REQUIRED DOCUMENTS:

A valid passport and visa are required for all U.S. citizens traveling to southern Africa. The passport must be valid for at least 6 months beyond the return date and contain at least 2 blank visa pages for endorsements (per country visited).

Upon arrival at the airport in Botswana a visa must be obtained at the immigration counter.

A visa must be obtained upon entering Zambia. Current cost is $50.00 US currency.

 A visa is not required for US citizens entering South Africa.

Your Covid19 vaccination record must be produced upon departure from the US and upon arrival in Africa. Requirements are changing often so for the latest requirements, check back before traveling . Also check with your airlines for their requirements.

 IMPORTANT NOTE ON PASSPORT PAGES

It is the responsibility of each traveler to make sure their passport is valid and has sufficient “VISA” pages to stamp entry visas. Please note the last three pages on the passport are “NOT VISA” pages; they are amendment pages, and thus visas cannot be stamped on these pages. There should a minimum of at least two (2) blank (unstamped) “VISA” pages for each country to be visited. Failure to have 2 blank (unstamped) “VISA” pages puts you at risk of being denied entry even when visas have been obtained in advance. THE BLANK PAGES ARE REQUIRED.

Covid 19 restrictions apply to all international flights and currently require that each passenger be fully vaccinated.

Anti-Malaria medication is strongly recommended for travel in Africa. We advise you to consult your physician or the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia at (404) 639-3311 for any further requirements or recommendations.

Southern Africa enjoys a moderate climate without extremes in temperature. The average altitude during the safari will be between 3,000 and 7,000 feet above sea level, so the days should be pleasant with temperatures between 70 and 85 degrees, and the nights a moderate 55 to 70 degrees.

We recommend using only bottled water for drinking and brushing your teeth. This is an easy way to avoid health problems. Two bottles of water per day are supplied by lodges for your use and complimentary bottled water is supplied for you during game drives. Bottled water, beer, wine, cocktails and soft drinks are also available for purchase from the lodges. Some of thee lodges provide filtered or bore hole water that is safe to drink

The cuisine throughout Africa is outstanding. Meals include American buffet breakfast with fresh local fruits; safari lunches usually consist of hot and cold buffets and dinners are sit down with an excellent choice of menu items.

Dress in Africa is casual. Clothing should be lightweight, loose fitting and of “breathable” fabrics, such as cotton. While on safari, you will find that neutral colors are best as they blend in with the natural surroundings and show the least amount of dust or dirt. Make a note that bugs are more attracted to blue, black and yellow so it is best to avoid those colors when selecting your clothing for safari. The nights at the higher elevations can be cool, so you should bring a sweater or jacket. Laundry service is available at most hotels, lodges and camps at a nominal fee so while on safari, only 4 or 5 changes of clothes should be sufficient. For the daytime, shorts and T-shirts are most comfortable with perhaps a fleece jacket or sweater for early morning games drives. In the evening, long pants and long-sleeve shirts or lightweight sweatshirt are good. Boots are not necessary for safari. Comfortable walking or running shoes are just fine. Sandals or flip-flops are handy around the lodges and swimming pools.

Some lodges and camps have a supply of insect repellent, however, it is a good idea to bring some with you. Many lodges and camps have mosquito nets in the bedrooms. The mosquitoes usually come out around sunset.

We recommend one piece of luggage on international flights into Kenya. Each bag must not exceed 50 lbs. Bag dimensions up to 35.5 x 29.5 x 16 inches (Up to 90 x 75 x 43cm ). We recommend baggage be kept to a minimum; one main lightweight bag and an overnight bag are adequate. Most city hotels have storage space for excess luggage not required on safari. Check with your airline for further requirements.



If you plan to use your credit cards in Africa, before you leave home contact your credit card company and tell them where you are going and the dates you will be traveling. This will keep your card from being denied when you want to use it.

