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Extra items to pack for safari

AaronAaron
in Kenya & Tanzania
Tauck's list is very good, but I suggest you also pack several individual use packets of Kleenex-type tissue as some of the bathrooms do not have toilet paper. Also pack a handkerchief/bandana to wear over your nose and mouth as some of the roads are really dusty. A good spf 15 or higher chapstick-type item is well worth it as well as some hard candies to suck on when the dust gets to you (not very often, but it happens). Also pack some ibuprofen as the roads are really rough and the jarring can get to you. Hand sanitizer is good, but the packets of single sheet soap papers are better. Be sure to take a plug converter as the wall sockets are the British-type and you will want to keep your camera or phone or whatever you take pictures with charged. Several couples forgot theirs and their batteries ran down so they missed some great shots. We returned August 12 and this trip is well worth it as the game viewing is spectacular, but we needed all the items I listed above. Hope this helps future adventurers.

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    cantravellercantraveller
    If you can afford to take this trip spend a few dollars and carry a second battery. We had a member of our group who didnt and they lost a lot of good shots as a result. You may get a chance like we did to see the great migration in progress and you won, t want to miss it.
    Gary
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    Leo MLeo M
    Aaron...Gary is right. On our first Tauck safari, I took one battery. On our first day in the Ngorongoro Crater, we had a huge number of photo opportunities and I ran out of battery power shortly after lunch. I managed to eek my way through the rest of the safari by recharging my one battery every night and being judicious in the number of pictures I took. That worked for me but it really isn't very smart. Of course, I over compensated and have taken three batteries with me on our three subsequent safaris.

    Leo M
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    LLVickyLLVicky
    Leo, Have your safaris been at different times of the year or to different areas?
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    Leo MLeo M
    Hello Vicky...We took the Tauck safari to Tanzania & Kenya from mid-January to early February 2012. The weather was gorgeous. We arrived after the short rains of December and before the heavy rainy season which usually starts in April or May. That was our first safari and really whet our appetites for more.

    It didn't take long. We were back in Tanzania from mid-October to mid-November 2012 visiting the most remote Tanzanian national parks of Ruaha, Kitavi and Mahale. We arrived at the end of the long dry season. It was blistering hot. Noon time temps were near or over100 degrees. Everything was brown and dusty. There had been no rain in almost 5 months. As we flew out of Kitavi, we could see lightning from the first thunderstorm of the season had started a brushfire that was sweeping the dry lake bed of Lake Kitavi. Despite the heat and dryness, tens of thousands of animals were concentrated around the few remaining sources of water. That made our animal sightings very special. We left Mahale as the wind driven rains surged across Lake Tanganyika from the Congo.

    Although not on safari, we were back on the African continent in March, 2013. We toured Egypt and then Israel. We were fortunate. We got to see all the sights of ancient Egypt from Cairo to Abu Simbal and in between. It was an exciting trip but we missed the animals.

    So, we spent three weeks in the bush of South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe between June 20 and July 15, 2013. On this trip, we had multiple leopard sightings and our first encounter with a pack of wild dogs. We were also fortunate enough to see scores of other mammals and birds. June and July are mid-winter below the Equator. Nights and early mornings are very cold. On the day's first game drive, we wore knit hats, scarves, multiple jacket layers and gloves. Several mornings we also used the lined ponchos carried in the safari vehicles. By 10 AM, the temperature would recover and we would start peeling off layers.

    We return to the Serengeti and Maasai Mara this coming January and February. We put this safari together to coincide with the Great Migration. As you can tell, we really love Africa....Leo M
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