Preparing For African Safari (25 Ninja Tips & Tricks)

Planning an African Safari is not an easy task. There is so much to consider and so many variables to balance that the whole process can seem intimidating. Having lived in Africa all my life, I would love to help you make the process a bit easier.

Here are 25 tips to help you prepare for your African Safari. 

1. Take Your Time When Choosing a Safari Company

The choice of the company you will use to do your safari will be the most critical decisions you will have to make. This is because this will be your biggest single expense and the quality of your safari is hinged on how well the Safari company does their jobs.

When choosing a Safari company (commonly known in East Africa as Tour Operators), you will want to ensure that the company has attained some minimum quality standards like: 

1. Has years of experience in the Safari market and is intimately familiar with the parks you will be visiting
2. Has new vehicles that are suited for the kind of terrain you will be covering on your safari
3. Has well-trained guides/drivers who have a good mastery of the parks you will be visiting and can communicate effectively in English
4. Are registered with the regulating bodies and have all their licenses up to date.
5. Have pre-arranged procedures for what will happen if any of their passengers have an emergency (Eg. have emergency evacuation cover with AMREF)

These are some of the things you will need to look for in vetting the safari company you will be using. 

To help you in choosing a good safari company, I prepared an in-depth step by step guide on how to choose a safari company. Please read it and use the steps there to help you choose the best safari company for you. PS. It even has an email template you can use to make your request to the safari company.

2. Get Your Passport Ready

When coming to Africa for your safari, you will need to have a passport that has at least 6 months before it’s expiry date. It should also have at least two blank pages for each country you plan to visit.

Your passport is the single most important document you will be traveling with and you will need to keep it safe. For this, I recommend that you use a money belt or keep it in a pocket that that is hard to reach when you are traveling.

3. Carry Both Cash and a Visa Card

Although most African countries have a large network of ATMs that accept foreign cards, you will still want to carry some cash with you when traveling. This will be useful especially when you will be in transit or arriving at your destination country. Depending on the country you are traveling to, you will need cash to pay for your visa entry fees and you may not get the chance to visit an ATM before clearing with immigration.

A number of countries like Kenya and Tanzania have implemented a cashless system of processing visa entry and you can use your visa card to pay for your visa. However, a number of countries do not have such systems and you may be required to make payment in cash

Use Dollars

The cash you should be carrying should be in US Dollars since it is the most accepted currency in most African countries. You may need to change the money to dollars before you start your trip since you may not get access to forex bureaus before clearing with immigration.

Once you arrive in your safari country, you can make a cash withdrawal at the ATM and you will get money in the local currency for you to spend.

I would not advise you to use foreign currency to transact in Africa since you are likely to pay more for products and services than if you used local currency.

What you will spend your money on

Since you will have already paid for your safari with the safari company (tour operator), you will not have a lot of things to spend cash on. This is because good safari companies make arrangements for everything: Accommodation, Transport, Food, transfers, flights, etc.

However, you will still need cash to spend in the following ways:

• Tips: Though tips are not mandatory, they are expected and your tour guide/driver will be the main cash expense.
• Souvenirs: You will want to remember your time in Africa and a great way of doing this is getting African jewelry and other trinkets as souvenirs. The cost of these will vary depending on the country you will be visiting in Africa and the workmanship of the souvenir but the average range for a souvenir is USD $40. You will likely pay in cash so carry enough for this.
• Extras like drinks: Your accommodation may not be covering special drinks or some menu items and having cash will be useful

Carry Visa Not Mastercard

Visa is really popular in most of Africa and while Mastercard is still widely used, there are a number of places that only accept Visa cards. To avoid frustration, use a Visa Card as your main transaction card. 

3. Make Copies of Your Passport & Credit Cards

While you do not expect that something will go wrong as you travel on your African safari, you need to prepare for the worst. 

Make 2 copies of your passport and each of the cards you will be carrying. Store one set of copies in your check-in luggage and the other in your carryon luggage.

The reason you want to do this is so that you will have copies that you can use to make a police report if your passport or cards are stolen.

4. Get a Money Belt

A money belt it a belt that you use to carry money, credit cards, and passport in a place that is not easily accessible to you or a pickpocket as a way of keeping them safe. 

It is usually wrapped around your waist underneath your clothes and is a great place to store valuables that you do not feel safe carrying in your backpack or leaving at the hotel.

The money belt is not intended to for use as your main travel pocket that you will use to store all of your valuables. According to Travel Insurance Review, pulling out and rehiding your money belt often will draw attention to it and will defeat its purpose of being a bag that is discrete and unseen by anyone who may be intending to steal something from you.

The following money bags are popular with a lot of travelers and you may want to check them out.