Most major credit cards are widely accepted. Banking hours are generally from 9:00 am – 2:00 pm. Monday through Friday in most cities.

As in most major cities, sensible security precautions should be taken. Keep a close watch on purses, handbags, wallets and cameras. Avoid wearing expensive or flashy jewelry. It is advisable to hire a taxi if you wish to move around at night and for your personal safety, avoid deserted lanes and streets.



Voltage throughout Africa is 220-240 AC. To use an electrical device in (where the voltage can be 220/230/240) and the appliance is multi-voltage (says input 100-240 volts) or dual voltage (says input 125/250 volts) you should only need a plug with three rectangular prongs (shown below) on your power strip and an adapter (shown below). The input voltage (and the watts or amps) information can usually be found on the device label but it could be anywhere on the appliance. It is often on the main body of the appliance in the same color where it can be difficult to see. Some dual voltage appliances have switches and some others are self-sensing, switching to the higher voltages for you automatically.

For computers, battery chargers or appliances rated up to 240 volts, a power strip such as the one shown below is ideal. The 

A 220-240 Volt Surge Protector with British Plug works very well for charging computers, camera batteries and and cell phones can be shipped to you in just a few days. The plug on the cord with three rectangular prongs fits the electrical outlets in East Africa. I recommend this for anyone planning to plug in multiple devices, such as computers and battery chargers, charging cell phones etc. The plugs in the power strip itself will accept many types of plugs including the two and three pronged plugs used in the United States. If you use this power strip you will need an electrical adapter for southern Africa( adapter is shown below) If your electrical device is rated for only 110 volts you will need to use an electrical converter. Depending on the type of device, it may be less expensive to buy a new appliance than a converter. It will usually also be lighter weight than a converter.

If you plan to bring a hairdryer, electric shaver, or any appliances rated for only 110 volts you will need to bring your own electrical converter and adapter ( a universal adapter with three square prongs).

Below are pictures of the power strip configuration I use at all of the lodges we stay at in Africa. The plug on the chord will fit the outlets in East Africa however, in southern Africa you will also need to use an electrical adapter shown below.

Note the three rectangular prongs on the plug that fits into the outlets used in the lodges we stay at in Southern Africa

Electrical Adapter : If your electrical device is listed at 110 volts you will need to use a transformer and an electrical adapter.

The female side of the plug accepts a standard US three pronged plug (grounded) or two pronged plugs (ungrounded) as shown below.

Most U.S. appliances used in world travel are designed to handle both the U.S. voltage and the higher voltage of 220-250 used in foreign countries. Most devices switch automatically, but some have switches that need to be set to the higher voltage ratings.

Furthermore, be aware that, if your device is designed for world travel, you should not use a voltage converter. Using one may cause both the converter and the appliance to malfunction.

Most major hotels and restaurants include a service charge. A gratuity of 10% is customary at restaurants and bars if a service charge is not included. On our safaris, the tips for the meals are included, however, the tips for the drinks you purchase are not included.

Tips for your driver/guide are not included in the price of your safari. We recommend a minimum tip of $20.00 per person per day.

Porters at airports, hotels or lodges may be tipped $1.50 per piece of baggage.

As in most African countries, there is a huge range of souvenirs to be purchased along the roadside. These are handmade, but mass produced, so always check the quality before buying. Materials include ebony, soapstone and ivory. Note that it is illegal to export products that contain any elements of elephant, rhino or sea turtle. Tribal souvenirs are available; including beaded jewelry, kiondas (woven sisal baskets) and natural or decorated calabashes (dried gourds). Bright sarongs (kangas or kikois) make good wearable souvenirs. If you are after quality artwork, it is probably wisest to look in galleries and shops that deal with it, rather than buying on the roadside markets.

Important Documents

• Airline tickets

• Passport and visa for each country you will be visiting

• Photo copies of your passport, credit cards, and airline tickets (to be kept separately from the originals)

• Vaccination certificates

• Emergency phone numbers (in itinerary that will be provided for you before the trip)

• Trip Itinerary

• Extra passport photos

Personal Items:

It is not necessary to bring everything on this list. Please only bring the items that apply to you personally.

