{"id":24775,"date":"2015-12-11T11:45:53","date_gmt":"2015-12-11T16:45:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress-181994-533056.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=24775"},"modified":"2019-12-07T22:37:14","modified_gmt":"2019-12-08T03:37:14","slug":"the-travel-bucket-list-a-south-african-safari-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.styletomes.com\/lifestyle\/the-travel-bucket-list-a-south-african-safari-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"The Travel Bucket List: A South African Safari Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stock up for your next adventure.<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n

FYI, If you’re heading to Thailand or another beachy destination, check out Anita’s travel guide here<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Story:<\/h4>\n

I wound up on a safari in South Africa without much safari guide research and without referencing a safari packing guide. It was only two weeks before flying out that we planned accommodations and activities<\/strong> on the\u00a0journey from NYC to Abu Dhabi to Cape Town to Londolozi Varty camp near Kruger National Park and back to Johannesburg and NYC. If this sounds like a lot, it is. Especially considering all this spanned about eight days.<\/p>\n

We booked a deal ticket on Etihad Airways a few months before our trip. We ended up upgrading our ticket to business class for the flights. The option well worth it considering our flight path was so lengthy.<\/strong> I consider myself fairly well traveled, tucking away over 30 countries visited around the world in my early to mid-20s. This was my first time going to the African continent, however. I wish we had more time to stay and explore, but the terms of the ticket confined us into a fairly short length of time.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Safari Guide on How To Pack:<\/h4>\n

Golden rule of adventure travel #1:<\/em> bring enough to survive, but not enough to weigh you down!<\/strong> The many transfers meant I didn’t want to check luggage. In fact, in all my years of travel, I only checked my luggage once (my very first trip). I’ve gotten very efficient at packing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Golden rule #2?<\/em> Stuff rolled up socks, undies, and bathing suits in shoes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Golden rule #3:<\/em> Bring appropriate camera gear<\/strong>. First thing first. Are you carrying camera gear? If you’re going on a safari, most likely you are. I rent a lot of my equipment, and typically rent a camera body and lens to suit the destination I’m visiting. In this case, I brought a Canon 7D Mk II (quick AF capabilities) with a 100-400mm lens on top of it. That’s in addition to my two standard lenses.<\/strong> There is no way I ever check my camera equipment.\u00a0If we’re doing the math here, I already said I don’t check my luggage, and I baby my gear by carrying it closely to me (aka, it’s my personal item). That means I have a handbag and a carry-on to work with for a multi-city and multi-purpose trip.<\/p>\n

Which brings me to Golden rule #4:<\/em> Choose appropriate luggage.<\/strong> I only recently acquired a rolling bag (all thanks to my husband and his wedding gift thoughtfulness)! For years, I used a regular shoulder strap, unstructured, duffel carry-on due to its versatility. It’s easy to stuff it to the brim, and if it doesn’t fit in the overhead, I simply open it up while people are boarding, take out the bulkier items from the top (tip coming up) and collapse the bag a little bit to\u00a0make it fit.<\/p>\n

I still use my husband’s duffel bag on short weekend trips. For this journey, I didn’t bother with my roller either. Primary reason is because my roller is a custom Louis Vuitton that I didn’t want to take chances with. The other reason is that we had several small (i.e. 4-6 seater) transfers that had luggage restrictions. I chose a canvas backpack for my toiletries and camera equipment first. I lined the sides\u00a0of the bag and the equipment with bubble wrap. Then I further padded with a large lightweight blanket scarf I used for the chillier evenings.<\/strong><\/p>\n

My primary bag was a soft-side duffel I didn’t mind getting a bit scruffed up. Depending on the luggage, a little bit of scuff and rough edge is extremely appropriate.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clothes\u00a0to Pack:<\/strong> Unless you’re spending a significant amount of time in a major city and are planning on going out often, don’t bother with glamorous clothes and shoes<\/strong>. I spent several days in Cape Town and felt very appropriately dressed in jeans, a change of tops and\u00a0some slip-ons.<\/p>\n

You don’t have to go all out in old-school safari outfits, but focus on bringing earth-toned clothing to better blend into the environment.<\/strong> You’ll be in a jeep most of your safari stay, so your shoes won’t get too much wear.<\/p>\n

There’s laundry service, so you can always get fresh clothes. Your main goal is to minimize the amount of luggage you have to carry! For the safari, make sure to bring:<\/p>\n