Safari Clothing & Equipment - Personal Kit
We recommend keeping clothing light and long-sleeved during the day (colours are traditionally khaki or green, bright colours could spook some wildlife) with a fleece or jumper for the evening and a lightweight raincoat, particularly if you are travelling during wet seasons.
Safari Packing Essentials
The following should give you an idea of the essentials;
- Short & Long Sleeve Shirts - Long sleeved is for protection from the sun and insects in the evenings.
- Shorts & Trousers - again, long trousers can protect from the sun & insects.
- Safari Hat - wide-brimmed works best, but a cap is a good alternative!
- Jacket/Fleece - it can get colder in the evenings and on early morning game drives.
- Shoes - Comfortable trainers/shoes and a pair of sandals. You will need some type of hiking or safari boot if you plan on any walking safaris.
- Swimwear
- Binoculars Camera
- Personal first-aid kit and wash kit
- A packet of wet wipes is very useful to clean up after driving along a dusty road!
- A small day pack
- Sunglasses and sunscreen (including SPF lip salve)
- Guidebooks, maps, etc
- Money belt
- Torch (can be useful on a luxury safari but very important on camping/budget safari)
- Water bottle
- Insect Repellent
Spotting hippos in a pool in Kenya.
If you're on a camping safari then you need to add the following extra's;
- Sleeping bag
- Sleeping bag liner (helps to keep your main bag clean and can be used on its own in very warm weather)
- Camping mat or Therm-a-rest
Visiting Our Projects
If you're planning on visiting some of our Moving Mountains projects during your safari then it's a good idea to pack some photos of your family and pictures from your home. Most children are fascinated by the outside world and will really appreciate you taking the time to show where you come from.
Contact us if you are considering bring gifts, etc. We have put a lot of effort in over the years to ensure that our beneficiaries feel part of a family rather than a charity case and although we welcome your efforts in bringing gifts for the kids we prefer to stay away from the old hand-out mentality, in favour of a much more progressive developmental aid, a hand-up rather than a hand-out. As such, any gift should be distributed by our staff on the ground to ensure that no favouritism is shown to specific kids. Our staff will ensure that the right children are receiving it and this also helps children get away from any sort of begging mentality, if aid is delivered to local children by our local staff then it avoids any sort of old colonial attitude towards aid.
There are however some things that are needed, particularly in schools, our children's home, rescue centre and on our sports and music programmes, if you have access to any of the following then our staff will be very grateful and will ensure that they reach the communities, schools or children who benefit most;
Spotting wildlife on the savannah means protecting yourself from the sun and wind.
- Football kits (full kits for our Black Cats teams) and football team jerseys... All children love football, particularly the big teams; Man Utd, Arsenal, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Sunderland (!?!), etc
- Football boots (the red dirt pitches are very sore on boots and they are expensive to buy locally, even 2nd hand)
- Footballs and sports equipment, not just for the Black Cats but for the schools that we work with (includes sports medical kits and pumps for balls)
- Musical equipment
- Pencils for school children (pens are not used in Primary level education, pencils are much more useful)
- Games and group activity equipment, colouring and reading books
- Black school shoes (like boots these are reasonably expensive to buy in Kenya, even 2nd hand)
- Good quality clothing (all sizes, not just to distribute at our children's home or rescue centre but to boost stock in local social enterprises)
- Local produce (helps the local economies and if visiting family homes then a bag of sugar, maize, rice and tea, etc will be much more useful to any family)