Africa - Safari Tips by Kim

For those of you who may be interested in going on a Safari one day I have some general tips for you. (Note - Check with your tour company to make sure you have an understanding of what's included in your tour, i.e. will you have facilities to use? What meals are included?)

Let me first say that I may have overpacked a bit on some things. But, know this, anything you overpack you can always leave behind as a donation to others who may be in need.

First, make sure you go to the travel clinic well ahead of time. My vaccinations had me flat on my back with a fever for about 2 full days - 4 days of not feeling well, but definitely 2 full days of feeling like I had the flu. I went to the Park Nicollet Travel Clinic, but there are many others around. They are great about telling you what shots you need and getting you hooked up with the necessary prescriptions in case they're needed during your travels. The more specific you can be about where in each country you'll be traveling in, the better they can be about their vaccination plan.

Otherwise, here are some tips:

1. If you bring "breathable" athletic shoes or hiking shoes to wear, test them out in fine sand first. I brought my New Balance shoes and while they kept my feet nice and dry with their breathable fabric, they also let in a lot of the fine sand we walked through during our safari. By the end of the day I'd have to empty my shoes out, turn my socks inside out and brush away sand from in between my toes.

2. Don't think about being "cute" on a safari. You'll totally look out of place. Fortunately I'm too practical and lazy. I definitely went the other extreme and didn't care much about what I looked like. In fact, bring clothes that you think you might want to leave behind. Many of the villages are clothed by what tourists leave behind. Just make sure your donations are in decent condition or it'd be rude to leave behind.

3. Bring single detergent packets to wash your clothes with. Along the way you have access to sinks and such at the campsites. A couple of the girls brought some detergent with them so they were able to launder their own clothes as we traveled. This was particularly useful when Mai and Heather got B.O. stuck in their clothes - other people's B.O. unfortunately!

4. I don't know what it's like during other seasons, but when we were there it was the winter season and it was super dry. Either pack or plan on buying lotion to use throughout the day. My skin has never soaked up so much lotion.

5. A light scarf is useful to keep long hair out of your face while on a game drive. It's also good to use when traveling on roads with a lot of dust flying around.

6. Bring treats/supplies for villages you may visit. They are extremely appreciative and you will feel good for having helped and impacted the people you see. Our guides actually encouraged donations of small treats and such and not money.

7.  Bring some cash to exchange, but make sure your bank card or credit card allows you to withdraw cash from foreign ATM's. Mine did not and it was a horrible feeling to not have access to money. Note that the banks do not accept torn or overly worn currency, so ask for new bills from your bank.

8. As a bargaining tool to lure you, many of the markets will barter with you. That is, instead of $5 for something. They may give you a product for only $3 + a pen or elastic hair tie. There were some things that cost very little to us that they were interested - gum, candy (any sweets really), elastic hair ties, pens.

9. If you go in the winter, do not take lightly the warnings about it getting "very cold" at night. Think mid-30's when the sun is down and sleeping in a tent with no heat. You can see your breath during the night so it gets quite cold. I brought gloves, a hat, a fleece and a heavier jacket.

10. Don't think twice (like I did) about hauling your DSLR with you on your journey. The photo opportunities you will have on a trip like this are once in a lifetime so take your best camera with you to capture great moments and memories. I'd recommend taking a class if you're not comfortable with using your camera. Ask questions about how to shoot into the sun and how to shoot a sunrise. Those were two lighting conditions that I had a hard time shooting in.

11. Bring hand sanitizer and baby wipes. Don't bother with sanitizing wipes. You may want to bring a roll of toilet paper along, but not everyone needs to bring a roll. We weren't sure what to expect in terms of access to bathrooms so we erred on the side of being cautious and prepared. There were only a few occasions when I had to take from my roll. One of those times was because the bathroom stalls were out of toilet paper and the other two times were because there wasn't much left and I didn't want to use all the paper there (I always lined the toilet seat).