small_but_feisty

My husband and I will be going on safari in Kenya/Tanzania in Oct 2007. We are very concerned with the weight restrictions imposed by the safari tour operator (33 lbs each). This would normally not be a problem but the safari will be the start of a 3-month long trip that will continue to southeast Asia, India, and Australia/NZ, Hawaii so we will be packing lots of stuff. Just our camera equipment probably weighs 5 lbs or more.

1) Has anyone travelled on safari in Oct? What will the weather be like? Do I really need to bring a sweater?

2) Any suggestions on what to pack? I bought a few pieces of synthetic, quick dry pants and zipoffs, shirts but am reading that natural fabrics are better (but heavier) because of the need to iron to kill all the bugs/bug eggs.

3) Did you travel with a suitcase or duffle?

sandi

There are lots of threads re clothing, packing and weight... a search on this board will bring them up and probably answer all your questions.

If you have excess weight/luggage for the other destinations you'll be visiting, you can arrange to leave some of your belongings back in Nairobi or wherever your are returning at conclusion of safari. Hopefully, the same city as where you arrived.

October weather starts to get warmer, but mornings and nights are are always cool even cold, depending on where you are. On the Crater rim, at 7,000' think cold. You definitely need something warmer than a t-shirt - a sweater, windbreaker or lots and lots of layers.

I don't own poly or any synthetics and always travel with natural fibre clothing. You'd be surprised just how much you can pack to reach that 33/lbs. Remember, you can have laundry done at lodges/camps (except for women's wears); if not included in your room rate, then very inexpensive.

Assuming you'll be taking a few flights in light aircraft, soft-sided duffles are best and recommended as they are easier to squish into the small luggage holds. And preferrably bags without wheels (you won't have to carry them once in Africa; luggage carts are available at all international airports).

Duane

We also needed to store bags as we were going onto Germany and Amsterdam after the Safari. In our case we left the additional bags at the Arusha Hotel and they held them until we returned on our way to the airport (stayed there the night prior to the Safari). I'm sure any hotel would do the same.

For the safari we used a duffle bag each After all our stuff was in, our bags only weighed 26 lbs each. But, I took a backpack that had all our electrical equipment, chargers, camera and laptop. This I carried on the plane with no problem, no questions asked. We did laundry at all the camps that we could (have to stay for 2 nights). I was surprised, all the camps accepted women's under garments.

As for clothes, we were there in July and carried almost all synthetic fibers, the quick dry stuff. No problems. At the crater I used a t-shirt (although cotton), long sleeve shirt and a light jacket. It was fine as I wasn't out of the top of the truck when we were on the rim

Enjoy,
Duane

waynehazle

October in Kenya & Tanzania, nice and warm, but not unbearably hot during the day.

Chance of needing a very light windbreaker in the early early morning. You will definitely want one riding down to the Crater, which you should do as early as they will allow.

small_but_feisty

Thanks for all the advice! I want to limit the packing as much as possible. Does anyone know whether it will be very humid in these places?

sandi

Little or low humidity in East Africa in October. If you're not heading to the coast (Mombasa or Zanzibar) where it's tropical, so humid... you should be fine.