What to pack for Kenya

Miscellaneous: If you are planning on getting a Visa on arrival in Kenya it makes sense to print out the visa application from before you go. Sometimes certain flights to Kenya do not always have forms on the aircraft and if they do can easily run out of them. Places like Nairobi airport can be chaotic at the best of times with irritable passengers scrambling for visa forms and/or pens. So just go to Visa and print off the form.

Luggage and bags: I have a hard lockable case on wheels and a day/camera bag for birdwatching.

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: I found jeans, trainers and a loose T shirt normal wear.... no smart clothes, you are going to get dusty and sweaty. No shorts, you get bitten at night, long sleeves to protect from the Equatorial sun. Definitely a hat. Roll up plastic poncho if you are planning for the long and short rains.

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: Mosquito repellant a must for safari. You get nets for the beds at night, but they also bite during the day (different species). There isn't malaria in Nairobi, but at the coast and up country there definitely is. UPDATE: as more malaria infected people travel to Nairobi, the mosquitos become infected and pass it on. Malaria is on the increase in Nairobi. Get Malarone, Larium or whatever your doctor recommends as malaria prevention. Continue taking it when you get home for the prescribed amount of time.

You can get any medicine you want over the counter without prescription. You pay by tablet, no National Health system here!

Sunblock is a MUST, the sun bites you!

Photo Equipment: Video camera, digital camera will do fine.... unless you go to Lake Baringo on a special Birdwatching photo holiday. Most of the birds come right up to you for food and are easy to shoot.

Camping/Beach/Outdoor Gear: We camped in the Mara by Sand River. Not recommended for the faint hearted, you are actually surrounded by wild animals...... best stick to the lodges and camps where everything is provided.

Miscellaneous: Don't take anything you would want to lose...... and make copies of your passport.

A money belt is essential. Copy and print out the following packing list:

Packing List For Safari Kenya

Item PACKED
Money (Bring Sterling, you can change at Hotel)
Tickets
Passport (Make paper copies)
Credit cards
Corkscrew/beer opener
Hep A Hep B Hep C Vaccinations (check NOW with doc) yellow fever
Small medical kit
Mobile phones/chargers
Driving Licence (and copies)
Books (including bird books)

Sunglasses and sunscreen HAT
Medicines and pills including immodium and antibiotics
Laptop
Movie camera
Binoculars
ATM debit card for extra money
Copy of passport/medical insurance docs
Wine glass (tough one)
E111 cards for medical help, copy insurance papers
Cameras/chargers
Underwear Pref Cotton as very hot there
Shoes (tough boots or trainers) flip flops closed sandals.
Clothes (SPECIFICALLY THESE)
Long sleeved shirts and jackets (Mara can be chilly)
Hat
LONG trousers or jeans, Mosquito protection
NO jewellery whatsoever, you can buy local
No flashy clothing or bags or watches
Pick old clothes as you can leaves them behind
Bring any old shoes that you don’t want
Anything that you were going to give to charity
Pens, Pencils, Notepads, Knicknacks, Junk, Old towels
INSECT REPELLENT containing DEET
It is important that you remember that you need to dress down, ie old clothes, keep well covered up because of the Equatorial sun (you can easily get VERY burnt) and mosquitos. Sunscreen needs to be applied at ALL times as well as insect repellent. Don’t take anything you can’t afford to lose.

You need to apply NOW for all your vaccinations at your local GP’s including those above, yellow fever, and anything else he recommends. Have them NOW so that you don’t have any side effects while you are actually on holiday. You need a money belt for each of you to wear under your clothes which will also contain your passport and credits cards.

Pack enough clothes for a week and pills for three weeks in case there is a problem getting home on time (floods etc) as well as all the stuff you would take to a charity shop including clothes, shoes, books pens pencils, toys, towels, sheets, etc but keep within the weight limit. You can leave all this behind so as to make room for taking home souvenirs. Pack your CARRY ON Bag with all medicines and toiletries and a complete spare set of clothing as well as cameras, phones, sunglasses, hats, jackets in case your luggage is lost and keep your valuables in your money belt. Have only LOCKABLE Luggage. No fancy gadgets.

