The notes beneath are particular to Kenya however having performed safaris in Zimbabwe and South Africa as properly, most of those ideas apply simply as properly to different locations.
I’ve been requested over time, each by my safari purchasers and others, what and how one can pack for a visit like this, so it felt like this is likely to be a very good time to discover that for many who are curious. For those who and I had been sitting down over a glass of wine and also you advised me you had been planning a safari and requested me for my recommendation on packing, right here’s what could be probably to tumble out of my mouth, in no explicit order. That is a protracted one, so that you would possibly wish to get that cup of wine (or cup of espresso) now.
Arrive Early
Most flights into Nairobi arrive late at night time, often from 9 pm to midnight. You clear customs, seize your baggage, and head out of the airport to take your first breath of air—a mixture of mud and diesel and the heady promise of journey. For those who’re on considered one of my journeys, a driver will choose you up and take you to your lodge for no matter sleep you may get earlier than an early breakfast and a brief flight to the Maasai Mara. That’s if all of it goes properly: if there aren’t any delays, no missed connections, and no misplaced baggage.
My advice is to reach a minimum of one night time earlier; I want to spend two or three nights at The Emakoko. Situated in Nairobi Nationwide Park, staying at The Emakoko means I’m in a Land Cruiser and out of the town inside 20 minutes of strolling out of the airport (about 40 minutes to the precise camp). And when the solar comes up the subsequent morning, I’m photographing rhinos and lions within the morning gentle, shaking off the mud and jet lag whereas ready for my purchasers to reach. (The Emakoko is beautiful however not cheap. If I don’t have time or funds, I keep at the Emara Ole Sereni)
And if there’s an issue with worldwide flight delays (or wayward baggage), I’ve bought time to type that out earlier than I must be on a small airplane heading to the Mara or whichever space I’m exploring. Planning to reach two nights earlier than you’re meant to be on a constitution flight to the Mara (or Amboseli, or Meru, or wherever) offers a buffer and a few peace of thoughts. And if you wish to get out to see issues like the Giraffe Centre, the Sheldrick Elephant Belief, or simply spend the day exploring and photographing in Nairobi Nationwide Park, this provides you time to do this.
Pack Mild
That is simply the toughest a part of most safari journey. Certain, your worldwide flight to Nairobi will allow you to carry 50 lbs (or extra) of checked baggage and possibly as a lot as 50 lbs in your carry-on baggage as properly. So convey all of it, proper? However the issue arises when it’s worthwhile to get on a small Cessna and so they let you know you’re restricted to one thing insane like 25 lbs—complete! It’s an inconceivable ask of photographers with gear.
Even when I didn’t convey a sew of clothes (look away!), my digicam gear alone weighs greater than this. The workaround is to ebook an extra seat or little one’s seat along with your airline (often SafariLink), or to journey with a small group particularly catering to photographers, like considered one of my journeys, by which case we simply constitution the entire airplane. Weight limits of some type nonetheless apply, however they’re a lot much less restrictive. Mercifully, my purchasers can now pack a couple of items of clothes as properly.
When you arrive at your safari camp, you want little or no. A couple modifications of garments is absolutely all you want as there’s primary laundry at most camps. Carry a sweater or gentle jacket because the mornings will be cool. Carry a rain shell should you’re there through the wet season. You’re not there to make a trend assertion, so simply convey the fundamentals. However do concentrate on what your limits are earlier than you get there and plan for these limits (the whole lot is negotiable) otherwise you’ll end up pissed off and stressed when all you wish to do is board your airplane. For those who’re going with a gaggle otherwise you’ve bought a safari organizer, be sure you ask about this. In fact, should you’re driving to the Mara (or whichever space you’re visiting) it turns into a non-issue, however I wouldn’t commerce extra time on safari for limitless gear and the lengthy drive ever once more. A forty five-minute flight in comparison with an eight-hour drive on Kenyan roads? That’s a straightforward alternative for me.
Mushy Baggage
The opposite factor to remember is your baggage itself; the smaller planes actually don’t like inflexible baggage, so depart the exhausting shell suitcase at house. Pilots like to have the ability to get as a lot baggage as potential into the small holds, and enormous inflexible suitcases make this tougher than it must be. They’re additionally heavy, so if you wish to save weight and never get your pilot’s nostril out of joint, persist with one thing mushy. I just like the Base Camp collection of duffel baggage from The North Face. I’ve bought 5 of those baggage in numerous sizes, and so they’ve by no means failed.
