What to Pack for an African Honeymoon
Starting with the luggage limit nobody mentions until after you have booked.
Internal safari flights across East and Southern Africa restrict you to roughly 15kg per person in a soft-sided bag — 20kg in Botswana — with wheels and rigid frames counted in that weight. Hard suitcases are frequently refused outright at the airstrip. This is the single most useful thing to know before you start packing, because it changes everything else.
It catches honeymooners more than any other group of travellers, for an obvious reason: people travel with more and better luggage after a wedding, often with new cases received as gifts. Those cases are exactly the ones that will not fly.
The luggage limit, in detail
| Where | Limit per person | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Kenya, Tanzania | 15kg total | Includes hand luggage and camera bag. Soft bag, no wheels or rigid frame. |
| Botswana | 20kg total | Slightly more generous, still soft-sided only. |
| Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi | 15–20kg | Varies by operator; confirm in writing. |
| Namibia, South Africa (road) | Standard airline limits | Self-drive and road transfers have no special restriction. |
| Max bag dimensions | ~25cm × 30cm × 62cm | The hold of a Cessna Caravan is a specific shape. Soft bags squash; suitcases do not. |
If you are carrying serious camera equipment, tell your operator before you book. On some routes the answer is buying an extra seat, which costs real money and is far better discovered in advance.
Colours, and why they matter
Not a style rule — a practical one.
- Neutrals for safari: khaki, olive, stone, beige, soft brown. They read as low-contrast to animals and they do not show dust.
- Avoid dark blue and black. Tsetse flies are strongly attracted to both. Their bite is genuinely painful and this is not a superstition — tsetse traps across the region are made of blue cloth for exactly this reason.
- Avoid bright white. It is impossible to keep clean and it flares in photographs at dawn and dusk.
- Camouflage is illegal for civilians in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and several other countries, including items as small as a cap or a phone case. It is confiscated at the airport.
None of this applies at the beach or in cities. Pack what you like for Zanzibar and Cape Town.
Warm layers, which people never believe
Open game-drive vehicles at dawn in June, July or August in Botswana, Namibia or the Kenyan highlands get close to freezing, and you are moving at 30km/h in the open air. Camps hand out blankets and hot water bottles, and you will still be cold in a fleece alone.
Take a proper insulating layer and a windproof outer, plus gloves and a beanie if you are travelling in the southern winter. By 10am you will be in a shirt. That swing — near-freezing to 28°C in four hours — is the thing to pack for.
The packing list
Safari
- Two or three neutral shirts, long-sleeved (sun and insect protection)
- Two pairs of lightweight trousers, one pair of shorts
- Fleece or down mid-layer, plus a windproof jacket
- Beanie and light gloves for winter months
- Binoculars — one pair each, not one to share. The single most underrated item on any safari. 8×42 is the standard useful specification.
- Wide-brim hat with a chin cord that will not blow off in an open vehicle
- Sunglasses, polarised
- Comfortable closed shoes; proper walking boots only if you are doing a gorilla trek or walking safari
- Head torch — camps run on generators or solar and paths are unlit
- Dry bag or large ziplock for camera gear; dust is relentless
- Insect repellent with DEET or picaridin
Beach and islands
- Reef-safe sunscreen. Now required by law in Palau and Hawaii and increasingly requested in the Indian Ocean; oxybenzone and octinoxate bleach coral.
- Rash vest for snorkelling — the equatorial sun on your back at midday burns through everything
- Reef shoes for Zanzibar, where the low-tide reef flat is sharp
- Two swimsuits each; nothing dries overnight in humidity
- Something smart for dinner; most resorts have one dressier restaurant
Modest clothing where it is expected
Shoulders and knees covered for Zanzibar’s Stone Town, Moroccan medinas, Ethiopian churches and any village visit. Beachwear is fine at the resort and inappropriate the moment you leave it. A light scarf or sarong solves this for most situations and weighs nothing.
Documents and money
- Passports with six months’ validity and blank pages — see the visa guide
- Printed visa confirmations and yellow fever certificate if applicable
- Insurance policy number saved offline on both phones
- Clean, undamaged US dollar notes in small denominations for tips and on-arrival fees
- Two bank cards from different networks, stored separately
Medical kit
Rehydration salts, antihistamine, painkillers, blister plasters, antiseptic, anti-diarrhoeal, and prescription medication in original labelled packaging with a copy of the prescription. Split it across both bags. Full detail in the health and safety guide.