• Gifts for children: If you would like to take gifts for children when we visit a Masai village, we suggest bringing soccer balls and a hand pump with a needle to pump up the ball would also be greatly appreciated. Frisbees are also great fun for the children. School supplies, such as paper, pens, pencils together with a hand crank pencil sharpener, crayons, magic markers or other items for school are also appreciated. We do not recommend bringing candy or gum because dentists are few and far between.

• Your favorite Protein Bars or snacks to carry you through in the event of long game drives between meals.

• Your prescription medications (bring enough to last through the entire trip)

• 3-5 changes of casual clothing (cotton shorts, T-shirts, long-sleeve shirts, sweater or jacket, slacks, sports shirts, blouses, dress, etc.) Avoid bright colors and whites. Clothing in neutral colors or earth tones: khaki, light brown, tan or green is best for improved wildlife viewing on game drives and they are also less likely to attract bugs.

• Laundry facilities are available at most of the lodges when we stay for two or more nights so you can get your clothes washed quite often.

• Two pairs of comfortable shoes and a pair of flip-flops or sandals

• If you have back problems, bring an extra pillow or cushion for the seats in the safari vehicles.

• Compression socks. They help to minimize swelling in arms and legs on long flights.

• Hand Sanitizer

• Swim suit and cover-up

• Hat with a visor

• Sunglasses (neck string comes in quite handy)

• Sun Screen

• Medical history

• Copies of prescriptions

• Malaria Tablets

• Antibiotics such as Z Pack or Cipro

• Insect repellent

• Eye drops (the sun is very bright and it will be dusty)

• Extra contact lenses and contact lens cleaning solution

• Skin and Hair moisturizers

• Toothbrush/toothpaste/dental floss

• Dust Mask (especially if you suffer from allergies)

• Throat Lozenges: (for a sore throat caused by dust or colds)

• Imodium (or other Anti-diarrhea medicine)

• Personal medications (there are basic first aid kits in the lodges and camps)

• An extra pair of glasses/contact lenses if you wear them

• Large ziplock bags (great for keeping film and camera equipment clean, storing wet swim suits and dirty shoes, etc.)

• Pre-moistened small individually wrapped towelettes for quick freshen ups.

• Small travel towel

..Small scissors

• Tweezers

• Lip balm or chap stick

• Q tips and cotton balls

• Razor & shaving cream/gel

• Birth control (enough to last through your trip)

• Sanitary requirements (shops are sometimes few and far between, and very basic)

• Band aids and moleskin

• Cold/flu tablets

• Allergy remedy

• Ace bandage

Vitamins

• Medicine for headache and/or pain

• Antiseptic cream

• Motion sickness tablets

• Heartburn remedy

• Re-hydration salts

• Small compass

• Book to read between game viewing or during leisure time

• Money Belt

• Electrical adapter (3 square prongs) and a power strip for charging your equipment

• Mini sewing kit

• Binoculars

• Small, bright Flashlight with extra batteries and bulbs

• Small calculator

• Pen/pencil

• Travel Alarm Clock (small, but loud enough to wake you )

• Extra batteries

• Diary to record your favorite memories

• Phone card and international access numbers

Make sure you have some way of protecting your camera from dust while on safari. Most game viewing is done in the early morning and late afternoon. A telephoto or zoom lens and a wide angle lens are recommended for some truly outstanding and impressive photographs. If you are using digital cameras be sure to bring extra memory cards, rechargeable batteries and charger, plus a way to down load and store your photos from the camera, The lodges have electricity so charging batteries and using laptops is no problem.

Do not take photographs of military installations, police stations, government facilities, airports, border post soldiers or police. Always ask before taking photographs of people. They will most likely want to charge you, so ask your driver to negotiate for you.