(Up to date: as of 2025 I’m utilizing a Patagonia 70L Black Gap Wheeled Duffel. In June 2023 I had my proper leg amputated beneath the knee and discover a wheeled duffel simpler for hauling my gear)
Along with what I put on as I journey, right here’s what’s in my duffel for many of my journeys:
- 2 long-sleeve buttoned shirts (light-weight and artificial)
- 1 hotter long-sleeve shirt (I like merino wool)
- 2 pairs underwear
- 2 pair of socks
- 2 pairs light-weight lengthy pants
- Light-weight flip-flops/sandals
- Shorts that double as swim trunks
- 1 baseball or solar hat
- 1 sweater, merino wool (I just like the Icebreaker model)
- 1 light-weight puffy jacket (Patagonia) for cooler mornings
- Mild gloves and toque
- Light-weight rain coat (Patagonia)
- 2–3 Buffs, that are helpful cloth tubes that may be worn round your neck to guard from solar, pulled over your nostril and ears to maintain pesky flies out, and wrapped round lenses and digicam our bodies to guard them in transit. I like my Buffs!
What About Footwear?
My favorite slide-on/slide-off boots are Blundstones, and so they’ve been all over the world (and on safari) with me many instances. You don’t often want way more than gentle sneakers or ankle boots for safari since you’re not typically out of the automobiles except you’re on a strolling safari. Don’t weigh your self down with heavy leather-based hikers. I’ve purchasers who fortunately put on sandals all day, although I want to maintain my toes coated and out of attain of bugs (particularly ticks which freak me out!)
About Carry-On Luggage
Now, this all assumes you’ve managed to get to Kenya within the first place with out working the gauntlet of assorted baggage limitations imposed by worldwide carriers. Since all of them differ, one of the best factor you are able to do is examine your limits and purchase a first rate baggage scale and preserve it with you as you pack.
My final British Airways flight to Kenya (YVR – LHR – NBO) allowed me two items within the cabin, every as much as 23 kg (or 51 lbs). That’s beneficiant; many airways don’t provide you with this a lot. To my shock, Air Canada is presently limiting the measurement and quantity (2) of carry-on baggage however is saying that no particular weight limits apply. I’m undecided when that change occurred, however it’s welcome! Know your limits and work inside them.
My carry-on baggage are the Gura Gear Kiboko 30L and the Gura Gear Chobe 16″. Each are light-weight, can carry a ton of stuff, and nonetheless slot in nearly each overhead bin I’ve ever tried and beneath among the tightest seats, and so they appear like they carry lower than they do. I personal seven totally different Gura Gear baggage, they’ve been to 7 continents with me, and so they’re my hands-down favourites for my long-lens journeys. Learn extra about them on this submit right here.
About Gear
For many journeys, I pac the next in my Kiboko 30L backpack (carry-on #1):
- 2 x Sony a1 our bodies with vertical battery grips
- 24-105/4.0 lens
- 100-400/4.5-5.6 lens
- 600/4.0 lens or 300/2.8 lens
- 1.4x and 2x teleconverters
- 8 batteries for the cameras (lithium-ion batteries can’t go in checked baggage)
- 1 small Petzl USB-rechargeable (lithium-ion) headlamp (don’t overlook this; you’ll be beginning and ending the day at nighttime, and having a hands-free gentle to seek out issues when you’re bumping round within the truck on the edges of day can actually assist)
- 1 card pockets with 10 x 256 GB SD playing cards (convey greater than you assume you want)
*A observe about packing lenses: don’t journey with them connected to your digicam our bodies, particularly longer lenses, which act like levers. It’s simply too straightforward for the weak level—the place the lens and physique join—to fail if a bag will get dropped. Maintain them separate in transit and put them collectively if you get to your camp.
I pack the next into my Gura Gear Chobe bag (carry-on #2):
- 1 x Apple MacBook Professional 13″
- 2 x Samsung 4TB SSD exhausting drives (SSD drives haven’t any shifting components and are a lot sooner and extra sturdy than drives with spinning platters (and so they’re so small I can put one in my passport pockets)
- 1 card reader and one hub to attach all of it
- Energy cables and plug adapter (Kenya makes use of sort G, the identical because the U.Ok.)
