I have read maybe a hundred safari packing lists over the years. They are almost all written by safari outfitters or clothing companies and they almost all read like a catalogue. Cargo pants in three weights. A vest with twelve pockets. Four shirts in different shades of khaki. A bandana for "dust protection." A wide-brim hat that says SERENGETI on the band.
Most of this is theatre. The honest list is shorter and cheaper. Here is what we actually tell guests when they ask, after 18 years of watching what people use and what they don't.
The bag itself
This is the first thing to get right because the bush flights enforce it.
Tanzanian bush flights from Arusha to the airstrips inside the parks (Seronera, Kogatende, Lobo, Grumeti, Kuro) cap baggage at 15 kg per person in a soft-sided bag. No hard shells. No wheeled suitcases with a hard back panel. The reason is the Cessna Caravan luggage hold, which is shaped like the inside of an upside-down kayak and will not accept a rigid box.
Bring a 50–65 litre duffel with no rigid frame. Eagle Creek, Patagonia Black Hole, North Face Base Camp, or anything similar from the past decade. A backpack works too if you have one in the size range. Two smaller bags (clothes + camera) is better than one big one because you can hand one off and keep the camera close.
Inside the duffel, bring two stuff sacks or packing cubes — one for laundry, one for valuables. Camps will do laundry for $5–10 a load and it's back the next morning. There's no reason to bring 9 days of clothes for a 7-day trip.
If you have a connecting flight to Zanzibar afterwards, those flights have higher limits (20–23 kg) but the bush flight cap is what dictates the trip.
Clothes — the actual list
For a 7-night safari, this is what we recommend.
Trousers: two pairs. One pair of lightweight, quick-dry hiking trousers (REI, Prana, Outdoor Research — pick whatever fits). One pair of slightly heavier trousers or jeans for evenings. Convertible zip-off trousers are fine if you already own them; you don't need to buy them.
Shirts: three. Two long-sleeved lightweight shirts (insect protection in the early morning, sun protection midday). One t-shirt for around camp. Linen or a synthetic blend works; cotton is fine for evenings but slow to dry if you sweat through it.
A proper fleece. This is the line first-timers miss. Mornings on safari are cold. The Ngorongoro rim sits at 2,300 metres; July dawn temperatures are 5–8°C. The first hour of every game drive is open-top Land Cruiser with the wind blowing through. Bring something warm — a Patagonia R1 or a Nano Puff is ideal. A down jacket is overkill but works.
A rain shell. Even in dry season, expect occasional afternoon showers. A lightweight Gore-Tex or equivalent.
Shoes: two pairs. Closed-toe walking shoes or light hikers for game drives and walking safaris. Sandals or trainers for camp. Hiking boots are unnecessary unless you're doing Empakaai crater or a multi-day walking concession.
Hat with a brim — a real brim, not a baseball cap. The sun is direct on the open Land Cruiser.
Sunglasses — polarised. The glare off the plains is significant.
Swimsuit if your camps have plunge pools (most mid-range camps do, several budget ones don't — ask).
Underwear and socks for the number of days you're out. Bring at least one pair of warm socks for the early mornings.
Colours: neutral tones photograph better and don't startle wildlife on walking safaris. Khaki, olive, brown, navy, grey, dark green. Avoid hot pink and bright white (dust). Avoid black and dark blue if you're going into a sector with tsetse flies (they're attracted to those colours). On a vehicle game drive any colour is fine; on a walking safari it matters.
The camera question
This is the single biggest equipment decision and the one where guests make the biggest mistakes.
The honest answer is: a phone camera is fine for the experience. You will get keeper shots from a recent iPhone or Pixel for landscape and group photos. If photographs are part of why you came, here is the real recommendation.
Long lens is non-negotiable. Animals are not as close as the documentaries make them look. A 100–400mm zoom (Canon, Sony, Nikon equivalents) covers 80% of wildlife shots. A 150–600mm gives you reach for birds and distant cats. If you have to choose one lens, choose this one.
Wide angle for landscape and balloon shots. A 24–70mm or even your kit lens. Especially if you're doing a balloon safari — the geometry of the herds from above wants wide.
