Here is a quick list of things I wish I knew before my trip. I hope you enjoy South Africa as much as I did!
- You need the yellow fever vaccine, and you need to get it at least 10 days before arriving in Africa. (I live in the US, however I am not sure if this is true for other countries as well.)
- Pack anti-malaria pills. You don’t have to take them, but we ended up taking them just in case. Better safe than sorry.
- Pack light. You’ll probably be taking a small plane to your safari and they are super strict about the weight of your bag. Check with your airline for their maximum allowance. On the bright side, most safaris have laundry services available. Our lodge provided free laundry, so we washed mid-way through our stay.
- Wear the right colors. Safari attire consists of neutral colors for a reason. You need to blend in with your surroundings. You don’t want to stand out to the animals, so neutral colors are the way to go. Avoid white because it gets dirty and avoid black because it attracts mosquitos.
- You passport must have a minimum of 2 blank (side-by-side) pages. (This is true for US passports.)
- For this trip I used a travel agent. I did a lot of research on my own, but I found it somewhat difficult to figure out the logistics of the short flights (they’re not regular airlines that you can find in a common search engine) and the agency got better prices than I could anyway. (In case you do try to book it on your own, the flight directly from the bush into the main airport is on Federal Airlines.) As per a friend’s recommendation, I used Stuart Parker at Africa Uncovered and he was great. I recommend going with a travel agency that specializes in that type of trip. It is impossible for a travel agent to be familiar with every country, as well as the hotels and things to do in it. Stuart specialized in safaris and has been on many, so he can provide his honest opinion.
13 thoughts on “African Safari: Travel Tips”
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As a safari operator in Africa, I can add few more after the pandemic broke out in 2020, a negative Covid-19 certification before arrival, and a proof of vaccination. Things just got even complicated. But hey, it’s for our own protection. Welcome to Africa.