We were given some really helpful travel tips and have found some others to share which might be useful for those who are hopefully inspired to travel to Africa.
Travel Agent: Jennifer Forret at Flightcentre Taranaki Street Wellington is amazing and can help you wherever you are based. Contact: 04 384 4413; Jennifer.forret.nz@flightcentre.co.nz
Health: Get the vaccinations from a travel doctor at home and take a medical kit with some antibiotics and other first aid. Remember that the resorts and hotels will usually have a nurse who can dispense medication and the cities and larger towns will have a pharmacy with English speaking pharmacist.
Climate: We went in mid winter as that is the best time to see the migrating animals in Kenya and Tanzania. We experienced 2 rain showers in 6 weeks, both on Zanzibar which is an east coast island. Otherwise it was fine. It can be very hot in the day time (up to 40C in Namibia) and very cold in the early morning and night (down to 0C in Botswana and Tanzania).
Clothing: Wear normal stuff that you would normally wear when travelling. You don’t need a lot of special ‘safari’ clothes. Quick drying fabrics are good. Avoid anything dark blue for safari days as that attracts tsetse flies in the Serengeti. Have light coloured clothes for the Serengeti and something beige or green for safari days in Kenya and Botswana. The hotel or lodge will provide raincoats for Victoria Falls, otherwise you can rent a coat on the access track. You can’t go wrong with smart casual for going out, jeans and track pants. You don’t need more than 2 pairs of shorts and one good dress is enough. A jersey, jacket and merino will also be useful. We each took two of those long sleeved, warm and light tramping tops. Also a short sleeved version. A pair of togs and a sleeveless vest and you’re good to go. I took too much stuff and it was a pain to carry and pack.
Footwear: Take a pair of comfortable shoes that you don’t mind getting muddy, wet or sandy. My zip up Merrels were great but something more robust would have given me more confidence when walking in the grassland on our walking safari. The zips did not like the sand in Namibia but survived.
Packing: Separate small zip bags for clothing made packing and repacking so much easier as you didn’t have to rummage through your entire bag; ie underwear in one, socks in another, tee shirts and shorts in another. (Thanks Barbara McDermott)
Washing: The hotels provide a laundry service and the cost of laundry is included at some lodges. Hand washing will usually dry in just over 24 hours. You can squeeze out extra water using a bath towel. (Thanks Wilfred). Take new underwear. You need to assume someone else will be washing it and/or will take it for drying.
Mosquitoes: We took pills for malaria. You should also take sensible precautions. Sleep under the mosquito nets where they are provided and use plenty of repellent.
Dust: The dust from the roads on safaris and in rural areas affected our health. Have a scarf or masks that you can use to filter out dust. We both used our Kathmandu neck scarf things for dust protection and warmth.
Electricity: Take a universal adaptor and a multi board for charging. They don’t weigh much and give much better opportunities for charging phones and cameras. South Africa uses a different type of power plug from the rest of Southern Africa.
Toilets: Keep a roll of toilet paper in a snap lock bag in your day pack. Toilets in Africa are generally clean and it usually costs a small amount to use the ones at shops and garages. However, they can lack paper. Also carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer. (Thanks Jennifer Forret)
Tipping: It is normal to tip for good service for everything in Africa. Assume about 10% or the smallest type of note for bag carrying or such like. Our lodge in Livingstone suggested US$10 per day per couple for your guide. We generally allocated US$20 per day for our safari guides but shared that between both guides for our Kenya-Zanzibar trip.
Money: Don’t assume another country will exchange leftover currency. Get out a small amount of local currency at an ATM and have US dollars available also. The guides and many vendors will accept US currency.
US Currency: There will be ATMs in the cities that will give out US dollars. The locals will tell you which banks. Otherwise there are reputable currency exchange places that your guides will take you to or you can check at the hotel. If you take US$ make sure the notes were issued after 2008 as earlier notes won’t be accepted in Africa. (Thanks Barbara McDermott).
Notes: Take a small notebook to write down things of interest and the names of animals etc you have seen. It is hard to keep track of what you saw where and when (Thanks Jennifer Forret)
Camera: Mike took 2 memory cards for his camera so that all his eggs weren’t in one basket. He used one for the first 3 weeks and another for the next 3. He also had a small spare. He had 3 camera batteries that he cycled through. One in the camera, a spare with the camera case and a spare back with the luggage. Remember that air drop will allow you to share photos and video between any Apple devices. Your fellow travellers will love you.
Battery Charger: We carried a small power pack in our day pack which Mike kept fully charged. It was excellent when our phone or iPad ran low. I only had my iPhone for a camera. (Thanks Jennifer Forret)
Souvenirs: If you see something you really like then get it. You can’t assume you’ll see the same thing later as many crafts are local. The lodges and hotels will all have shops and most of them carry good quality examples of what you’ll find in the markets. It is sometimes a decision between cost and quality but the buying power of the NZ$ anywhere in Africa is excellent so don’t fret about cost especially when you’d spend that much on a coffee at home. You can bring into NZ almost anything so long as it is not fruit or honey and you declare it.
Visas: Apply for your South African visa as soon as you can. Remember that they count transit vivas to Johannesburg airport as an entry to South Africa. He other visas you can get at the border and they don’t require any of the information requested when applying online.
Food: Our tours mostly included food so pace yourself. They have an excellent array of buffet food everywhere. All of the hotels and lodges have clean drinking water and you needn’t worry about eating salads or having ice. Take more care if you are buying your own food from a shop or stall in a village.
Photos: Expect to pay if you take someone’s photo. At the very least ask first. Most people live with very little money and they are alert to the difference in income from tourists.