So we have a trip coming up soon and we are in the process of packing. I thought this might be a good opportunity to go through what I pack and how we set up the car, what equipment we have for camping etc. Not because I think I am an expert at packing, but actually the opposite, I am notoriously bad at packing and I always overpack or forget something. Therefore, by going through the process of explaining what I am packing and why I am hoping it will help me to really think about what I have packed and hopefully not forget anything and not pack too much!
Before I get onto the packing let me tell you about the trip. We are starting at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy
We leave here on Saturday 11th September (2 days time). From here we drive to Il Ngwezi
Il Ngwezi neighbours Lewa, Borana and Lekurruki. Il Ngwesi covers 16,500 hectares and is home to the Il Lakipiak Maasai – ‘people of wildlife’. Il Ngwezi lodge is the only upmarket lodge owner and run by the community, the profits from the lodge help support the community in caring for the wildlife and protecting them against poaching. We are spending 3 nights camping at Il Ngwezi, going on games drives and walks etc. the next stop will be Reteti Elephant sanctuary.
This video says all you need to know about Reteti and why I am excited to go there:
We are spending 2 nights in a new lodge still being finished at Reteti and then one moving on to see this place:
(photo by Lori Robinson)
After that we are heading to Mout Lotokitok, we will stay 2 nights to give us time to climb the mountain on one of the days.
www.thekenyancamper.com
Our final destination will be camping in Samburu and exploring Samburu and Buffalo Springs. We will be here 4/5 nights before heading back down to Lewa and back home.
Click here to see our route virtually via Google Earth.
OK on to packing! As you can see the trip we are going to go on is very much a bush trip, there will be no fancy dinners, bars or clubs so that makes packing a bit easier. Therefore I will be packing practical clothes:
The packing will be listed in the following way; personal, camping, food, electronics, other
Personal Packing
- 1 pair of safari zip of trousers
- 1 pair of safari shorts
- 1 long dress (useful for travelling in)
- 1 pair of comfy long trousers for the evening
- 4 t-shirts (green, beige, khaki colour) avoid bright colours and dark blue (tsetse flies)
- 2 long sleeve tops for the evening for the evening
- 1 pair of running/exercise shorts
- 2 exercise tops
- 1 jumper
- 1 down jacket
- 1 kikoi/shawl (very useful to cover up when in villages)
- 1 scarf
- 1 visor, 1 safari hat
- underwear, bras, bikini
- quick dry towel
- hiking day bag
- sunglasses
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Shoes
- Hiking boots
- trainers
- Vellies
- sandals/flip flops/Birkenstocks
- toiletries – shampoo and conditioner soap bars, body soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, mouth wash, sunscreen, moisturiser, bug repellent, hair ties, deodorant, baby wipe
Camping equipment
- Folding table
- folding chairs x 2
- hammock x 2
- duvet, pillows, bedsheets,
- fridge
- kitchen box – cutlery, kettle, washing up basin, bottle opener, plates, bowls, pans ect
- gas stove
- water dispenser
- water tank
- potjie pit
- braai grid, braai stand
- groundsheet
- petrol tank (back up)
- high lift jack
- shovel
- blanket
- warning triangle etc
- jump leads
- compressor
Electronics
- torch
- head torch
- extension lead
- cables to charge phones, batteries etc
- kindle
- Camera plus all cables, hard drive, SD cards etc
- laptop
- battery bank
- an old ‘brick’ phone that lasts for days (very useful in the bush)
- Gps
- car battery back up
- speaker
Food
- tea, coffee, milk, sugar
- cereal
- yoghurt
- meat
- pasta
- tins; tomato, beans, chickpeas, coconut milk etc
- spices, salt and pepper
- snacks, breakfast bars
- meat
- bread
- rice, noodles
- fruit & veg
Other
- binoculars
- sunglasses
- hiking bag
- bird book/app on the phone
- first aid kit
- day rucksack/camel bag and bladder
- maps/download maps.me on your phone
- other useful apps: SASOL birds, Ioverlander, Lonelyplanet, Kingdom
- zip lock bags – useful when it starts raining
- money/load your phone with Mpesa
- yoga/exercise mat, skipping rope
- passport & driving licence
As you can see we don’t travel light when camping, we like to be comfortable when camping and have everything with us when we need it. For this reason, we take out the back seats of our land cruiser to give us more space and we have also made a few modifications to the car itself. A few things we have done are:
- installed a rooftop tent
- fridge in the back on a draw system
- dual battery system
- pull out storage draws
- fridge in the front
- awning
- spotlights
- solar panel
- upgraded the suspension
- blacked out the windows
- installed a flip-down table on the back door
- shower system and curtain
- gull wings
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I will make a few videos on the trip and show you better and post them on the next blog post. Ok so for now that’s it. I will soon find out what I have forgotten to pack or if I have packed too much as the trip goes on! Comment if you can think of anything I have already forgotten!
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