What I packed – Photographer – Africa – 2017

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As a photographer, my priorities for travelling always have been photography first. This time around for a safari adventure in Africa, I left my North Face Basecamp Duffel behind and replaced it with the Victorinox VX Touring Wheeled 2-in-1 carry-on as my main luggage. I used the PRVKE bag by WANDRD as my personal camera bag. I am still not a big fan of wheeled luggage but this hybrid wheeled duffel bag was an interesting one to test out. Follow the link to see my review on the Victorinox VX Touring Wheeled 2-in-1 carry-on.

Going to South Africa and going on a safari – less is more. On the safari, you are travelling with a medium size group of people and a laptop is more of an inconvenience than anything else. Unfortunately, my 120mm Twin Lense film camera had to be left at home (especially with an addition of a sleeping bag). Africa can be hot but when the sun goes down, the temperature dips. Black & Blue clothing attract tsetse flies so avoid wearing those colours. Northern parts of Africa are quite conservative so be aware that tights/leggings & revealing tank tops won’t do in the city or small villages (shoulders and knees should be covered). While on safari, you can wear whatever you feel like but in terms of colour, stick to neutrals so you can blend into the environment. White will only get dirty so the colours you should try to stick to are greys, greens, browns. In terms of fabrics, dry-fit and light linens are ideal and layering is key (I hate layering). We were given opportunity during our trip to do our own laundry and hang it to dry.

*We were given slightly wrong information in terms of what we needed to pack. Our friend had previously done Northern Africa, which encompasses more Muslims thus more conservative. Southern Africa is not as conservative meaning shorts and tank tops are the more appropriate attire. Marked in BOLD are clothing or items that weren’t needed or I didn’t use and also important information.

 

Africa Packing List

14 days

Wearing onto Plane

1 pair of pants (Uniqlo Easy Legging Pants)

1 tank+sports bra

1 hoodie

1 sneakers

1 pair of socks

1 pair of underwear

 

PRVKE 21 (personal bag – camera bag)

1 Nikon D750

1 28mm lense

1 150-500mm lense – Wish I had the 50-500mm for more versatility BUT highly recommended a lense of 300mm+ for game drives or a teleconvertor

4 Nikon batteries

1 Nikon charger

1 GoPro

3 GoPro batteries

1 GoPro charger

1 Earphones

1 Mogics – travel adaptor power bar – MAKE SURE TO HAVE THE APPROPRIATE OUTLETS (Type D, M, N & G – 3 prongs – flat and also circle)

USB cables (external USB 3.0 & MicroUSB)

Gnarboxnot needed

Astrolapin

Memory cards (5 64GB & 6 128GB SD cards)

Eyedrops (Rohto 40a from Japan is my preference – menthol) Good to have eyedrops for those safari game drives

Flashlight / Headlamp – Needed for camping at night

Rainjacket

Tilly hat

Passport

Currency – USD/ Euro

Wallet

Money Belt

Malaria Pills

Lozenges

Water bottle – Collapsible Waterbottle from MEC

Wet wipes / Toilet Paper

Nuun – electrolyte tablets

 

Victorinox VX Touring Wheeled 2-in-1 carry-on (my carry-on/check-in bag)

Deflated balls + ball pump (2 reg size vball and soccer ball + 1 mini soccer ball – to give to locals)

1 Toothbrush

1 pairs of Contacts + 3 single use

1.5 travel size Solution – Clear Care

2 in 1 shampoo

1 Body wash

1 Lotion

1 Tigerbalm

1 tweezers

1 nail clippers

5 pairs of socks (I wore flip flops majority of the time. Used shoes twice for bushwalks and for God’s Window stairs)

3 sports bra

1 bra (didn’t use)

9 pairs of underwear (if doing laundry regularly, not that many needed)

4 light weight pants (2 elephant pants – leaving 1 behind)

5 tanks

2 shirt (only 1 used)

PJ’s (1 shirt, 1 shorts) (didn’t need – showered and wore what I would wear the following day to bed)

1 button-up (didn’t need)

2 Long sleeve (only 1 needed)

1 buff (not needed – can be used as a headband)

1 small towel (used for pillow on top of clothing compartment bag)

1 pack towel (micro fiber quick drying is clutch)

1 Matador packable backpack

Bug spray – try to purchase from the country you are going to as the chemicals are targeted to local insects

Sunscreen

Rope & Clothing pins – on safari you will have opportunity to do your own laundry

1 selfie stick (also use as a monopod) (did not use)

1 flip flops

1 MEC  Sleeping Bag (needed for safari)