What to Pack for an African Safari: A Practical List

30 July 2026 · 2 min read

Start with the weight limit

If your itinerary includes light aircraft between parks, you will usually be limited to 15kg per person in a soft bag. Hard cases will not fit in the hold. This single constraint should shape your packing more than anything else.

Clothing

Neutral colours: khaki, olive, tan, grey. Avoid blue and black, which attract tsetse flies.
Two or three pairs of lightweight long trousers.
Three or four shirts, at least two long-sleeved for sun and insects.
A warm fleece or jacket. Mornings on the plains and evenings on the Ngorongoro rim are genuinely cold.
A wide-brimmed hat, sunglasses and a light scarf for dust.
Comfortable walking shoes. Boots only if you are trekking gorillas or climbing.
Swimwear. Most lodges have a pool.

Camps almost all offer same-day laundry, so pack for three or four days rather than the length of your trip.

The things people forget

Binoculars. One pair each, not one to share. 8×42 is ideal.
A headtorch. Camp paths are unlit for good reason.
A spare camera battery and more cards than you think. Charging in tented camps can be limited to generator hours.
A dust-proof bag for camera bodies.
High-factor sunscreen and lip balm. The equatorial sun at altitude is stronger than it feels.
Insect repellent with DEET, plus antihistamine cream.
Any prescription medication in its original packaging, plus rehydration sachets.

What to leave at home

Camouflage clothing. It is illegal for civilians in parts of East Africa.
Drones, unless you have written permits. Assume no.
Hard suitcases, if you are flying internally.
Single-use plastic bags, which are banned in Kenya and Tanzania and carry real penalties.
Most of the clothes you were planning to bring. Nobody has ever come back wishing they had packed more.

Documents

Passport valid at least six months beyond travel, with two blank pages.
Visas or e-visas. Kenya requires an electronic travel authorisation in advance.
Yellow fever certificate, needed for some border crossings in the region.
Travel insurance including medical evacuation. This is not optional on safari.