12 Essentials For Your African Safari Packing List

Hooray, you’re off on a once in a lifetime African safari! Along with regular items like comfortable clothing, a hat and sunscreen, these are 12 essential things you’ll need for your African safari packing list:

MEDICATIONS AND VACCINATIONS

It’s very highly recommended to take Dukoral (an oral vaccine for traveler’s diarrhea) before you leave.

Because malaria is rampant in many places in Southern and East Africa, it’s important to take anti-malarials.

Depending on where you travel in Africa, you may need a yellow fever vaccine. Some places, like Zanzibar, require the yellow fever vaccine if you’ve been in countries with a risk of yellow fever.

BUG SPRAY

In order to further ward off mosquitoes (and malaria and yellow fever).

US DOLLARS

US dollars are accepted in many places for tourist activities and it’s the only currency accepted when paying for the visa-on-arrival in the Southern and East African countries. It would’ve been nice to know before I arrived in Africa that nowhere in Southern or East Africa accepts US dollar notes from before 2006.

A SIZEABLE BUDGET

Africa is surprisingly expensive, so make sure you’ve researched specific costs and budget accordingly.

A GOOD CAMERA WITH A GREAT ZOOM

This is absolutely essential for any African safari packing list. If you don’t have a good camera, going on an African safari is where you’ll notice how crappy your camera or phone’s camera are. Don’t even think about only using your phone. On safari, the majority of the animals you’ll see are far away, which is why you need a decent camera with a great zoom lens to capture the animals from a distance and in detail. It’s not a bad idea to bring an extra memory card too.

VISA CREDIT CARD

Visa is the credit card of Africa, so when credit cards are actually accepted, it’ll be Visa. MasterCard is rarely accepted.

A SPORTS BRA (FOR THE LADIES)

For driving on the violently bumpy roads.

A female cheetah and her cubs ~ Serengeti, Tanzania ~

A FLASHLIGHT/TORCH/HEADLAMP

Power outages happen all the time and if you’re camping, you’ll often have to wake up before sunrise.

A CLOTHESLINE

Laundry facilities are rare while safariing so you’ll likely need to do some washing by hand, so it’s really helpful to have a clothesline (or washing line) for hanging your clothes to dry. You’ll need to bring detergent/soap too.

EXTRA BATTERIES OR CHARGING DEVICES

If you’re camping, there may not always be electricity at the places you stay and power outages are a regular occurrence. The safari vehicles have charging stations that you can use while driving, but it’s always good to have a backup because you’ll have to share, unless you’re on a private tour.

BINOCULARS

For spotting animals from a distance on safari (unless you have a giant camera lens).