Best clothes to bring

bella c

Ok so I have gone over a few things but still unclear about what to pack
Please let me know what you packed and did not use as well as what did work .
What shoes are good
Sneakers? Do you need boots. Did u wear socks (insect protection)
Most say long zip off pants, tee shirt under long sleeve Columbia style shirt,
How hot were the day time temps, and could you get on with just a tee shirt?
Are the nights cooler when you went for dinner. Was going to bring
Long sleeve, long pants in light weight gauge. Will it be too cool for that
Also, many posts note the insect issues. I can make casual pants into
Closed cuff pants buy sewing elastic into the hem. If it would help with
Insect,
Don't want to stand out As the Ugly American if you get my drift????????
We always like to blend in on our travels. However, this might be more
Difficult in Africa

British

There are e many many clothing topics on the K and T forum. Having taken the four different safari tours that Tauck offers over the years, I would say the following.
Boots, you do not need boots for the tour, there is hardly any walking, you will be craving for exercise when you get home. I never wear sneakers on vacation, I consider them exercise shoes. For the safaris I wear Merrill, or LL Bean, or similar suede slip on shoes with a good tread, in dark colors, they will get very dirty from the dust and maybe mud and slip on ones are best because of having to take them on and off, you can stand on the seats of the safari vehicles but in bare feet.
Always wear socks, they protect you from insect bites.
It's best to avoid black and blue, those colors attract tsetse flies, I have been bitten, it hurts even right through your sock! It's hard to know whether you will encounter the flies, we have, not many, but when they are around they go for those animal like colors, I only had a part blue sock and they loved it!
Always wear, long pants and long sleeve t-shirts and other layers as necessary. They protect you from the very strong sun ( remember you are on a high plateau) and mosquitoes, some people say they do not see them, we see them and were bitten even in our hotel room despite it being sprayed on our last safari tour. We have seen them on the walls of our tents too. You can spray your clothing with Premethrin before you go on vacation ( look up what to do, there are videos on YouTube) take Deet with you, but only spray it on exposed skin and not in a confined space where you might annoy other people with your flamboyant spraying. Deet is very toxic, exposing as little skin as possible means you need to spray less on yourself, avoid your eye and mouth area, wash hands carefully after applying etc. funnily enough, I got the best choices of Deet in travel size both ge,l cream and spray when traveling through Heathrow on another vacation in The pharmacy, Boots.
Clothing, no need to wear special safari clothing, but most do, keeping to khaki, brown, green, neutral colors. A wide brim hat with a chin strap is essential if you want to avoid sun and future wrinkles. That's why I look so young for my age! A 'Buff'is also really useful when it is very dusty and I wear one all the time on safari, it cushions the camera and binoculars that are around my neck all day. Most people do not bother to change for dinner, often because you head straight to dinner after the evening safari and anyway, once it is dark you need to be escorted back and forth to your room in some locations. So I have a collection of clothing that are Safari, earth tone colors that I can wear for safari trips but also at any other time, I like earth tones. I do have a couple of pairs of zip off safari pants, I found I never took them off, needed to be covered. I have a couple of Safari shirts for layering. I take a down jacket that rolls into a small bag for the cold mornings. Take gloves just in case too.
Having given all this info, Tauck did not stay at the Four Seasons when we did the tour, so I do not know the dress code there, but note they stay there for a night less than they did a couple of years ago.

AlanS

I have posted about this before as has British. I will just add or reinforce a couple of items-

High plateau, clear skies, ON THE EQUATOR = slightly cooler temps than expected (depends on time of year) but powerful sun and danger of sunburn.

I did wear sneakers, but they were earth-toned so did not show the dirt. Same for most of my clothes- earth-toned, including socks and t-shirts. Sometimes I would leave my sneakers un-tied so they were quick and easy to slip off so I could stand on the safari vehicle seat.

I wore zip-off pants, but rarely used the zip-off feature. Most, but not all, of my clothes were safari style (Columbia PFG) so they were light-weight, and breathable. I also wore a safari vest most of the time, especially when it was windy or cool. Layering applies to the K&T Safari as well as other Tauck tours. I wore a buff when it was cool/cold or especially dusty- which it was during the long drive from Ngorongoro crater to the Serengeti. I treated everything with Permethrin.

While the Four Seasons was very nice, we didn't feel it necessary to "dress for dinner." If time allowed we would change into clean clothes before dinner, however. Remember, during your time at the Four Seasons you will be living out of your duffel bag.

Here is our June 2015 K&T Safari group before we entered Lake Manyara National Park- most are wearing what appears to be Columbia, PFG or similar "wicking" clothing- a few are wearing light pastels, but most are in earth-tones. Some have short sleeved shirts, others have their sleeves rolled up- it depended on temps, sun, and bugs. That is our TD in blue shirt with his back to the camera.



Julius and Festo, two of our driver/guides in earth-tones as well:



Before leaving home:



Vest over long sleeve T-shirt:



Safari Jane chilling out during the champagne breakfast in the bush that followed the balloon flight.