Packing

Nothing caused me more stress and anxiety than planning the packing for this adventure. Full disclosure: I am a clothes horse and an over packer. I always take too much, often pay overweight charges and love to have options.

I had heard about the luggage size and weight restrictions for safaris but was shocked when the documents arrived stating in BOLD CAPS on almost every page:

PLEASE NOTE THERE IS A 20KG LUGGAGE RESTRICTION PER PERSON IN SOFT BAGS ONLY INCLUDING ALL CARRY ON ITEMS. HARD SHELL TYPE AND BULKY LUGGAGE WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED AS THE BAGGAGE SPACE ON BOARD THE AIRCRAFT IS EXTREMELY LIMITED. NO WHEELS, FRAMES OR RIGID STRUCTURES ARE PERMITTED.

MAXIMUM DIMENSIONS ARE 24” LONG X 10” WIDE X 12” HIGH. NO EXCEPTIONS.

OY! What’s a packing Sherpa to do? I spent months researching luggage and finally settled on Eagle Creek 24” No-Matter-What Duffels purchased from the fantastic Jetsetter.ca. They were wonderful to deal with.

Inspired by this video I also purchased the Eagle Creek Packing System of Packing Folders, Cubes and Half Cubes which helped organize everything inside the duffels as well as compress the items so I could pack more.

Several issues cropped up which forced me to rethink my usual inclination to throw in a few extra items.
First of all, we require several types of clothing including attire for city touring, nice dinners, pool weather and safaris including cool mornings and hot days, making packing more complicated.

Next, there are several clothing restrictions we were informed about. Black, navy and other very dark colours are not recommended while on safari as these colours attract insects, mosquitoes, tse-tse flies and others. Bright colours and prints are also not recommended for safari because they either attract or frighten wildlife. White also attracts attention and gets very dirty.

It’s worth noting most safari camps will wash your clothes, though not your underwear.

There are myriad online packing lists and packing apps available including:
Packing Pro and Pack the Bag and while I tried these two out, I found they didn’t work for me. So I simply started a list in my iPhone and edited it as I thought of things to add.

Our intention is to each carry on our duffel and backpack and not check ANY luggage because we have so many connections and we have heard many stories about luggage being slit open in Johannesburg. But we will have to see if the airlines allow us to carry the duffels on the international flights.

Gayle’s Final Packing List
In 24” Duffel Bag:

18” Packing Folder
4 pairs of pants – 2 hiking pants – grey and beige cargos, khaki jeans, nicer darker beige pant
1 pair of cargo shorts
1 pair dark denim, ultra light capris

15” Packing Folder
2 cotton jersey dresses
3 long sleeve tshirts

15” Packing Folder
2 lightweight cardigans
1 vneck cashmere sweater
Long sleeve denim shirt
Lightweight safari jacket

Pack It Full Cube
10 shirts/tank tops
1 silky blouse

Pack It Two Sided Cube
Crushable Tilley Hat
Pajamas
Very small clutch purse for dresses/nice dinners
*This cube remains mostly empty to put dirty clothes in for return trip which aren’t laundered at the end.

Pack It Half Tube Cube
6 prs drip dry undies
2 bras
3 prs Tilley Fast Dry Travel Socks

Pack It Half Tube Cube
Flip flops
Ballet Flats

Pack It Half Tube Cube
2 long scarves

Not in cubes:
Ultra light down vest in a pouch
Fold up rain poncho in a pouch
Bathing suit

In Brigg’s and Riley Excursion BackPack (to be carried on plane)
Night gown
Tank top
Tshirt
1 pr underwear
1 pr pants
Nikon 1 J3 camera and 10-100 zoom lense
Nikon 10 x 42 6.7 waterproof binoculars
10 64GB memory cards
Thank you notes and envelopes (for safari tipping)
iPad
iPod and headphones
Chargers
Adapters
Eye mask
Blow up pillow
Sunglasses and cord
Reading glasses
Contact lenses
Pills and prescription drugs
Strappy sandals
Toiletries
Make up and brushes
Kleenex
Mini umbrella
Urinelles Yes really! If you’re a woman, you know what it’s like to have to pee standing up when wearing pants!
Kipling Alvar Shoulder Bag Beige to use during touring and safari
Copies of itinerary, tickets, vouchers, travel insurance policies – medical and trip cancellation, passport