- Sony battery chargers x 2
- 1 novel
- 1 journal and pens
- Apple AirPods Max
- Passports, copies of my visa, and related vaccine passports (copies of all these are additionally within the cloud on Dropbox, simply in case)
- iPhone
- Sun shades
- Medicines and a few meal bars
- Money for ideas and emergencies (USD in newer, smaller payments—most camps take bank cards, however it’s good to have a couple of hundred bucks in money to tip your drivers)
On different journeys when weight limits are tighter (for instance, on Lufthansa, I’m allowed two carry-on baggage, however every max out at 8 kg/roughly 18 lbs, and that’s for the enterprise class cabin!), I transfer among the heavier stuff from the massive bag into the smaller one as a result of the massive bag is probably to attract consideration and get weighed. Thankfully, the airways don’t like placing costly gear, lithium-ion batteries, or life-saving medicine within the maintain, and that just about covers the whole lot in my baggage!
What I like about this set-up is that after I get to camp, my laptop and private stuff is multi function bag that stays in my tent, and as soon as my gear is all collectively, I’ve just one backpack and a protracted lens and digicam to take to the Land Cruiser for recreation drives. It’s straightforward to work out of and nonetheless preserve my stuff (in addition to a raincoat, a sweater, and a bottle of water) all collectively.
So, Which Lenses?
I’ve listed above which lenses I convey. Out on the savannah, you’ll have loads of instances when the 24-105mm can be excellent (the lions and beasties nearly inside touching distance), and the broader focal lengths for landscapes and taking pictures the journey itself are nice. Different instances you’ll need the attain of an extended lens.
Do you want a 600mm lens? No. Actually, longer lenses are greater and weigh extra, and also you is likely to be higher off with a 300/2.8 and a 1.4x or 2x tele, relying on the standard of photos you get along with your explicit glass. A 1.4x on my Sony 600/4.0 is superb and provides me the additional attain. One other method to get some further attain is likely to be to convey one physique that’s not full-frame as a way to make the most of the crop issue.
If I’ve lenses that cowl from about 24mm to 600mm I’m completely happy. That might be a 24-105, 100-400, and a 600mm or a 300 with a 2x. It may be a 16-35, 70-200, and 600 or 300 with a 2x. Or it might be 24-105 and 200-600. Regardless of the mixture, 24 to 600 is ideal protection for a safari.
The opposite consideration shouldn’t be solely attain however how a lot gentle it permits. Among the finest alternatives I’ve had within the softer gentle on both facet of the day have benefited from a lens that lets extra gentle in, but when your digicam does properly at low-light/high-ISO, then simply nudge that ISO up. It’s all the time a compromise (with funds as properly), and for many individuals, one of the best compromise is likely to be one thing like a barely slower zoom lens fairly than a protracted quick telephoto. And since you are often confined to automobiles, usually selecting zoom lenses over mounted primes will provide you with some flexibility along with your compositions. I personally don’t assume there’s any purpose to convey greater than three lenses on safari.
As an alternative of the massive heavy 600mm and the 100-400mm, you would convey a lens like Sony’s wonderful 200-600/5.6-6.3. So long as I might get to about 600mm of attain with focal lengths in between from about 24mm, I’d be completely happy on safari.
(Up to date: Sony now makes a 300/2.8 lens that’s attractive and, coupled with a 2x teleconverter, provides me the choice of a 600/5.6 at a fraction of the burden. My 600/4.0 principally stays at house now.)
Keep in mind, a few of this glass is prohibitively costly, particularly should you’re not doing this typically, and that is the place I recommend you think about renting. Don’t purchase a $10,000 lens when you would hire one and get entry to a for much longer, sooner lens for a lot, a lot much less.
Which Digital camera?
Nicely, for many of us, the reply is “whichever cameras you personal.” However one thing with first rate high-ISO efficiency, a quick burst mode, and fast autofocus will serve you properly. It’s in all probability extra necessary that you’ve two of them so you may have a backup if one fails, and so that you don’t have to vary lenses too typically in what is usually a really dusty setting. More often than not, I’ve bought one physique with my 600mm and mounted to a monopod, and the opposite with my 100-400mm sitting in my open bag at my toes.
Batteries?