1. Travel Money Bag with RFID Block from Peak Gear (View price on Amazon)
2. RFID Blocking Travel Wallet by AIKELIDA (View price on Amazon)

The money belt needs to block RFID signals since most credit cards can be used using RFID and you will not want to take the chance that your card has been used when it’s still on you.

5. Have ICE Information Near you

You want to have your In Case Of Emergency (ICE) information on your person at all times when you are traveling in Africa. Again, we do not want anything bad to happen but you still want to be prepared for an emergency. 

In case you are incapacitated, having your emergency contact info will let the people helping you find out your basic biodata like your blood type, age, and medical conditions  and the contacts to important people in your life

You can print your ICE information on a card that you can store in your wallet and your money belt.

The ICE card should have the following information:

1. Your Full Legal name
2. Your Blood Type
3. Any Allergies 
4. Medications you are taking
5. Health Care provider & Insurance information
6. 3 Primary Emergency contacts

6. Get a Cellphone SIM Card When You Arrive

Most of Africa is has great cellphone network coverage. To communicate within the country, come with a cellphone that is compatible with international SIM Cards. Once you arrive, buy a sim card from vendors that sell them in most major towns.

Once you have the SIM card, you will need to load it up with about $20 and you will be instantly connected to the world.

Each country usually has about 2-4 Mobile Network providers and you want to choose the one with the widest coverage. Here is a list of the popular safari countries and the Mobile network providers you should use in each

1. Kenya: Safaricom
2. Tanzania: Vodacom
3. South Africa: MTN
4. Botswana: Mascom Wireless
5. Rwanda: MTN
6. Uganda: MTN

7. Health Considerations

When visiting Africa for your safari, you will need to put into consideration a number of health factors to ensure that you don’t get sick when on vacation and enjoy your safari.

1. Stay warm: Travelling for long hours in different climates may shock your body and you will need to stay warm and hydrated to prevent colds. According to Healthline, Although cold weather does not make you sick, it creates conditions that lead to illness.  
2. Vaccination: Check with the CDC website for a list of countries and the vaccinations that are recommended for each of them. There are some countries that will require you to have some mandatory vaccinations and others that will have a recommended list of vaccinations. Prepare for this early and budget for it since it might be an expense to get all the necessary shots.
3. Medication: You will need to carry your entire prescription for the length of time you will be spending on your safari and some additional days in case there are any travel delays. Refilling your prescription in Africa may be very expensive or may not be possible due to the unavailability of the specific medication you are used to using.
4. Mosquito: One of the things you will need to be careful about when traveling to Africa is the threat of malaria. With mosquitoes being the main transmitter of the deadly disease, you will need to come prepared to minimize the number of bites you get from this bug. Carry insect repellant and take anti-malarial meds before arriving to keep the threat of getting sick to a minimum.

8. Don’t Skip Travel Insurance

Travel insurance is one of those things you might ignore when coming to an African safari and suffer greatly for it. The fact that you will be on safari in remote parts of Africa means that you will be hundreds of miles away from good medical attention.

In addition to this, there are a number of other risks that can happen when on an African safari that can completely wreck your trip and leave you with big losses.

Your travel insurance for your safari needs to cover:

1. Medical emergencies and health complications; I found that the medical cover makes the highest proportion of the insurance cover. This is usually divided into two categories
   1. Medical evacuations: This covers for you to be repatriated back to your
   2. Emergency Medical treatment: The term “emergency” gives it away. You will only be covered if your treatment is an emergency and cannot wait for you to get back to your home country.
2. Lost or delayed luggage: Losing valuable luggage can be quite costly and it helps if you were insured for this eventuality.  
3. Lost passport
4. Missed flights and connections: Delays in flights can make you miss your connecting flight and this loss would be borne by the insurance company.
5. Cancellations: you may be unable to go for your African Safari due to circumstances beyond your control, you can have your payment refunded through the insurance. you may also want to add the “cancel for any reason” add on which typically increases your premium by about 40 to 50% but allows you to cancel that trip for any reason.
6. Trip Alterations: different from trip cancellation alterations allow for refunds in case part of your trip is interrupted while you have already started your Safari. the difference between alterations and cancellations is that you cannot claim a cancellation refund when you have already started your trip but can claim an alteration refund.
7. Overseas Death: in the unfortunate event of losing your life while on safari in Africa you travel insurance will ensure that your body is brought back to your home country.
8. Natural Disasters: if you are caught up in a natural disaster like a flood, your travel insurance will take care of reimbursing the costs incurred to get back to safety.

I have written a more in-depth article on travel insurance for an African safari. 

9. Get a Medical Evacuation Cover

In addition to medical insurance, you may want to consider paying $16 for a 30-day tourist air ambulance evacuation cover with AMREF Flying Doctors. Having this cover with AMREF directly would help you get to better care faster than relying on your Insurance company’s evacuation plan. In addition to this, you would be supporting AMREF to provide healthcare to remote villages in East and Central Africa for free.