Michael’s Final Packing List
18” Packing Folder
7 collared shirts including 1 heavy denim shirt and 1 heavy safari shirt

15” Packing Folder
2 prs of pants
1 pr jeans
2 prs of shorts
1 bathing suit

15” Packing Folder
2 sweaters
Long sleeved collared shirt
Golf shirt
2 tshirts
Pajama top

Pack It Two Sided Cube
6 tshirts
6 prs underwear

Pack It Half Tube Cube
3 prs socks
3 prs Tilley Fast Dry Travel Socks

Not in cubes:
Ultra light down vest in a Ziploc
Fold up rain poncho in a pouch
1 pr ultra light Merrell shoes
Flip flops
Crushable Tilley hat

In Brigg’s and Riley Excursion BackPack (to be carried on plane)
Pajama bottoms
Tshirt
1 pr underwear
1 pr socks
iPad
Noise cancelling headphones
Chargers
Adapters
Sunglasses and cord
Pills and prescription drugs
Toiletries

PACKING ADDENDUM

I did a thorough audit once we came home. I LOVED our duffels and our Eagle Creek packing folders and cubes!! But, we didn’t wear about 1/3 of the clothing we took! Michael had way too many nice shirts and we both never wore our shorts and could have taken one less pair of pants each. You want your legs covered from the sun as well as from the ticks and other insects, not to mention the tall, rough grasses and plants.I also took too many short sleeved t-shirts and should have had another couple of long sleeved ones. Mornings in March in Sabi Sands were quite chilly. Botswana was warmer. I was very glad we had packable down vests and that I had scarves and a big apple green pashmina. I brought a cashmere v-neck but it should have been a fleece instead. Cashmere and the bush don’t really mix very well. It’s dusty and dirty and you want clothes you can easily launder.

We both brought bathing suits and never wore them. The plunge pools were simply too cold in March. I brought two dresses because of our stays in Cape Town and Winelands. One would have been fine. I also brought a pair of high heeled strappy sandals to go with the dresses. They were unneccesary. I was so surprised at how casual Cape Town and Winelands were, even at the finest restaurants. I would not take any “dinner” clothes next time.

It’s also worth mentioning Londolozi, Royal Chundu and Vumbura Plains all did laundry daily, including undies, as part of our package. And they all did a beautiful job.

I also didn’t need to take a shower cap, hand soap, shower gel or even shampoo and conditioner for that matter as the places we stayed supplied all of these in abundance and they were excellent products. This may not be the case everywhere.

After careful consideration here are some items I think are MUST HAVES in addition to clothing, binoculars and camera equipment:

Small notebook and pen to note names of animals, birds and plants you’ve never heard of and aren’t likely to remember
Hat with big brim and a string to keep it on as you’re careening around in the open vehicles
Polarized sunglasses on a cord
Ziploc bags
Cheap digital watch with a back light
Extra camera battery
Closed shoes with rubber soles (not sneakers). Mine were slip on leather Eccos and I loved them
Flip flops and ballet flats
Down vest
Fleece
Hooded sweatshirt
Scarves
Extra tip cash for entry fees, taxis, water in airports, departure taxes, tips for people you hadn’t thought about or didn’t know about

We were exactly within our weight limit when we weighed the two duffels, two knapsacks, small Longchamp carry on bag and my cross body bag. I am glad we stuck religiously to the weight restrictions. If the duffels can’t be jammed into the teensy space in the plane, you have to repack it all into supplied bags and pay to do so. It’s a real pain and we saw lots of people forced to do this who hadn’t heeded the size and weight restriction rules.