Thorough Packing List… to make a Family Safari Fabulous

Clothes & Accessories … let’s start from the top, working down:

• Most importantly, bring clothes that you don’t value too much … you’re in Africa to have fun 😉 not walk the catwalk.
• Outfits – I’d suggest a total of 4 underwear, 3 outfits for the days, 2 outfits for the evenings, 1 or 2 swimmers, 1 jacket & … as you can get things washed in each lodge you stay in.
• A hat … if you can bare it get wide-rimmed hats and / or UV protection.
• Proper Sunglasses for all (never fakes, you and your eyes wont thank you in that African sun). The best sunglasses for eye protection are those with a UV 400 rating. These filter out between 99% and 100% of UV rays, making them the very best sunglasses to protect your eyes. We love our Maui Jim sunglasses as all are equipped with PolarizedPlus2® lenses with 100% UV protection.
• A scarf for the adults – for those chilly mornings and evenings on game drives or covering up your face if there’s lots of dust. I’d suggest a thin cotton scarf (or wait to buy a 100% cotton kikoy or a kanga when you arrive) as well as a warm wooly one.
• Swimming costumes all around (and long sleeved rash vests for the kids).
• Cotton underwear all round … it’s hot here 🙂
• Shirts: Long sleeved, collared 100% cotton shirts for the adults to protect from sun and not get too hot. Short sleeved 100% cotton T-shirts for the kids.
• Hoodies for the early mornings and evenings to keep warm … even your neck & head.
• A good windproof, waterproof jacket for those open vehicle drives.
• A lightweight backpack that you can carry with you every day with snacks, drinks, games, extra layers, extra clothes for kids in case they wet / dirty their clothes …
• Cotton or linen shorts, trousers or skirts for all for the day
• Jeans, long trousers or tracksuit bottoms for the evenings to cover from the mosquitoes and keep warm. Sometimes it gets really chilly in parts of Kenya at night.
• 2 pairs of socks & trainers for walks and for the evenings
• Flipflops, the dreaded crocs 🙂 or sliders for the day.
• You are only able to bring 15kg total luggage on internal flights, please bring a suitable bag that can carry this amount, or buy one of our beautiful rainbow zebra canvas and leather bags on arrival, here’s a sneak peek!

Safari Stuff:

• We suggest giving your kids some Kenyan shillings before they come … it will make them more excited to use it when they get here.
• Give your children a ‘hobby’… when we are on safari Zia is the family spotter and owns some really good binoculars & Billy is the family photographer and owns a good camera .. an underwater one for more sea/pool fun. Definitely make sure you spend money here …. Get expensive binoculars & a camera with a great zoom you’ll only be disappointed by phone photos on safari (you can always sell your purchases on ebay afterwards … or keep coming on safari to make good use of them 🙂
• The camera lens – Every interested safari photographer should have a telephoto zoom lens, such as 100-400mm or 200-500mm. These focal lengths are critical to capture the action that occurs within a certain range from the vehicles. There are times the wildlife is further away, but the majority of the action is within 200-400mm away. A 300mm will allow you to take a large majority of the scenes on safari, except for birds, where a 400mm to 500mm is recommended as a minimum.
• The best binoculars available on Amazon are Athlon Optics 8×42 Midas G2 UHD Black Binoculars with Eye Relief for Adults and Kids, High-Powered Binoculars.
• The best budget binoculars on Amazon are Nikon 8252 Aculon A211 10-22×50 Zoom Binoculars.
• A travel adaptor with all the sockets you need to charge at once (this reduces fighting :))… the camera, the phones, the speaker, the watch etc. For Kenya, the plug type is G, which is the plug that has three rectangular pins in a triangular pattern. Kenya operates on a 240V supply voltage and 50Hz.
• Take extra batteries or battery charger packs, maybe even two 🙂 for day-long game drives

Entertainment

Travel games for the car or when you have time out …

• We have Donkey (the quickest game always :)) which is always a winner … and we’re developing ‘Zebra’ version of donkey for our boutique safari gift shop, Zizibow, so watch this space ;),
• Backgammon,
• Playing Cards,
• We definitely suggest you buy Mbao when you’re in Kenya, it’s a great family game.
• African & Safari Trumps, Predator, African Safari Top Trumps, (some trumps can be purchased from Zizibow),
• A ball – We never go anywhere without a ball or even 3 (a football, a softball and cricket bat for French cricket), it will make sundowners & bush meals even more fun than they already are.

