Planning your trip of a lifetime, a African Safari

 There are many steps to planning a trip to Africa. It is much more involved than one may think and takes a lot of planning. I have done most of the hard part months ago.

Where to go
 First was just deciding where I wanted to go within Africa, there are 50 countries to choice from and many different types of safaris.
I recommend a good travel agent like myself to help make this part and the rest very easy.

When to go
Once that was decided, now I needed to look into when we wanted to go. Our window of time was small making this fairly easy.

Booking the trip
Now it was time to start booking the flights, hotels, and tours. This took a few days of making sure the places we wanted were available in the time frame we needed. Most of the small bush camps only have 4 thatched chalets, we needed 3 of them.

Once everything was booked and flights paid for I needed to purchase Travel Insurance. It is not only important to have it in case something happens while traveling but also to protect the money you just invested on the cost of the trip. If for some reason you need to cancel the trip without travel insurance you will not get your money back. Flights are non refundable and many hotels and tours have penlites for cancellations. Travel Insurance is money well spent.  

Travel documents need to be check. The passport must be valid for at least 6 months from the start of the trip. We need to have 4 blank visa pages in our passports.   A Visa into Zambia is required which we can purchase at the airport when we arrive. Need to be sure to have cash for this.

All the above should be done at least 6 months from the time you are looking to travel.

What type of clothes to pack for a Safari

You would think by now I would be an expert packer but nothing is further from the truth. On our last trip I really thought I had the packing thing down. But once again I found I had over packed. Over packing is not an issue if you are going on 1 flight or staying a long period of time in one place. But when you’re moving around, lugging that bag, you start to think “do I really need all this stuff.”

Packing for a Safari has its own set of challenges. Luggage has both size and weight restrictions. There are many dos and don’ts when it comes to what to wear. Packing becomes very important.

In doing some research for what to pack I learned why all the pictures of people on safari they are all dressed alike. 

Clothing Colors

The #1 rule for clothing is neutral colors, Khaki, tan, brown, olive, green. The idea is to be able to blend into your  surroundings while trying to spot wildlife. Bright & Bold colors just does not work. This is particularly important on a walking safari. 

Camouflage, jungle print, & white are BIG No-No’s. In Zambia they are not legal. I was a bit surprised at white but it is on the list of clothes not to be worn, at least in Zambia.

Dark Blue and Black attract tsetse flies. No Black or Blue for us, I am leaving out gray as well, no need to temp the tsetse flies.

Next Family Adventure, Walking Safari in South Luangwa National Park

 Time to start getting ready for our big family trip in May. This year we are pulling out all the stops and going on a Safari.

  In planning this I looked into different safari's all over Africa. Each one offers something unique and it was very hard to choose which we would do. I spent days reading about different areas, types of safari's, what type of animals we would be seeing, accommodations, and best time to go.By the time I was done I felt I had already been on safari.
  We became locked into dates due to school and jobs making the end of May the best time for us to go.
  I am always looking for something a bit off the norm, the road less traveled, and a bit more adventurous. When I came across a walking safari in South Luangwa National Park with Zambezi Safari & Travel Company I knew this was the one for us.

South Luangwa National Park, is home to a large  populations of Thornicroft's Giraffe, Crawshay's Zebra, and Cookson's Wildebeest. Herds of elephant, buffalo, hippo's, wild dogs, loins, leopards, and over 400 species of birds. We will have plenty to see. The more I read on the area the more I knew this was the right safari for us.

 Our trip will start in Mfuwe Lodge, which is located in South Luangwa National Park. Since following the Mfuwe Lodge on Facebook we have learned that the elephants are regular guests. They come through the reception area to get to the wild mango trees. I sure hope this is something we get to experience on our trip.

  We will also be spending time at 2 different seasonal bush camps, deep in the bush of the South Luangwa.