Packing List for African Safari (OAT Ultimate Africa Tour)

Why hadn't it occurred to me that the Sketchers Slip-on Sneakers are perfect for going through security?

they are also very lightweight!

Hi Rebecca, I applaud you for being able to function on safari in 115 degree heat! I am currently on safari in southern Tanzania (Selous) where it is 96-98 degrees (about 12 degrees higher than forecasted for this time of year) and I can hardly function at these temperatures even wearing the lightest weight cotton and linen! We were also advised that we might want to bring fleeces due to cool mornings in Ruaha. We didn’t bring them and didn’t need them. We wore long sleeve cotton safari shirts and enjoyed the refreshing mornings there. Our luggage was limited to non-wheeled 24” and 33lbs. We brought much less than that, mostly saving weight by leaving camera equipment home and using our iPhones which are working out great!

Yes, all the temps were higher than normal. Everyone pretty much gave up after day 3 with any effort at discretion in pulling sweaty pants off your butt, etc. It helped that the camp in Botswana, where it was hottest, had a pool. We are all in it each afternoon, like a pod of hippos lol.

My duffle weighed 20 lbs; my backpack was about 14 even with my camera, so I was way under the limit.

Thanks for your post and list, Rebecca. Since you highly recommend the tour, it must’ve been great, heat notwithstanding. Did you get to see every type of animal you wanted? I know you went to Peru with OAT, and maybe have taken other trips with them. If you’re not already in the Sir Edmund Hillary Club with OAT, you’re well on your way.

We took a safari with OAT in 2022, but it was in April, and was cooler and rainier than what you experienced. OAT offered an “Ultimate Africa” tour two years ago, as well as our route that was also in Southern Africa, but it looks like they’ve discontinued what we did back then.

A couple comments regarding your extensive list: We were also issued rolling duffels for the trip. At the end, they seemed almost too nice to get rid of, but they got absolutely filthy over the course of the trip, and I pitched mine right after we were done. As all tour participants had the same tan duffel, putting a noticeable luggage tag on each of our two bags made it easier to sort them out from the pile at each hotel, game camp, and small-plane airport.

Rather than a light poncho, we each had actual rain jackets. One afternoon at Kruger National Park, it absolutely POURED rain, and we got pretty drenched in the Land Cruisers, even with the roof raised (but no side curtains). It was pretty soggy, but we mostly dried out in time for our Sundowners, literally at sunset. We drove back to camp after dark, and unexpectedly saw a pride of leopards running down the road in front of our vehicles, their eyes shining in the headlights.

Nuun tablets are helpful, and come in a variety of subtle flavors. We’re taking some on our OAT Vietnam/Cambodia trip in less than 3 weeks, but there, OAT won’t be providing ALL of our water, and we’re bringing filters and water purifying tablets, just in case. The Nuun will help make it all more palatable, if needed.

Early mornings and the evenings were cool in April, both on game drives and in camp (our own “luxury” tents, and at the dinners. A vest or another thermal layer was essential to staying comfortable and sufficiently warm during those times of day - and after the heavy rainstorms cooked things down.

Swimsuit- definitely! Even in a cooler temperature than you had, a soak in a pool at the camps was nice. After we were out of one of them, elephants used it as a watering hole. Elephant saliva in a safari pool, or pee in a public pool at home … which is not as bad? lol

We didn’t need to pack a hairdryer on our tour. Every hotel and game camp had one in each individual room/tent, and the boat we slept on, on the Zambezi river, upstream from the Victoria Falls, had one to share amongst the 13 passengers.

Thanks again, and happy next adventure!

I was in Botswana Sept. 24-30 and thought I would die! Our first guide (in South Africa Sept. 1-7) had told us it would be cold in Botswana. HA! My two traveling companions had been in the Okavango two years ago, loved it and wanted to return. However, their trip had been in June and water was everywhere. In September this year, water was scarce. And the tour company they had chosen this time was less expensive than their previous tour company and it showed - big time! We still saw a lot, but we each got sick to some degree by the fourth day and opted to quit "wilderness camping" and be taken to a hotel. I should mention we're all three age 75+. Fortunately, the first part of our trip (September 1-23) was much better!

The only animal that eluded us was cheetah. Otherwise, we saw pretty much everyone - elephants, giraffes, hippos, lions, leopards, cape buffalo, warthogs, wildebeest, zebras, every horned animal ever (well, it felt that way anyway), lots of birds, wild dogs, jackals, etc. Saw black rhinos in a preserve, they are rarely, if at all, seen in the wild anymore. Definitely a great trip, but definitely a lot - up before dawn each day, 4-hour game drives, lunch, short break, another game drive before dinner. Some VERY long travel days too. But worth it!

And our duffles were filthy too - gave them a rinse and a wipe down outside when we got back, so they'll live to see another trip!