Safari Clothing

[vinonme2]

I will be on a 2023 world cruise and doing a 3 night African safari. I am a female and since this will be my one and only safari, I do not want to purchase any more than necessary any "safari only" one time use clothing.

I would appreciate any and all feedback from those who have previously experienced safaris, what you took, etc.  

Thank you!

[BVILady]

I made the mistake purchasing Safari Clothing for a Kenya Safari but it was not necessary at all. Just don't wear any bright colors and you are going to be fine. Would probably avoid black and real white also. What ship are you going to be on? My World Cruise also has several stops in Africa but we don't have excursions for there available yet.

 

[2552phxcrzr]

Neutral colors are best.  Depending on time of year mornings and evenings can be chilly … that was our experience in late June/early July for a safari in Botswana.  So layering is, as always, the way to go.

[vinonme2]

4 hours ago, BVILady said:

I made the mistake purchasing Safari Clothing for a Kenya Safari but it was not necessary at all. Just don't wear any bright colors and you are going to be fine. Would probably avoid black and real white also. What ship are you going to be on? My World Cruise also has several stops in Africa but we don't have excursions for there available yet.

 

 

2 hours ago, 2552phxcrzr said:

Neutral colors are best.  Depending on time of year mornings and evenings can be chilly … that was our experience in late June/early July for a safari in Botswana.  So layering is, as always, the way to go.

Thank you both.  I will be sailing the Holland America 1-3-23 world cruise and will be doing the safari March 8th out of Maputo. 

Sounds like I don't have to purchase all that safari gear and that's good news. 

 

What types of shoes did you wear? 

[BVILady]

I just wore sneakers (trainers), Reebok's. You don't really get off the SUV during a game-drive. Good walking shoes for when you do go into a village in rough terrain. And yes as 2552phxcrzr said it get's chilly at night. But since World Cruises are usually Jan./Feb/March/April you always need to make sure to have plenty of sweaters and jackets anyhow. Since I am living in the Caribbean I had been wearing sweaters all the time in January in Kenya, being an old lady doesn't help with getting easily chilly. I had gotten one of these safari-hats with mosquito-net - what a laugh, just sitting in the closet now, never used and will never be used.

[Heidi13]

19 hours ago, vinonme2 said:

I will be on a 2023 world cruise and doing a 3 night African safari. I am a female and since this will be my one and only safari, I do not want to purchase any more than necessary any "safari only" one time use clothing.

I would appreciate any and all feedback from those who have previously experienced safaris, what you took, etc.  

Thank you!

 

Completed safaris in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa and didn't purchase any additional clothing. Shorts, t-shirt and a light jacket (for pre-dawn) starts was all that was required.

 

We already had Tilley hats, so that was covered.

 

Shoes - regular trainers

[vinonme2]

Thank you all. I just ordered a pair of trainers as I don't wear that type of shoe but that should be it. 

 

[Mich3554]

I never purchased any specialty clothing for our safari.  I wore khakis, light hiking shoes, t shirts and had a fleece.  Our game drives were early morning and in the evening, so the longer pants were needed, as the temp really cools down and we were in an open vehicle.  I usually switched out to shorts and sandals during the day as it was much warmer during the day.

[sandiego1]

Definitely bring a sun hat and a fleece or other warm jacket.

[vinonme2]

I've made a list of all the very much appreciated clothing advice. Thank you all. 

[vinonme2]

One more question please - are there certain colors of clothing not to be worn?

Thank you again.

[BVILady]

just subdued colors not bright neon to attract and disturb the animals. You will love it, a lot of times you are going to be right next to them. I could hardly believe how close we got. We got great pictures with lion's and lion-babies not more then 12-15 feet from our SUV. Our SUV was closed with open windows and a roof which moved up, so you were able to stand up and take pictures from there also if the view was better then from the window. My son spotted a Leopard and we followed it and got fantastic pictures of it. We also followed a Chita hunting for quite a while. Saw Hippo's in the water about 21 feet away and we had gotten out of the SUV for these. Plenty of Elephants, Giraffe's, Zebra's, Gazelle's and their family, Buffalo's and the large amounts of various birds. Couldn't believe how large Ostrich's are. Had a large Crocodile in the river right next to one Lodge and one Lodge had been at a watering-hole, so just sat on the porch in front of the room in the late afternoon for hours watching the animals come by in just unbelievable numbers. Enjoy!

 

[vinonme2]

Thank you all, and a special thanks to BVILady.  The vivid description of your experience has gotten me even more excited and looking forward to this new adventure!   

[BVILady]

On 3/15/2022 at 10:01 AM, vinonme2 said:

Thank you all, and a special thanks to BVILady.  The vivid description of your experience has gotten me even more excited and looking forward to this new adventure!   

You very welcome. I have been thinking of you, maybe you should consider to do a Safari separate to the Cruise, you will see much more. I had been traveling with friendlyplanet.com which has everything included also flights. I had opted booking without flight because of my departure/arrival airport. Just a thought, I am not aware of your situation and circumstances including place of residence. I did have my son with me but there was also a couple from California independently booked with our dates who had missed their flight but friendlyplanet made it work.

[vinonme2]

On 3/17/2022 at 3:27 PM, BVILady said:

You very welcome. I have been thinking of you, maybe you should consider to do a Safari separate to the Cruise, you will see much more. I had been traveling with friendlyplanet.com which has everything included also flights. I had opted booking without flight because of my departure/arrival airport. Just a thought, I am not aware of your situation and circumstances including place of residence. I did have my son with me but there was also a couple from California independently booked with our dates who had missed their flight but friendlyplanet made it work.

 

I live in South Carolina and am a widow, traveling solo, so the safari I've booked is going to be quite an adventure for me. You are so kind, thank you.

[paradiselivin1]

Enjoy. We did a two week safari and I bought travel guides to find the right company and tips and what to wear. Definitely neutral colors of the land ~ muted browns and greens ~ and a hat to keep the sun off of your face. Plenty of bug spray!  We spent a week each in Kenya and Tanzania in June and the advice to stay away from black/blue colors had to do with not attracting tsetse flies. We were in our own private 4 x 4 with driver and guide and couldn't have asked for a better time.