Safari packing list for kids

Children need less on safari than you might expect, because the camp does most of the work: laundry, meals, water, and a guide who knows how to keep a seven-year-old interested for three hours. Our safari packing list covers the adults, and our guide to going on safari with children covers ages, camps and private vehicles. This list adds what children need in the bag.

The constraint is the light aircraft. If you are flying between camps, Safarilink and Airkenya allow 15 kg per person on safari routes, including hand luggage, in soft bags. A child with a seat gets the same allowance as an adult. On Safarilink, an infant who does not pay for a seat gets no allowance at all, so the nappies and the baby’s clothes come out of a parent’s 15 kg. Anything you do not need in the bush can stay at your Nairobi hotel. If you are driving between parks, there is more room, but soft bags are still easier to load.

The list is for seven nights in the bush, with laundry at camp. Many camps will not launder underwear, so pack enough for the whole stay. From June to August the first drive of the day is cold, and children feel it before adults do, so the warm layers matter most then. In April, May and November, add a waterproof jacket for each child.

Documents

Children need their own paperwork, and a border official or airline can ask for more than you would expect. Keep every child’s documents together in one folder in a parent’s hand luggage. Our Kenya eTA guide explains the application for children.

• Passport for each childValid for at least six months after you arrive, with a blank page.
• Kenya eTA for each childEvery traveller needs one, babies included, and a parent applies for anyone under 18.
• Birth certificate copiesAirlines and borders can ask a parent to show the relationship, more often when surnames differ.
• Consent letterSigned by any parent who is not travelling, with a copy of their passport.
• Yellow fever certificates, if your route needs themKenya and Tanzania can ask for one from children over one year old.
• Travel insurance documents naming each childSaved offline and printed, with the emergency number.

Clothes

Neutral colours for children too: khaki, olive, beige and grey. Bright colours stand out in the bush, and dark blue and black attract tsetse flies where they live. Children get cold faster than adults in an open vehicle at six in the morning, and hotter faster at midday, so pack layers they can take off themselves.

• Long-sleeved tops ×3Cover arms against the sun by day and mosquitoes after dusk.
• Light trousers ×2Long legs for the same reasons, plus protection from grass seeds and thorns.
• T-shirts and shorts ×3For the middle of the day in camp.
• Fleece or warm jacketThe early game drive is the coldest part of the day.
• Beanie and thin glovesSmall hands and ears get cold first on a moving vehicle from June to August.
• Sun hat with a chin strapA hat without one blows off in an open vehicle.
• Closed shoes they can walk inCamp paths are uneven and thorns get through sandals.
• SandalsFor the tent, the shower and the pool.
• SwimwearMost family camps and lodges have a pool, and the middle of the day is for using it.
• Pyjamas with long sleeves and legsThe tent is screened, but covered arms and legs help in malaria areas.
• Underwear and socks for the whole stayMany camps will not wash underwear.
• Spare set of clothes in the daypack, for under-fivesDust, spilled juice and muddy knees happen on the drive.

Health

See a travel clinic six to eight weeks before you fly, and tell them the children’s ages and weights. Some anti-malarial courses start before you arrive, and children’s doses are worked out by weight.

• Children’s malaria tablets, if prescribedTaken exactly as the clinic directs, for the whole course.
• Insect repellent suitable for each child’s ageThe label gives the minimum age, and it differs between products.
• High-factor sunscreen and lip balmThe equatorial sun is strong even on a cool morning.
• Oral rehydration sachetsFor an upset stomach or a hot day that got away from you.
• Children’s paracetamol and ibuprofenIn the doses and forms your children already take at home.
• Antihistamine for childrenFor bites, stings and hay fever from the long grass.
• Motion-sickness remedyFor bumpy tracks and light aircraft.
• ThermometerTells you whether a tired child needs rest or a doctor.
• Plasters and antiseptic creamFor scraped knees and thorn pricks.

In the vehicle

A morning game drive lasts three hours or more. Children last the whole drive if they have something to do and something to eat. In a private vehicle you can head back to camp when they have had enough. In a shared one, the snacks and the checklist have to last the whole drive, and most guides will happily stop for the small things children love, such as dung beetles, tortoises and termite mounds, if you ask.

• Binoculars for each childA light compact pair, so nobody has to wait their turn when the leopard appears.
• Animal checklist or spotter sheetGives them something to tick off and a reason to keep looking.
• Small notebook and pencilFor drawing what they saw and writing down the names.
• Their own camera or an old phoneLets them take their own pictures instead of borrowing yours.
• SnacksCamps pack drinks and breakfast for long drives, but a child’s own snacks are a safer bet between meals.
• Refillable water bottle eachCamps refill them with filtered water.
• Buff or light scarfKeeps dust out of their mouth on dry tracks.
• Small blanket or fleece throwFor a young child who falls asleep on an early drive.
• Wet wipes and hand sanitiserFor sticky hands at bush breakfasts.

The flights

The long-haul flight is often the hardest part of the trip for young children, and the first game drive can be at six the next morning. Pack the hand luggage for the flight, and if the children arrive tired, give them a quiet first day in Nairobi before the early starts.

• Headphones for each childFor the long-haul flight and the quiet hour in the tent.
• Downloaded films, games and audiobooksWi-Fi at camps is often limited to the main area.
• Charging cables and a type G adapterKenya uses the British three-pin plug.
• Change of clothes in hand luggageFor the child who spills a drink on the first flight.

Quiet time in camp

Between the morning and afternoon drives there are four or five hours in camp, when the animals rest and so do most adults. Children do not, and a small bag of things to do makes that time easy.

• Pack of cards or a travel gameWorks on the tent veranda without a screen or a signal.
• Books and colouringA couple each, since they are heavy and camps often have a small library.
• Field guide for childrenLets them look up what they saw that morning.

The beach leg

Most families finish on the coast, at Diani or Watamu, or on Zanzibar. The Kenyan coast packing list has the full beach list; these are the children’s additions.

• Rash vests ×2Cover shoulders and backs in the water, where sunscreen washes off.
• Reef shoesRock pools and coral rubble hurt small bare feet.
• Children’s snorkel maskOne that fits a small face, because adult masks leak.

Leave at home

Toy guns and camouflage clothing, which are associated with the military and illegal for civilians in some neighbouring countries, including Tanzania. Noisy electronic toys, which have no place in a vehicle next to a sleeping lion. Plastic carrier bags, which Kenya has banned since 2017. And most of the toys. A few small favourites are enough, because the pool and the animals keep children busy.

Tell us your children’s ages when you book, and we will confirm the luggage limit for every flight on your itinerary before you start packing.