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Luggage and bags: Apart from the obvious such as " Don't forget the extra memory cards (In 8 days of safari I took over 2000 pics) Batteries and the charger, another thing that is a must to bring along for those using a DSLR and multiple lenses is some of those plastic freezer bags, to wrap up your lenses when you're not using them. Amboseli NP is a killer for dust and the others are not much better, so these bags keep most of it away from the inside of the camera (sensor) and off the lenses themselves.

Photo Equipment: I now use a DSLR and have as the longest lens a Canon 18-200mm.After testing with my cat in the garden and my neighbours Alsatian over the back wall, I realised that if an animal, even the size of an elephant, was further than 20 metres away it was going to be useless. So I hired a 100-400 mm lens and took that with me as well. Most of the pics here on these Kenya pages are taken with it (and still I've had to crop some). Now I'm not recommending that you go out and spend some 1300 euros on a lens this size, but hiring this one for 3 weeks cost me 200 euros inc p&p both ways, so it was well worth the money to not have the disappointment of not having some decent sized shots to look at later. I did also take along a monopod to help steady the whole thing, as 2 kgs don't seem a lot for a couple of minutes but holding them up to your eye for a couple of hours is something else.

Miscellaneous: Travel to most African countries requires a yellow fever vaccination. It's important to get the shot in advance if you are heading for a short trip. The Vaccine takes around 10 days to work so no country will let you back under that period.

Luggage and bags: A soft sided bag (10 kgs) and hand luggage

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: - Long sleeve shirt to protect from cold weather or sun
- Shorts
- T-Shirts
- Cotton pants
- Fleece or sweater (a jacket if you travel Jun-Sep - It does get quite cold and rainy)
- Sandals or rubber thongs for showers
- Comfortable walking/hiking shoes
- Raincoat or poncho
- Wide Brimmed Hat
- Sunglasses

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: - Malaria Pills
- Sun Block
- Insect Repellent
- First Aid Kit (with blister kit)

Photo Equipment: - Camera with good zoom capability
- Binoculars

Camping/Beach/Outdoor Gear: - If on a camp safari, a towel and sleeping bag.

Miscellaneous: - Flash light or head lamp
- Hostel sleep sack if you have one
- Zip Lock bags to prevent items from getting wet
- Lock and Wire Cable
- Copies of important documents
- Ear plugs if you need complete quiet to sleep

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Luggage and bags: It depend on travelling style but make sure it's resistant bag because it wont be handled by care, those guys just throwing it in and out of the plain baggage compartment.

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: More or less it should be cotton cloths because it makes us less sweating, esspecially if humid. Something warm, like water resistant jacket or light leather jacket is advisable too, you might need it for evenings or early mornings. Good walking shoes, solid but yet comfortable. Hat or cap might be very useful for both, sunny or rainy days.

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: Take all precauting measures before travelling, might be too late if something happens there.

Photo Equipment: Do not forget your camera and lots of memory cards or those with huge capacity. I suggest additional lens if going on safari.

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: Take toilet paper or tissues. Toilets are few and far between. Even when you find a toilet, there wont be any paper and other times you will have to use the bushes anyway.

Photo Equipment: A digital camera is a must as you will take hundreds of photos and you are able to delete the ones you don't like. Better still, take a video camera. A video camera captures so much more of the real life action.

Miscellaneous: Take a flashlight. as many of the lodges only run on generators, they have them turned off during the night. And if you need to use the bathroom, the rooms are pitch black. Sometimes there are candles to use, But they can be a bother to light and carry through mosquito nets.
Also take an electrical outlet for Africa for charging batteries and other appliances.

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: Our hotel (Bamburi Beach Hotel) and most others have a evening dress code of long pants for men. I did not plan on this and only had my blue jeans that I wore on the flight out. The hotel did allow however, shorts "so long as they are below the knee". Luckily I had one pair that fit the bill. Many other men/boys wore 3/4 length trousers.