Carry sufficient batteries for a protracted full day of taking pictures numerous frames. Most lodges have easy accessibility to charging stations, however you’ll wish to make certain you’ll be able to shoot all day. Not each camp has charging stations within the tents, so it’s useful to label your batteries and chargers simply so you realize what belongs to who if there are others there with related gear.
SD Playing cards?
Carry all of them. My exhausting drives max out at 4TB, so I’ve 4TB of playing cards (principally 256GB, however some older 128GB playing cards, simply in case). They weigh nothing, so should you’ve bought’em, convey’em. I be sure that I’ve sufficient playing cards and exhausting drives that I can arrive house with the whole lot backed up on two drives and never should reformat or re-use my playing cards till the pictures are secure at house.
Something Else?
- 1 x 4-outlet energy strip with USB (this implies I solely want one plug adapter and might cost a number of issues directly—helpful if there are different photographers wanting to make use of a restricted variety of retailers)
- A rocket blower and small sensor cleansing equipment
- 6-8 microfiber lens cloths in a Ziploc bag
- Small multi-tool (Gerber)
- 2 x rubbish baggage in case it rains or my massive gear wants fast safety from mud
- Tiny roll of duct tape and tiny tube of Superglue
- Tiny pocket-sized first assist equipment
- Spare glasses and sun shades (if I can’t see, the journey is over!)
- Binoculars (though the camps typically present them, I like utilizing my very own—and if I’m slicing bag weight, these are the primary to get left at house)
- Monopod (Actually Proper Stuff) with a gimbal head particular to monopods (I take advantage of and HIGHLY suggest the Wimberley MH-100 – it’s one of the best $170 I’ve spent on images. Hate utilizing a monopod? Me too. This small head modified that.)
About Assist
Longer lenses imply the necessity for some sort of assist. Certain, you would simply maintain that 600mm (it weighs 3 kg with out the digicam), however not for very lengthy! Wildlife requires numerous persistence and ready, and also you wish to be prepared when the motion occurs, not sitting there with a digicam in your lap.
For years I introduced a bean bag full of light-weight buckwheat husks, and filling it at house saves you from having to seek out beans or another filler if you get to camp. I nonetheless recommend this for many who don’t desire a monopod or who use lighter lenses, however many automobiles (particularly the open-sided ones which might be finest for images) don’t have an ideal place to place a bean bag, or in the event that they do, they’re so low you couldn’t see by means of the viewfinder should you wished to (tilting LCD screens to the rescue).
What About Tripods?
I haven’t packed a tripod for safari in 12 years, however a couple of years in the past I began utilizing a monopod, and with the correct gimbal head for lenses with a tripod collar, it’s superb.
I preserve my monopod collapsed and relaxation it on the seat or my thigh more often than not. However I also can increase it and relaxation it on the ground, or increase it extra fully and relaxation it on the bottom exterior the car to get my digicam a lot decrease. And as soon as it’s up, I can sit for hours, holding it loosely, with my digicam aimed the place I would like it. I can’t consider I waited this lengthy to shoot this fashion. And should you don’t need it, take it off, and it’s out of the best way.
So, ahem, whereas we’re speaking about assist, Cynthia and different feminine purchasers have advised me typically {that a} good sports activities bra is a welcome addition to my urged packing lists. There’s numerous bouncing round within the safari automobiles and for these for whom which may matter (you realize who you’re), somewhat further assist would possibly go a great distance.
My first Kenyan safari was over 15 years in the past, and it modified my life. We now spend each January (pandemic however) exploring this excellent nation. For wildlife lovers, it’s a rare expertise. But it surely’s not solely the improbable animals: it’s the sunshine, the landscapes from which the human race sprung, and the individuals. I really feel so…house right here. For those who’re in any respect interested by exploring or photographing Kenya, I’d like to reply any questions you might have within the feedback beneath this submit.
Or you would include me. Add your title to my Journey Checklist and also you’ll be among the many first to listen to about new alternatives.
I’ve bought an unbelievable safari planner, and if it would possibly make it easier to plan your personal journey, let me know within the feedback, and I’ll introduce you by electronic mail. He’s my secret weapon.
Obtained a query about gear? Let’s discuss that, too. It’s taken me a very long time to dial this in, and I’d prefer to make it simpler for you if I can. There’s a lot I didn’t cowl on this article, however should you’ve bought questions, let’s discover them!
For the Love of the {Photograph},
David
