" and "that is a leopard". 8×42 or 10×42. One per person, not one per vehicle.
• Charger and power bank. Many camps have electricity only for part of the day, and often only in the communal area.
• A Type G adapter — the British three-pin — for Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. Rwanda uses Type C.
• Medication in its original packaging, in your hand luggage, with the patient information leaflet.
• Copies of your passport, visa and vaccination record, kept separately from the originals.
• A torch or head torch. Camps are dark at night, and that is deliberate.

What can stay at home

• A mosquito net. Every camp has them.
• Bulk insect repellent. Available locally, and often more effective against the species that are actually there.
• Towels. Provided.
• A drone. Banned without a permit in Tanzanian and Kenyan national parks, and bringing one in can trigger a deposit at customs.
• Plastic bags. Banned nationwide in Rwanda and confiscated at Kigali airport. Single-use plastic bags are prohibited in Kenya too.

Hand luggage

One day of clothes, your medication, the camera, the documents. Delayed baggage does not reach a camp in the Serengeti quickly — realistically it may not reach you before you fly home.

Baggage limits differ between airlines. The 15 kg rule for bush flights is common but not universal, so check it for the connection you are actually booked on.