WE ARE GOING ON A SAFARI FOR 19 DAYS AND CAN TAKE ONLY 26LBS, CARRY ON AND BOOKED ARE ALL INCLUDED. HOW DO WE DO THIS? I ALWAYS OVERPACK BUT NOT THIS TIME.

Wear your binocs and put batteries and other heavy stuff in your pockets. A safari vest is great for carrying all that heavy stuff on your person. I never use use the vest on the actual safari, just flying to and from.

Since you mentioned "we," you can share things like shampoo, first aid stuff, toothpaste, so that will help cut down. Rely on the laundry services available and take just a few changes of clothes. Unless you are doing walking safaris, just tennis shoes are needed, no heavy boots. Tennis shoes are fine even if you choose to do a walk at camp.

Do a trial run and weigh in.

Have a great time.

GREAT,NEVER THOUGHT OF VEST BACKING.THANKS

And, pray

And don't forget to turn off your CAPS LOCK.
regard - tom

For me this is the fun bit - it's like a puzzle. Don't panic - we've done 21 days with 14 lbs of camera gear in there (and once we wised up to the fact they don't weigh what's round your neck, life got so much easier...)

As Lynn(?) said - carry on your person. I wear my camera with the 500 telephoto attached and no-one has ever batted an eyelid. I wear hiking boots myself - again if they are on your feet, no problem.

You need far less clothes then you think - pick what you plan to take, then take out *at least* one set of trousers, 2 shirts / Tees (you weren't taking PJs were you - sleep in a T-shirt if you must wear something) - come back and repeat this at the end when you are nearly within weight! Oh - and dump the jeans - they weigh far too much.

Put your 'must take' in a pile - for me this is: medical kit (strip the packaging and attach the instructions to the medicine with elastic bands, although that's more space then weight saving), sharps, sun-block, solid block deodorant, soap, toothbush and paste, comb, insect repellent, hats, feminine hygiene (if necessary) - probably another pound of stuff I haven't thought of while typing this.

Weigh the 'must take' - if it's over 6 lbs do a radical rethink about 'must have' to be sure you need it.

The remainder is clothes, logbook (which weighs quite some) and happy packing - unless you are carting an SLR around ofc...

The really annoying bit is that when we had so carefully hit the weight budget we arrived at our Sefofane flight and the pilot said 'Is this all you have?'... If this happens, you have my permisssion to dot him one

As far as I can tell the weight budget is really to avoid people (like my boss) travelling with everything they own, rather then being sensible. Having said that - I've been on flights in the Orkney Islands (UK) where they *do* weigh everything except the person, and charge you by the pound - so go figure...

Enjoy the discovery of how little you need - it's kinda fun

Ysa

Maybe it is a good thing, I will know I can pack less and be ok.

Are you going on OAT's Ultimate Africa trip? If so, when do you leave? We're on that trip, leaving September 12. Glad you asked about packing. Twenty-six pounds only is daunting, and there've been good suggestions in the responses.

Yes we are. We are going Nov 1.The trip seems real good, but the 26lbs. Please let us know how you like it, and how to use our 26lbs.

Have a great trip.

check this thread:
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34802443
for a great packing list - or do a search in the search box on the top of the page for packing list.

For women, I have found some very lightweight pants and capris at mall shop named Lucy's . Chico's also has light weight clothing..not just the Travelor matte jersey line....although that is great for your one dressy item if needed...black pants and a really light weight blouse over a tank.
You can take fancy looking flipflops for a dressier look...weigh nothing and are all the rage.
find a lotion that can be both face and body lotion and pack several small tubes of that.
Find out if the places you are staying have a hair dryer. If so, leave yours home. Or if not, find a really small travel one.
Found some really light Easyspirit shoes at a store and then ordered more on the website. They are slip on/mule type shoes that are more like tennis shoes. Great support for walking, and are cute too.
The dryweave type t shirts sold in sporting good stores, dry fast and are very lightweight. They don't wrinkle either.