Kenya and Tanzania

Clothes we normally pack for trips to Europe, lightweight synthetics, worked fine for us in Kenya and Tanzania. For footwear, I’d suggest low-cut boots paired with merino wool socks. Take a decent hat...baseball cap was good for me. Current on vaccines? Hope you have an amazing trip.

Proper shoes or boots, not sandals or flip flops. Binoculars, of course. Sun screen and other toiletries, but you can buy most of those things, should you forget them, at the lodge shops. Long pants rather than shorts and some long sleeved shirts or tees, as well as a sweater or two for evenings. Your yellow fever certificate, and don't forget you will need malaria shots before you leave home.

Edit For malaria it wasn't shots, sorry, it was medication.

Regarding shoes or boots, the only boots that I have are heavy cold weather boots. They are large and I really would not want to take them.

What about just wearing adidas walking shoes?

Insect repelant
Sunscreen
& a pair of binoculars for each person and make sure to get familiar with how it functions and how to adjust it for your eyes. It is no fun having to share binoculars.
Camera with a good zoom if you are even remotely interested in photographing animals (doesn't necessarily have to be an SLR)

It is best if your clothes are green/ navy/ beige, so as not to cause any distractions.

I found that the anti mosquito long sleeve shirts were useful. Trousers where the lower leg zips out were also useful.

A large cotton scarf that can be used to cover your nose and mouth if the game drives are dusty. A hat such as a baseball cap that can be clipped to your collar so it doesn't blow off on drives. I find sailing caps are great for this!

Warm fleeces for the evening.

Check the policy online for your accommodation - they may have dress codes.

I use a harness with my binoculars to take the weight off my neck. Take plenty glasses wet wipes to clean your binoculars.

geovagriffith: The reason we were given for wearing boots had to do with snakes. Need I say more? However, I wore closed, sturdy shoes, not boots.

Avoid blue and black clothing. You will notice that these are the colors they use next to insect traps in the bush to attract the tse-tse flies...

Ahnu waterproof hiking shoes are perfect for this trip or many other trips. I'd add them to the collection.

Supplementing my first response and responding to some posts...walking shoes would be fine in my opinion unless you are on a walking safari, then more substantial footwear is needed. Our walking was almost exclusively limited to the camp proper, as we were in vehicles during game drives. My clothes were pretty boring and muted, but included black and blue colors which another posted said must be avoided. No problem. Finally, we did a fair amount of research and learned that with our itinerary and personal health profiles, the risk of yellow fever was very, very low for us. Despite this, we were clearly advised to obtain the expensive and not easily available yellow fever vaccine (around here) to enter Tanzania from Kenya. Had we switched the order of countries, no yellow fever vaccine is required, at least at that time. Upon entering Tanzania, we were prepared to show our certificates,...not one official even so much as blinked at us....move along and enjoy our country.

I was in E Africa this past Jul-Aug and was asked for the yellow fever cert at the following places:
- Entebbe airport when entering Uganda
- Rusomo border crossing entering Tanzania from Rwanda
- Namanga border entering Kenya from Tanzania.

I was also asked for it again when exiting Kenya at the Nairobi airport since my next destination was India which required it if coming from a yellow fever area. I did notice that some foreigners who didn't have the yellow fever card at the Namanga border were either forced to get a shot there (not sure what the price was) or would probably be turned around.

The only place I wasn't asked for it was when crossing from Uganda to Rwanda.

I too saw the tsetse fly traps and they were all dark blue which is a color to avoid.

A wide brim hat w/ a draw string, flip flops are ok inside your lodges and tents, sunscreen, extra toothbrush, polarized sun glasses, US dollars 2006 or newer, small day bag while on day safaris, take a first aid kit, sunscreen.

If you want to bring stuff for local people, check out this website Pack with a Purpose.

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