Tunes .. get some awesome, fun tunes & a portable speaker for the long journeys! A family that sings together … 🙂

• Music … if you or your kids are musical, why not bring their recorder, Ukelele etc. to play around the campfire?

Books:

• Let’s Go on Safari is perfect for keeping kids entertained all journey… that can be purchased directly from Zizibow.
• Colouring in books & colours
• The Kenyan quiz book may be fun to buy and fill those journeys.
• Bring them a kindle of some books for when you’re chilling.
• African Animal Tales (The Greedy Zebra, The Laughing Giraffe etc) written by Mwenye Hadithi
• Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain, written by Verna Aardema
• Tree of Life: the World of the African Baobab, written by Barbara Bash
• Warrior Boy (Can a Boy from London become …), written by Viginia Clay .. etc.

Films – Watch some before and bring some with you

• African Cats (2011) A documentary centered on two cat families and how they teach their cubs the ways of the wild.
• Born Free (1966) In the late 1950s Kenyan game warden George Adamson and his wife Joy became the foster parents to Elsa, a lioness. Much joy and heartbreak followed when the Adamsons ultimately decided to rehabilitate Elsa back into the wild, where she belonged. Did you know that we can even book you a stay at a FAB lodge just above the site of George Adamson’s original camp where he raised and released orphan lions?!? Contact us.
• Born to be Wild (2011) This heart-warming short film documents orphaned elephants and orangutans and the extraordinary people who rescue and raise them
• Maasai: The Rain Warriors (2004) After a lion kills the village leader, the expected rains fail to arrive, so a group of warriors are sent to hunt the lion down and kill it in hopes it will bring the rain.

If you’re going to use your gadgets, we suggest downloading some super safari apps like:

• iNaturalist – helps you identify plants and animals with visually similar suggestions and verification by dedicated contributors. Get connected with a community of over a million scientists and naturalists who can help you learn more about nature!
• SkySafari – or other stargazing apps
• SayHi, ITranslate or other language interpreters
• 1234Player Games – is fun for the whole family.

Or you could leave the usual addictions behind …. You get our drift?

Yumyums

• 1 litre water bottles minimum. We always carry a litre each and a couple of litres spare
• A sugary/sweet drink (hidden) to produce in low moments.
• Snacks .. take a bag full and each day just take one of each out on your adventure when the mood dips.
• Always take some savory snacks in case of missed meals, late meals like nuts, seeds, crisps, crackers, breadsticks.
• Biscuits .. I feel the less sugar and more ‘slow release energy’ is the better.
• Marshmallows for those campfires…. Don’t forget these!
• Maybe even that extremely important one sweet treat per day for when the ‘I’m bored’ kicks in? lollypops, a little bag of shared Haribo’s, chocolate (careful for the melting).

Medical & pharmacy stuff

In most cases you’re not near shops, so we find a thorough medical kit important whilst on safari. This is what we recommend:

• La Roche-Posay for all
• Sun Bum for all (but have seen one allergic reaction here, so be careful)
• Childs Farm for kids
• Don’t forget little ones that you can carry with you.
• ORS rehydrates … honestly I give them ½ or 1 a day each, every day when we’re on a hot safari .. it definitely stops so many slumps! It also helps me after a wine-fueled evening around the campfire 😉
• Ballet Mosquito Repellant is the best and safest for kids. It’s a botanical Mosquito repellent and sting/itch reliever… and actually works! We swear by it.
• Anthisan – to really stop that itching.
• Saline water & Germaline/Savlon for any cuts.
• .Arnica pillules & cream for bashes & bruises…. &/or Deep Heat for sprained muscles & a bandage & plasters of all sizes… most kids love these, they feel better immediately :).
• Piriton syrup for any allergies or bites that swell up / itch frantically.
• Calpol / Paracetamol for tired, headachey souls.
• Sore tummies from different food, bring some gripe water, Nexium or whatever you’re comfortable with.
• Ear & eye drops for dust, owies or general discomfort.
• Lip Balm is key in these dry climates. We swear by Blistex (not Blistese) or Carmex.
• Pawpaw ointment for everything really!

Most importantly, come with positivity, the will to have fun and the will to make magical memories in Kenya with the nicest, kindest people on the planet, Kenyans!!