Going on safari in South Africa next month

[englishteacher78]

What clothes should I take?

Shorts, cotton t-shirts, decent sun hat by day, long light trousers and long sleeve top for evening/night - protection from mozzies. It can get v chilly so a cosy sweater essential. Are you camping or staying in lodges? If lodges then you will need something nice to wear to dinner, in the bar etc

Did this about 7 years ago - we camped and spent final night in a lodge. Everyone very casually dressed. You get absolutely covered in dust so bring clothes you are not precious about. Top tip - bring a cushion! You spend hours in the jeeps driving around every day and the seating is not always very comfortable. A small torch also very useful especially if you are camping.

V - it's a wonderful experience and SA is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.

Camping - but in permanent structures (so not what I'd call camping!). Think I may squeeze a maxi dress or two into my rucksack!
It's our honeymoon (finally - got married in December) starting to get a little excited now.

I love SA. I lived in lightweight trousers or shorts and shirts with a vest underneath with a wide brimmed hat and merrell walking sandals. Maxi dress/skirt (not too dressy) for evening with gladiator sandals. Agree with taking a cushion, a good capacity drinking bottle and I took a cotton wrap/strong type thing which I used for shade, covering shoulders, picnic blanket etc. Try to buy insect repellent there it works much better anything I bought here.

Have a brilliant time :)

It'll be fantastic. We went to the Kruger NP. An odd tip here, but start taking photos immediately. As we entered the park we saw some giraffes. I wanted to take a picture but DH said, "Don't bother. We'll see loads." Did we? Did we bollocks.

Still, we saw everything else though. Including a leopard.

I hope you get to hear lions calling in the night. Sounds really weird.

Avocados there are like nothing else and the macadamia nuts are the size of ping pong balls.

I want to go back now ....

Sorry to be obvious, but avoid bright colours and bright white!

You'll have a great time, we went and it was amaaaaaazing.

Agree the insect repellent there was brilliant.

Me too! Where are you going? We are doing Garden Route and safari at Addo Elephant park and Shamwari. We've been warned to remember its winter there and so could be cold especially at night and wet, while warm in the daytime. Think English spring I think.
We went to Kruger pre DS in September and it was very warm most days but there were a couple of really cold ones when it snowed elsewhere.
I would also suggest a sports bra for the jeeps ...

We went on safari in Tanzania 4 years ago. We stayed in rather upmarket lodges ( well, it was our 25th) and some tented camps, which were quite luxurious - amazing experience. The main thing to remember is that it is very very dusty, so you need lots of T shirts and shorts. One of those snood things here is very useful, and sunglasses to keep the dust out of your eyes. In the parks we went in the roads were so rough we didn't sit down in the land cruiser much, we stood up to get a good view, so didn't need extra cushion. I think the temperature can be very variable at night, at the The Ngorongoro Crater the lodge had fires lit and hot water bottles in the beds. There were Americans in the lodges who got quite dressed up in the evenings, but it tended to be the elderly ones. Most people just wore a summer dress and cardigan in the evenings, I had a couple of the Boden ones that you can tie up in wrinkles ( not sure if they still do them) as you have to get all your stuff into one soft bag - be sure to take bin bags or similar to keep all the dusty stuff separate.

p.s. make sure your hat has a chin strap so it doesn't blow off when you are driving along in the jeep!

Where are you going to? Its winter now so shorts and vests aren't going to be warm enough. It largely depends on the area you are visiting. Overnight in Jhb last night was 0 degrees...

Going end of July. I'm assured by my South African colleague that it will indeed be that cold at night but like a British spring/summer in the day.

If you are going to walk at all, you'll need long trousers (we were advised to tuck ours into socks) and long-sleeved T shirts to discourage pepper ticks. And yy to buying your repellent there.

Have a lovely time.

When I was 16 my mum took me on safari and my overwhelming memory is how cold it was in the mini buses when we were going along , even though it was boiling when we stopped . So take a hoody !! We also stayed In posh lodges around th watering holes. It was amazing!

Agree with those saying it will be cold - we went in July for our honeymoon, it is winter in SA. It got warm during the day, but not hot. Couldn't swim in the pool for example. But mornings and evenings are COLD. And you will be going out in morning/evening on Safari. A cosy jumper won't cut it. You need coat, hat as well, and they will probably give you a blanket if you're in an open vehicle.

There is a big difference between day and night temps .... But it is the best time to see game.

Again, good walking shoes, sun protection (hat and cream) and a lightweight pashmina.

Again so .... NOTHING beats an African sunrise in the bush

sonotkylie we went to Addo and Shamwari about 11 years ago - had such an amazing time - have fun!

I second the advice to wear a sports bra in the jeep! It can get very uncomfortable even if you're small of breast.

Have a wonderful time! Oh and also swap your camera card around at least daily. My camera card broke and i lost all my Kruger pictures

At he moment the temps are mid to late 20's in the day and getting much colder (down to 3 or 4 some nights) so you will need, jumpers/long trousers/jeans and socks! Layer what you are wearing espcially for early morning game drives as it can be very cilly before the sun comes up but once it does it gets warm very quickly. Put on your suncream (yes please do take suncream, it is much higher altitude and burns very quickly) before you leave in the mornings then you have less chance of sandy dust mixed with suncream once it warms up.

Second the warm clothes. You need some layers- tee shirt; jumper; jacket and ideally a chic scarf. They often provide blankets in the jeeps but I was still cold in the early morning. Think about colour too- nothing too brightly coloured for game drives.

Where to? Kruger area is dry season, E Cape wetter, obv winter in both. Believe me could be cooler than a Uk summer/spring day..Or hotter! Layers, layers, layers. Sunglasses, natural-coloured clothes, rain jacket , binoculars...

Temp currently 16c with a predicted low of 9c, but bush will be colder than that at night. can you bring my dc some lego?

I see your camping - so take winter pj's!!

Wow! Thank you OP for posting this, its been really helpful. Although worryingly, the predicted high here this weekend in SW England is 15C and this is summer! I'm taking from all your advice: layers and a proper coat! Thank you all

Doing Kruger and Zululand with a little chill time at St Lucis. Don't worry I am definitely taking sun cream. I am ginger and once managed to get sunburnt in Aberdeen!