10. Avoid Drinking Tap Water

This will apply for most countries in Africa. Tap water in many African cities has inconsistent quality and would not be appropriate to drink for a foreigner. You should only drink bottled water bought from large reputable stores and from popular brands to ensure its quality.

I have written a more in-depth article on why tap water is unsuitable for consumption by tourists. 

When on safari, your tour company will provide drinking water and the hotels will also have bottled drinking water for your use. 

11. Carry a Water Bottle

If you don’t want to carry multiple plastic bottles of water around, your best bet will be using a portable water bottle that you can carry around with you on your game drives. You should still use bottled water but in this case, you can purchase water in a large container and refill your water bottle when leaving for the day.

12. Get the Right Luggage

Safari luggage needs to be soft and in bags that can be bundled and squeezed into tight spaces. 

Restrictions for Bags used for African Safari:

• Should Not have wheels
• Should Not  have spines on the side. 
• Should Not be Have a hard shell or be made out of inflexible material

The best safari luggage is duffel bags with soft sides and no wheels. Here are a few safari bags from Amazon that are popular with Travelers:

1. S-Zone Duffel Bag (Most Popular)
2. WOWBOX Duffel Bag (Best Trim)
3. Plambag Duffel Bag (Best Budget)

13. Avoid White Black and Dark Blue

There are colors that you should avoid when going on an African safari. These are:

1. White: White is really conspicuous in the wild and you will get easily noticed when going out for game drives.  In addition to this, its really difficult to keep white clothes white due to the large amounts of dust you will find in the park. It will be difficult to clean and the clothes may end up permanently stained.
2. Black & Dark Blue: On the other hand, black and dark blue clothing attracts tsetse flies and is generally really uncomfortable in the hot weather.

You want to wear neutral pastel colors when going on an African safari. Green, brown and beige are safe options.

You can check out my article on what colors you should wear when going on safari and the most appropriate clothing for the evening when on safari for details. 

14. Dress in Layers

The temperatures you will find when out on safari will range from chilly to really hot in a matter of hours. You need to come prepared for this by wearing multiple layers of light clothes that can be shed as it gets hot and put back on when it starts getting chilly again in the evening.

I compiled a list of things you should not wear on an African safari. 

15. Bring the Right Shoes

Africa has very little pavement. This means that you will have to walk in the uneven ground and have the risk of stumbling over rocks or tree stumps.

Pack a pair of lightweight hiking boots like the KEEN Women’s Targhee II Hiking Shoe (View Price on Amazon) 

These are versatile and will be suitable for everyday use but can also be taken on a hike.

Your safari shoes need to have the following attributes:

1. They Should Be Flat: Heels are not appropriate when coming to Kenya for an African safari. You will spend a lot of time in the car and walk on surfaces that are not very even. I think this may be the best way to get yourself a rolled ankle so please avoid it.
2. They Should Be Closed: The kind of shoes you will choose should be closed.  The main reason for this is you may sometimes have to walk on the streets of the towns in Kenya which are sometimes dusty or muddy. With closed shoes, you will also be able to protect your feet from mosquitoes.
3. They Should have a Thick sole: This is especially important if you’re going to do any hiking or walking in the bush.  Most of the Kenyan Savannah will have plants with sharp Thorns that are one or two inches long.  Having shoes that have a thick sole will prevent you from getting injured if you step on one of these.
4. They Should Breath well: the kind of shoes you choose need to breathe well. An average day in Kenya will have temperatures of 20-30℃.  If you sweat easily you will find it very uncomfortable if you have a pair of shoes that don’t breathe well.
5. They Should Be Durable:  it is very likely that you’re not going to be walking on paved surfaces at all times and this means that you may encounter the occasional rock or tree root and trip over it.  The shoes you wear need to be durable enough to survive several tripping without getting ruined.
6. They Should Be Easy to clean: As I mentioned you will not be walking on a lot of paved surfaces and your shoes will get dusty or muddy.  It is for this reason that you need to carry shoes that will be easy to clean with a wet piece of cloth.

You can learn more about the most appropriate shoes for an African safari by reading this article I wrote about the topic

16. Get a Pair of Binoculars or Zoom Lenses

The animals on safari are usually far from view and you will need the assistance of binoculars or a good zoom lens to be able to get a good view of the wildlife. 

A good pair of binoculars should be able to magnify your line of sight by about four times. 

When looking for a good zoom lens for your camera choose telephoto lenses that are above 100 mm

These will be able to bring the animals much closer to view and make it easier to spot wildlife that are far away. 

I have written a more in-depth article with 18 easy tips for spotting safari wildlife. Check it out to help you prepare to spot wildlife when you come to Africa.

