A Complete Safari Packing List (e.g. What to Wear on Safari)
As frequent travelers, we try to pack light. This was easy to accomplish in warm East Africa. Most lodges have inexpensive laundry services ($1-2 per item) and it’s easy to hand wash and quickly dry non-cotton items.
We traveled around Kenya and Tanzania for 16 days in February – two adults and three children (6, 8 and 10). Temperatures were generally in the 50s at night (10-14c) and 70s and 80s during the days (22-31c). Here’s our perfect safari packing list:
Safari Clothes for Adults
- Two pairs safari pants
- One pair shorts
- Two long-sleeve shirts (light safari-style, non-cotton or cotton-blend)
- Two short-sleeve shirts
- One pair jeans for colder nights (optional)
- One fleece / sweatshirt
- Everyday walking shoes or boots
- Close-toed sandals
- Five pairs underwear
- Three bras (for women)
- Three pairs socks
- Sun hat (optional)
- Swimsuit (a lot of lodges have pools, although most are fairly cold)
Safari Clothes for Kids
- Two pairs zip-off safari pants
- One pair shorts
- Jeans (optional, for colder nights)
- Two long-sleeve shirts (fast dry)
- Two short-sleeve shirts (fast dry)
- Close-toed sandals – our kids wore those 90-100% of the time.
- Other walking shoes (optional)
- Five pairs underwear
- Three pairs socks (if you’re bringing non-sandals)
- Sun hat (optional)
- Swimsuit and goggles (if your kids use goggles)
Camera Equipment
It’s actually ok not to bring a camera and just enjoy the experience! If you want to bring one, choose one that you’re comfortable with – whether it’s a DSLR, a point-and-shoot or an iPhone. I brought two DSLRs – a Canon 6D (full frame) and a Canon 7D Mark II (crop sensor). I bought three lenses – a 70-200 f/2.8, a 16-35 f/2.8 and a 24-105 f/4 – and used each roughly 1/3 of the time. I also brought a 1.4 extender but didn’t love the image quality so I stopped using it after a couple of days. I wanted to document the trip well, but wasn’t trying to take amazing close-up animal photos.
One of our kids took a point-and-shoot. Another shot photos with an iPad Mini. My wife used her iPhone.
Medicine
- Yellow Fever vaccination cards
- An Antibiotic kit
- Band-Aids
- Neosporin
- Anti-diarrhea pills for adults and liquid for kids
- Anti-malaria pills (most of us actually stopped taking these during the trip, but good to have)
- Children’s pain medication
- Chewable probiotic tablets
Other
- Standard toiletries for adults
- Toothbrushes/toothpaste for kids
- Power strip (220/240v) with a British plug converter
- iPods and Kindles for everyone for down time and long car rides
- Headphones for electronics
- Chargers and charging cables
- Two portable power banks to charge USB devices – for long game drives and lodges without outlets in the rooms/tents.
- Travel cards from Tava Adventures – we get these for all of our destinations and they occupy the kids for hours.
- Sunscreen
- Bug spray (2 bottles)
- Hair brush
- Hair accessories for girls
- Conditioner (if you have long hair – not all lodges have conditioner)
- Laundry detergent packets (10)
- Baby wipes (2 packets)
- Small LED flashlight
- Binoculars (optional, but we wish we had brought them)
- Sharpie (for labeling water bottles)
- Blue tape or packing tape and scissors (usually come in handy)
- Extra duffel bag (if you plan to shop)
- Visas or eVisas for each country, if visas aren’t available upon arrival
- Passports
- Cash for tips
Luggage for Safaris
We packed everything above into two LL Bean rolling duffels (with soft sides, one large and one extra large). We used packing cubes to keep everyone’s clothes separate.
Try to stay close to this list – it’s tempting to over-pack. We brought rain jackets and never used them. Even if it had rained, we likely wouldn’t have been out in the rain since we were virtually always either in a vehicle or at our lodges.
Would you include anything else on a perfect safari packing list? Have you packed lighter and been happy?
Pin This!
More from Travel Babbo
A Vacation Packing List for Adventure Travel- Where Else Can You Go for the Cost of a Disneyland Vacation?
- The Best Vacations for Kids: Where to Travel When
- Why South America Should Be Your Next Vacation Destination
- The Best Countries to Visit (Our 20 Favorite Countries Ranked)
- The Coolest Countries to Visit
These posts are so inspirational. Thanks for the tips, and ideas for family trips!
Thanks so much for the advice! We’re visiting family in Uganda and then doing a 6 day safari in Kenya with our three kids. This helps a lot!
Very cool! Have a great trip Stephanie!
As a mother of a three year old girl , i was worried about the things that I must carry. This post helped me a lot.
Our family of 4 (2 adults and 2 kids ages 9 & 11) just got back from an 11 day trip to Tanzania (6 days on safari and 5 days in Zanzibar), and your tips are on point. We over-packed a bit and we may have gotten a bit carried away with being religious about wearing tan and olive green. Most of the people we ran into at the picnic sites were wearing regular clothes. Safaris are an amazing trip for the whole family, and all ages – highly recommend! Now we are deciding when we can afford to go back and where we will go next time. 🙂
Thanks for the feedback Julia! Not sure when our next safari will be, but I definitely want to take the kids to Zanzibar.
Zanzibar is naturally beautiful with the Indian Ocean as it’s backdrop but there’s so much poverty. It was a real eye opener for our children. We stayed at a fancy resort on the north end of the island, and it was lovely but way too fancy with kids (our travel agent’s pick) and it was 90 minutes to the airport and slightly further to Stone Town. If I had to do it again, I would stay in or near Stone Town. It’s a fascinating mix of people from different religions, and they all get along (this is what all the locals told us). My husband said that Stone Town felt like the set for a James Bond or Jason Bourne movie, it was really cool. Highly recommend!
Agree! The last time I was in Zanzibar I stayed in Stone Town for a couple nights and then at a beach across the island for a couple nights. When I take the kids, I’ll opt for more Stone Town than beach/resort.
Preparing for a safari with our two kids and came across this page. We are trying to pack light. Our packing list is very similar–encouraging to see that this worked for you! I have a couple questions:
Which size LLBean duffles are yours?
Did you also have day packs for your daily excursions? If so, did everyone have their own? I’m trying to balance my desire to pack light with my desire to have the kids be self sufficient.
Thanks!
Hi Diana. I just updated the post based on this question and added a link to LL Bean’s website. One bag was large and one was extra large.
We didn’t bring daypacks, or maybe I brought one backpack. Since we had our own safari vehicle it wasn’t a big deal to have things loose in the car. Our kids typically don’t travel with their own bags – just too many things to keep track of.
Have an amazing trip!
Hi Eric! Thanks for writing such detailed blog posts!
Is there a reason why you chose the LL Bean rolling duffle instead of a “normal” suitcase? Are there benefits to having a rolling duffle instead?
Thanks!
Anytime you’re on smaller planes, like the bush planes they use to take you from national park to national park, they ask for soft-sided suitcases so they can pack them into the planes more efficiently. Soft bags are also easier/lighter/more flexible for your guide and porters to transport. A duffel with completely soft sides, and a flat bottom with wheels, is the best option. Second best would be a duffel with a flat bottom and one firm side. Definitely don’t take hard-sided bags.