A camera body that handles fast autofocus and high ISO. A full-frame mirrorless (Sony A7 series, Canon R series, Nikon Z) is ideal. A crop-sensor body still works well and you get effective reach from the 1.5x or 1.6x crop factor. APS-C with a 100–400mm gives you effective 150–600mm range, which is a good combination.
A monopod or beanbag. Tripods don't work in a Land Cruiser — no room. Beanbags rest on the open window frame and absorb engine vibration. Buy an empty bean bag and fill it with rice or dried beans when you arrive at the camp. We have a few in the vehicles to share.
Memory cards: more than you think. 2x what you think. Cold mornings drain batteries; bring 2–3 spare batteries. Vehicles have charging but it's slow.
We go deeper on this at the photography Serengeti post. If you're not bringing dedicated camera gear, that's fine — the binoculars matter more.
Binoculars: 8x42 is the standard. Vortex Diamondback, Nikon Monarch, Zeiss Terra — all good options in different budget tiers. 10x is overkill for most safari work and harder to hold steady on a moving vehicle. 8x42 is the answer.
Small things that matter
The handful of items that aren't obvious but change the trip.
Headlamp. Most camps have generator power that goes off around 10pm. A small headlamp for the walk from the dinner mess to your tent is essential. Petzl Tikkina is $25 and lasts forever.
A small daypack for the vehicle — for binoculars, camera, water, sunscreen, a lens cloth, lip balm. 15–20 litres. The Osprey Daylite or similar.
Reusable water bottle. Every camp has filtered water for refills. A Nalgene or Hydroflask cuts your plastic-bottle use in half.
Lens cloth / dust blower. Dust gets into everything in the dry season. A rocket blower is $20 and saves your sensor.
A small first-aid kit. Plasters, antihistamines, ibuprofen, electrolyte sachets, anti-diarrheal. The camps have basic medical supplies but it's faster to have your own.
Insect repellent with DEET (30–50%). Yes really. Tsetses don't care about lemongrass.
Malaria prophylaxis — atovaquone/proguanil or doxycycline; talk to a travel-medicine clinic. Tanzania is a year-round low-to-moderate malaria zone. We've had zero malaria incidents among guests in 18 years but the prophylaxis is still the right call.
A copy of your passport, vaccination card, insurance details in your bag, separate from your wallet.
Cash in small US dollar bills, post-2009 series. $20 in $1 and $5 bills covers most tips at the airport, at the lodge, and for any incidentals. Larger bills get suspicious looks from currency exchanges. ATMs in Arusha give Tanzanian shillings; we recommend pulling 200,000–400,000 TZS for incidentals.
A book, an offline-downloaded show, or something to do during the midday rest. Internet at most camps is patchy and slow.
What to leave at home
Three big ones.
Hairdryers. Some camps don't have the power capacity for them. Bring a brush and let your hair air-dry.
A safari vest. Honestly. The pockets are useful but a normal jacket with a couple of pockets does the same thing. If you already own one, fine; don't buy one for the trip.
A massive suitcase. Hard-shell luggage is the worst possible choice. Bush flights will refuse it.
Also leave: white t-shirts (dust), jeans (heavy, slow to dry), expensive jewellery (no place to wear it), the work laptop (genuinely — leave it), high heels, more than one pair of nice trousers, anything you'd be devastated to lose.
Seasonal tweaks
The base list works year-round. Three adjustments for specific months.
June through September (dry season, peak cold): add a beanie, a warm scarf, gloves if you run cold. The 5:30am drive out of camp will surprise you.
March, April, May (long rains): add a second rain shell (the first will be wet by lunch), a quick-dry small towel, plastic bags for wet boots and electronics. Quick-dry trousers are essential because cotton soaks and stays soaked.
November, December, January (short rains, hot): lighter shirts, more sun protection, a light long-sleeve for the sun rather than the cold. Still bring the fleece — the Ngorongoro rim is cold year-round.
For full seasonal context see the when-to-go guide and our packing-list guide page, which has the same content in a different layout.
The single best test of your packing: pick up the duffel one-handed and walk briskly for 30 metres. If you can't, pack lighter. If the bush flight scale tips above 15 kg, something comes out. Better to do it in your living room than at the Arusha airstrip.
Want a real itinerary?
A real itinerary and a real price within 24 working hours, written by a guide on our team.