Suggested Photography Equipment

• Camera

• Video Camera

• Back up camera (This isn’t essential but you would hate to be in Africa and have your camera malfunction.)

• Film Those that are still shooting film, should bring lots of it!

• Extra batteries for camera

• Wide angle lens (Most of your shooting will be with telephotos, but wide angles always have their place. One thing I like to do is photograph people, like Maasai tribesmen, from a low angle with a wide angle lens. )

• Telephoto lens (I think you should have at least a 300mm capability, but 400mm or longer would be better. Much of our shooting will not require long lenses since animals are often close to the vehicle – within a 200mm range for nice close-ups. But there are, indeed, quite a few situations where you will want and need a longer lens. (One solution that gets around spending a fortune for a long telephoto is to use a 200mm lens with a 1.4x or 2x teleconverter. If you have a camera with a chip that is not full frame, the magnification factor plus the teleconverter will give you a significant focal length. For example, if you have a Canon 20D, or 30D a 200mm lens becomes a 320mm (200 x 1.6x = 320mm), and then with a 1.4x converter that equals a 512mm telephoto.)

• Tripod You will not need a tripod while shooting wildlife from the safari vehicle. Instead, you will use a bean bag or some other type of soft support for your long lens. A tripod would only be used around the camp. I always carry one because “you never know” when it might be needed. If you want to limit the weight and bulk of your baggage, leaving the tripod at home would not be a bad thing to do.

• Bean bag: (This is a sewn pouch that can be sealed on one side with a zipper, and when we get to Africa you fill it with beans or corn. It is used in lieu of a tripod in the vehicle to steady your camera when you shoot.) A good one called the Safari Sack 4.2 made by Kinesis can be purchased here: Kinesis

• Flash and extra batteries for it. The Safari Sack 1.4, is great for smaller cameras and point and shoot.

• Filters: Skylight or UV filters that protect your lenses, Polarizing Filter, Split image neutral density filter

• Compact Flash or SD cards: I recommend 32 or 64 gig cards, especially for cameras with 8 megabytes and higher. Bring as many as you think you will need and then one or two extra. If you are shooting RAW it is not hard to shoot 32 gigs a day.

• Sensor cleaning materials: Hand blower, Sensor swabs, pec pads with the liquid Eclipse, Sensor brush, Arctic Butterfly, etc. This is essential to keep your sensor free of dust specs. I will be bringing three things: hand blower, pec pads and sensor cleaner.

• Portable hard drive or laptop: This is for dumping your images from the flash card so you can re-use the card. I strongly suggest redundancy, meaning two portable hard drives or a laptop and a portable hard drive so you have two sets of your images in the event of equipment failure or computer crash. I realize a laptop is one more large, vulnerable thing to carry, and therefore you need to think carefully about whether or not to bring one. If you don’t want to carry one, that’s perfectly fine, but make sure that you have redundancy in storing your digital images. Once you erase a flash card and put new images on it, the previously erased shots are gone forever. Bring more storage than you think you will ever need. On these photo safaris, it is not uncommon for people to shoot 10 to15 thousand images. For that, you will need lots of storage space!

• Extra camera battery

• Battery charger

• Power strip: (This is so you can charge several things at one time.)

• Electrical adapter with three rectangular prongs (This fits into the Kenyan electrical sockets so you can plug in your accessories. I have been very happy with this one from Travel Oasis. Also, using this one eliminates the need for an adapter.

• Camera manual: (I strongly suggest you bring this and keep it with you during the game drives!)

• Crucial electrical connecting cables: Check and double check that you have all the cables you need.

• Small paint brush: (I use this for dusting camera off because there can be a lot of dust in Africa on the game drives.)

• Pillow case: (This is for placing the camera inside in areas of a lot of dust.)

• Lens cleaning: tissue or microfiber cloth

• Binoculars: A good pair that does not hurt your eyes is very nice for watching wildlife if they are at a distance.