Proper Clothes for Safari in Beg. Oct.?
 

We will be in Mala Mala and Ngala in the very beginning of October, (starting on October 4). Do you recommend that we wear convertible pants (which can zip off to become shorts) on game drives, or will lightweight khaki pants be suitable? Perhaps the weather at that time of year is not usually hot enough for shorts? I am starting to think about what we will need.
Also, am I correct that a fleece is all we need in terms of warmth? (This will be our 1st safari)!! Thanx so very much in advance for all your expert advice!

Carole

Hi Carole,

I'm not sure I'll be too helpful as I've only been in July. That said, even in July it was rather warm midday. So I'd think convertible, lightweight pants would be good for October. My husband and I had some pants from Patagonia (Patagucci!) and they were great, though any kind of convertible pants will work. I think khakis might be a bit hot, unless they are really lightweight. My other advice would be to layer, so lots of t-shirts or polos and then long sleeve t's or perhaps a lightweight fleece and definitely a breathable anorak or rain coat and swim suits if you want. Also, sunscreen & sunglasses and a hat (baseball cap or otherwise). I'd think the camps will have blankets of some sort in the trucks if you need them but I don't think you will. Have a wonderful trip!!

We were at Londolozi and Ngala in early to mid-September. The mornings and evenings were cool (50F one morning at Ngala) but warmed up considerably during the day.

I wore cotton pants and changed to shorts mid-day, then back to pants for the afternoon/night drive.

I didn't wear convertible pants but that's just because I didn't want to bother with them, and I was not too hot on the drives.

There are blankets in the vehicles and we did use them. I wore fleece and often a cotton jacket, especially for eating dinner.

CW

Carole- I'll miss you by one day at MM.

October should be pretty warm.

I was reading one of your other threads earlier Carole, what a nice trip you have planned. I would like to do a MM/Ngala combo.

NapaMatt has been there ALOT and gave you some good advice on this thread:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34922860

So excited for you!

Thanx so much everyone for your advice.
I am still debating about convertibles vs.lightweight cotton pants for October. Definitely we will each pack a fleece and layers,etc. Again, mant thanx.

Carole

You're going to have a great trip! I haven't been to Ngala but I have been to MM twice and I would love to go again.

I have 4 pairs of lightweight cotton pants that I've worn on 6 trips to Africa. 2 of those 4 pairs have zipoff legs. The only time I've zipped them off was when we went wading in a river in the Ok Delta. I did have a pair of shorts on my Oct05 trip to Bots and it was hot (100-120 degrees daily) and I wore them a couple of days but I'm not sure I was any cooler with the shorts than with the cotton long pants. Plus you don't have to worry about getting sunburned.

The game drives are in the early morning and late afternoon because the game isn't around much during the middle of a hot day so I wouldn't worry about getting too hot. (I was at MM at the end of Sept and not Oct so I could be wrong.)

Either way, you'll be fine. If I had the long pants but would have to buy the zipoffs, I would just take the long pants.

((#))Cindy

Hi Cindy!

Thanx so much for your helpful advice!
I am now leaning toward taking lightweight khakis for game drives and a couple of pairs of shorts for mid-day, also a fleece. I liked your thought about pants for sunburn protection too. Again, mant thanks.

Carole

We were on safari in Botswana and South Africa at about the same time last year. We took convertible (zip off) pants, and were very glad we we had them. They made for very light packing, since we did not need both long pants and shorts. An added virtue is that most of these are made of material which dries very quickly, so we could wear one pair and have the other washed for the next day.