17. Book Your Flight Early

One of the biggest expenses when traveling to Africa will be your international flights. If you want to save money and avoid the uncertainty of last-minute preparation, buy the tickets for your international flights months in advance. 

If you try to get your tickets weeks or sometimes even a month or two to your intended travel date, you may find wildly inflated prices.

Use Skyscanner’s international flight deal finder to get the best fares and see the fare variations for different dates.

18. Come in the dry season

Safaris are best enjoyed in dry weather. The reasons  for this are:

1. Short grass allows you to see a lot of animals from far away
2. The few watering holes where the animals come to drink are more populated with animals and they provide better wildlife spotting opportunities.
3. The rough roads in the national parks are more easily navigable and you don’t have to worry about getting stuck in the mud

You will have to pay more in safari fees since this is the high season and many tourists choose to travel at the same time

You also risk not getting the kind of accommodation you would like due to the existing high demand and short supply.

19. Plan for at least 5 days Safari

A minimum of 5 days allows you to rest after your flight and have at least 3 days of animal viewing. 

Spending less than 5 days for your entire safari will reduce the amount of time you spend with wildlife and may make it not worth it since you will not be able to immerse yourself into the safari enough to make the multiple hours spent on a flight worth it.

If you are on a tight schedule, prepare to spend all your time in one popular national park instead of going to multiple parks within a short time.

20. Get a personable guide that speaks good English 

Your experience on the safari will be dependent on the quality of your tour guide. They need to be fluent in English and have a likable personality that is ready and happy to help and give information.

Use the guide to choosing a good safari company as guidance on how to foolproof the process of getting a good guide for your African safari. 

21. Don’t depend on your phone’s camera

Capturing the memorable moments of an African Safari is one of the critical aspects of preparing for an African Safari. 

The challenge with using a mobile phone to capture safari photos is that it does not have good zoom capabilities which means that most photos will not be close to the wildlife. The great thing about phone cameras is their accessibility and ease of use. However, this is trumped by the fact that you can capture really amazing close-up photos of wildlife with a basic DSLR camera

View my recommended cameras page to see why I recommend that you buy the Canon Rebel T7i camera if you are looking for a simple beginner camera.

If you are a beginner photographer, or just interested in taking great photos when on your African safari, you may find the cost of buying a good camera and telephoto lens prohibitive. In that case, You may want to consider LensRentals.com. They are a camera and lens renting company that allows you to rent camera equipment for a few days then return it after you are done.

I feel that this option is better for beginners since it allows them the opportunity to try out new camera equipment and capture amazing wildlife photos without having to pay thousands of dollars to get a new camera and lens.

22. Carry enough memory cards

If you are going on a 10-day safari and will be taking an average of 2,000 photos a day, you will need at least two  64GB memory cards to ensure that you don’t run out of image storage.

Plan about the quality level you hope to take your photos at and get the appropriate number of memory cards to fit  your needs

You can use my article on the Memory Cards Needed for Safari to help you plan for the number of memory cards you should carry with you.

23. Check country Travel advisory

Before traveling, look at the US Department of State Travel Advisory Page for the countries you will be visiting in Africa for your Safari. 

Reading on regions and neighborhoods you should avoid will help you stay safe when traveling. 

24. Get an appropriate power adapter

A number of countries in Africa use the UK type power plug and this can be really frustrating especially if you forgot to buy the appropriate power adapter/converter.

Amazon has a number of great quality and affordable power adapter/converters. (here is an example of one) and you should grab yourself one before you start packing to travel for your African Adventure.

25. Use a comprehensive packing list

When packing for your safari, you want to ensure that you don’t leave anything behind. A great way of ensuring this is by using a printed comprehensive packing list to prepare what you will be carrying to your African Safari. 

Here is a free PDF download of a comprehensive packing list and you can read this comprehensive safari packing list article I wrote to help you make the most of your packing.

A Final Word

As you prepare for your trip to Africa, I would like to recommend a few products that would help make your life easier. 

1. Information About Africa: I have created a YouTube channel that focuses on things about traveling to Africa that only Africans can tell you about. Check out the channel for insights about African culture and things you can do as a traveler to optimize your trip. You should also visit TripAdvisor forum posts (Here is the Kenya Forum) and ask questions about your particular situation. There are a lot of people who are happy to help you out. 
2. Choosing a Safari Company: I have written an extensive article on how to choose a safari Company. You can. Check it out before starting the process of searching for a safari company.
3. Safari Planning Services: If you’d rather leave the planning to an expert, I offer personalized safari planning services. I handle everything from helping you choose the right safari company, creating your custom itinerary, managing bookings, and even providing a packing list and reminders for important trip details. It’s like having a personal assistant dedicated to your trip, ensuring that everything runs smoothly, so you can focus on enjoying the adventure. Learn More in this article