Packing for an African safari

In a remote corner of Malawi, I once met a woman who was trekking around the whole of Africa. She had hiked through deserts, crossed plains and traversed mountains, so her backpack was all business: water canisters, a miniscule lightweight tent, three changes of clothes, a fleece and a Mac.

But lurking right at the bottom, screwed up into a tiny ball and wrapped in a plastic bag, were a little black dress and sandals. She had never actually worn them, but should she ever find herself invited to a dinner date in a far flung location, she knew they were there.

This struck me as a perfect approach to packing for a trip to Africa but it’s hard to put it into practice when faced with an empty suitcase in your comfortable bedroom in Malta. It’s tempting to pack for a relaxed holiday, throwing in floaty tops, decent dresses for dinner, tailored shorts, linen trousers and strappy sandals.

This might be fine if all you are going to do is sit by the pool, but getting the most out of a safari trip involves lots of game drives and bush walking. The best trips include camping in the middle of bush, because that’s where you have the best chance of seeing large herds of savannah animals.

A safari to Kenya’s Ngorongoro Crater, for example, often involves several nights at fairly basic camps, although the lack of luxury is more than compensated for by the fabulous views of elephants, lions and everything in between in acres of wilderness.

The first night in the bush on this kind of safari will, however, reveal how entirely inappropriate your relaxed holiday wardrobe actually is. Anything floaty instantly gets snagged on thorns and is completely inadequate against the onslaught of bloodthirsty mosquitoes.

This is alarming because getting bitten is not just an inconvenience; it’s a fast track to malaria (no anti-malarials are 100 per cent effective).

Neat shorts get covered in red dust made muddy with sweat within seconds and allow ticks access to your legs (extracting them is not a pleasant process).

Anything made of linen looks like you scrunched it into a ball and rubbed the floor with it by the end of day one and dust stains don’t tend to hand-wash out well.

The strappy sandals will remain unworn in the bottom of your bag because hiking boots are the order of day to protect against snakes.

Don’t bother with any attempt to look remotely attractive since you’re getting up at 5 a.m. in a bid to find the lion pride.

In reality, you will spend two weeks wearing only lightweight but sturdy hiking trousers and plain long-sleeved cotton t-shirts (the ones that you only stuck in your bag at the last minute for emergencies).

In the evening, you won’t want to dress for dinner as you’ll have to change again afterwards to go on a night safari; 90 per cent of your careful packing will remain untouched.

By day six, you’ll be eyeing fellow travellers’ shapeless, zippy hiking trousers with envy when your only clean clothes are lovely, but desperately inappropriate, diamante-studded denim shorts.

Also, despite our prejudices to the contrary, it can be rather rainy in Africa depending on the location and the season. The mornings and evenings are often chilly, especially in open safari vehicles which are hurtling across the plains looking for animals.

If you haven’t packed a decent fleece, a good quality rain jacket and quite possibly a woolly hat, you might well regret it on those early morning game drives.

So to help with the packing dilemma, here’s a list of what you actually need. If your fellow holidaymakers all look horribly glam at the beginning, just give them time – they’ll be asking to borrow your sensible trousers by the end of the second night.

Besides, no one is looking at you; they’re all there to see Africa’s glorious wildlife. You can always scrunch up a little black dress in the bottom of your bag for emergencies.

Clothing

For a fortnight’s trip, you need four pairs of lightweight trousers, five long-sleeved cotton T-shirts that will keep the mosquitoes off, five short sleeved T-shirts or vests for the middle of day, a fleece and rain jacket or poncho, hiking boots, swimsuit and flip flops (for the pool only – they offer no protection against snake and insect bites) and sensible sun hats (expensive straw hats are bound to be blown off, squashed or stolen by a vervet monkey).

As a concession to glamour, you could pack a couple of nice long-sleeved tops and trousers for dinner, but make sure they are mosquito proof and since mozzies always seem to home in on the feet, be aware that you might end up tucking the trousers into your socks to keep the mosquitoes out, which somewhat defeats the purpose.

Kit

It’s essential to take a decent pair of binoculars because a lot of the animals will be quite a distance away. Since you’ve spent all that money to get there, it would be a shame to miss seeing everything so buy or borrow the best pair you can.

The same goes for cameras; those little digital point and press numbers are not going to bag you a great picture of a distant lion. Invest in a reasonable camera with good zoom and take an extra battery because satellite camps often don’t have electricity for recharging.

You need a good water bottle. I’ve road tested quite a few and ‘Sigg’ are the best on the market; light, sturdy and, most importantly, leak proof.

It is difficult to stress how important a head torch and batteries are. If you are using a long drop toilet with no electricity in the dark, you really need both hands free.

A mosquito net is essential. If the hotel provides them, take a needle and thread to sew up holes.

Wash kit

You need the obvious essentials of mosquito repellent and sun cream, plus a fully stocked first aid kit with everything from plasters to rehydration salts and some water purification tablets for emergencies. Lots of wet wipes are essential if showering is limited, as is antibacterial hand gel.

Take tweezers to help with those ticks and thorns. Biodegradable multipurpose wash which can do everything from hair to dishes and clothes is also handy. You’ll be slathered in sun cream and mosquito repellent most of the time, so your makeup kit can be pared down – hide behind some fabulous sunglasses instead. Forget taking perfume as you’ll attract insects and the animals will smell you a mile off and vanish.

What to carry it in

Holidays which involve a stay in bush camps don’t mix terribly well with suitcases, which are difficult to fit in a tent. A rucksack is much easier. You’ll also need a smaller backpack for the day; a beach bag style is impossible to carry any sort of distance and makes easy picking for thieves.