Plugs and power
| Country | Plug type | Note |
|---|---|---|
| South Africa, Namibia, Botswana | Type M (large round 3-pin) | South Africa’s own standard. A universal adaptor often will not fit — buy a specific one. |
| Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe | Type G (UK 3-pin) | UK plugs work directly. |
| Rwanda, Morocco, Madagascar, Egypt | Type C / E (European 2-pin) | European plugs work directly. |
| Mauritius | Type G, some C | Mixed; take both. |
| Seychelles | Type G | UK plugs work directly. |
Take a power bank. Many camps run generators for set hours only, and some tents have no socket at all — charging happens in the main area. A multi-USB block and a short extension lead between you will save a nightly negotiation.
What to leave at home
- Hard suitcases for the bush leg — covered above.
- Camouflage clothing — illegal in several countries.
- Drones — banned or requiring a permit in most national parks, and confiscated at several airports including Nairobi and Zanzibar.
- Single-use plastic bags — banned in Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania, with real penalties. Rwanda searches bags on arrival.
- A hairdryer. Every camp has one and the power draw on a solar system is enough that some camps ask you not to use your own.
- Most of the clothes you were going to take. Camps do laundry daily and it is usually free or nominal. Four days of clothing covers a two-week trip.
Luggage limits, plug types and dress codes vary by route. Tell us where you are going and we will tell you what actually matters for that trip.
Ask about your tripPacking Questions
How much luggage can we take on safari?
Internal light-aircraft flights across East and Southern Africa limit you to roughly 15kg per person in soft-sided bags, or 20kg in Botswana, with wheels and rigid frames counted in that weight. Hard suitcases are frequently refused outright. Maximum dimensions are around 25cm by 30cm by 62cm, because the hold of a Cessna Caravan is a specific shape. Plan to leave a case at your first city hotel — every decent hotel stores luggage free of charge.
What colours should we wear on safari?
Neutrals: khaki, olive, stone, beige and soft brown. Avoid dark blue and black, which strongly attract tsetse flies — tsetse traps across the region are made of blue cloth for that exact reason, and the bite is painful. Avoid bright white, which is impossible to keep clean and flares in dawn and dusk photographs. Camouflage is illegal for civilians in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and several other countries, including caps and phone cases.
How cold does it get on a game drive?
Close to freezing at dawn in June, July and August in Botswana, Namibia and the Kenyan highlands, and you are sitting in an open vehicle moving at speed. Camps provide blankets and hot water bottles and you will still be cold in a fleece alone. Take a proper insulating layer plus a windproof outer, and gloves and a beanie for the southern winter. By 10am you will be in a shirt.
Do we need to take a lot of clothes?
No — and this is where most of the 15kg gets wasted. Safari camps do laundry daily and it is usually free or nominal, so about four days of clothing covers a two-week trip comfortably. The only common exception is underwear, which some camps will not launder for cultural reasons; a travel wash bar solves that in five minutes.
What is banned in African luggage?
Camouflage clothing is illegal for civilians in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and others, down to caps and phone cases. Single-use plastic bags are banned in Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania with real penalties, and Rwanda searches arriving bags. Drones are banned or require a permit in most national parks and are confiscated at several airports including Nairobi and Zanzibar. All four are routinely taken off travellers at the airport.
What plug adaptor do we need for Africa?
It varies. South Africa, Namibia and Botswana use Type M, a large round three-pin that many universal adaptors do not actually fit — buy a specific one. Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Seychelles use UK-style Type G. Rwanda, Morocco, Madagascar and Egypt use European two-pin. Mauritius is mixed. Also take a power bank, because many camps run generators for set hours only and some tents have no socket at all.
Are binoculars really necessary on safari?
Yes, and one pair each rather than one to share — passing a single pair back and forth means you both miss things and it becomes a low-grade irritation over ten days. 8×42 is the standard useful specification: enough magnification to be worthwhile, wide enough field of view to find a moving animal, and stable in the hand from a vehicle. Most guides rate them as the item guests most often wish they had brought.
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