Input re: Using Tauck Duffel Bags on International Flight

TRAVELAM28

Thanks to all who have posted on this trip in past. Your input has been very helpful. This is our 3rd Africa Trip with Tauck and we are excited to be leaving in a few days.

I'm curious - did anyone use the Tauck duffel to pack ahead of time for the Botswana portion of trip - and take onboard
as a carryon for their international flight - or did you pack it in your main suitcase?
I thought that may save both time and space but not sure if any reason I haven't thought of why we shouldn't use it that way?? (We are flying South African air and are allowed 2 carryons each). Any thoughts on this will be much appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

Crackeroo

Hi Travelam28,
We just returned from this trip. We packed the Tauck duffels in our checked baggage. I believe there was one or two people that used them as checked or carry on luggage. You can decide. I originally thought of using as a carry on but found it was too big and bulky for a carry on.
You will absolutely love this trip. Have fun.

British

Believe me, you don't need two carry ons you are going on Safari. What do you take that takes two carry on's?
We took this tour a year ago.

AlanS

We haven't taken this one, but for K&T neither my wife nor I used the duffel as a carry-on. Furthermore, when it came time to move clothing, etc. to the duffels, we shared just one between us in both Kenya & Tanzania! It was plenty big enough for the stuff we needed!

Rmm6

We used the duffels as carryons for our K and T safari. We found that they were awfully bulky and heavy for toting around the airports during our flights to and from the tour. We didn't realize how much we relied on wheels these days. Lol. We won't do it again.

joycesw

For K&T we packed our duffels for our trip TO the tour but used one of them for a carry on for the return! Somehow, we accumulated enough trinkets, and, as always, our clothes seemed to expand, so it was a good call for us! In fact, I have thrown one duffel into my bag for an extra on the return trip for a number of tours since then. The duffels we got (Eagle Creek), suit us as they can expand and/or straps seem to make them smaller.

cathyandsteveg__

will Tauck send the duffel bags to our homes ahead of time or do we get them at the hotel in Botswana?

Crackeroo

If you live in the U.S, they will be mailed to your home a few weeks before your departure.

cathyandsteveg__

perfect!!! thank you ...did you by any chance pack those and put them in your suitcases so all you had to do was lift them out? any help you give me on what to pack will be so appreciated

Crackeroo

We did not pack the duffels on 5he way to or from Africa. We packed two larger suitcases and put the empty duffels inside. Worked well for us. The duffels are large and we’re eadil packed for the safari portion of the trip. They do laundry at each camp and have it back same day, except for Kalahari. That came back next day. Pack light. It’s a fun, casual trip. You won’t have much time to change after the drives. It’s usually dinner and bed. It’s the best trip we’ve taken with Tauck.

cathyandsteveg__

Sounds like a good plan...silly question i know but British mentioned sleeping in your day clothes...so I am assuming no sleep wear is required?
Do you recall where you purchased some of your safari wear?

AlanS

cathyandsteveg wrote:

Sounds like a good plan...silly question i know but British mentioned sleeping in your day clothes...so I am assuming no sleep wear is required?
Do you recall where you purchased some of your safari wear?

You don't want to get into a discussion with British about sleeping attire (or lack thereof : ) )
This is a PG rated website : )

British was referring to a special case ("Tauck Surprise") which we try not to spoil for folks. If you do some digging you may be able to find out what she meant.

You really don't need dedicated safari wear, like you can get from a number of vendors like Travel Smith, ExOfficio, or high-end specialty stores. We bought some safari style clothes but also took regular clothes as well. What you should look for are clothes that fit the needs of your environment- muted colors, cool, wicking, sun-blocking, easily laundered, etc. When you show up in full safari regalia including a Tilly hat and safari vest- you will be wearing a big "Tourist on Safari" sign (see my photo below). That being said, as you can see I did buy a safari vest and a Tilly hat. The grass on my roof is thinning so I have used the hat (and a buff) on other tours, but not the vest- "did I really need all those pockets????".

You don't need to shop high-end stores for suitable safari clothing. Columbia which is available in many national and regional clothing and sporting goods stores like Kohls, Belk, Dick's, Bass Pro, Cabelas, etc., has a full line (their PFG* series) of clothing suitable as safari wear. You can even find original and decent knock-offs at big discount stores like Walmart. And of course there is always Amazon. * Performance Fishing Gear.

Here is a link to an article about safari clothing: https://theworldpursuit.com/safari-clothes-what-to-wear/ The article has many secondary links to products mentioned. Remember, dressing in layers, is key- on B,SA,Z there will be big swings in temperature from early morning to midday.

Treating my safari clothes with Permethrin:



Bwana all decked out in his safari garb with no place to go!



Mrs. Bwana looking cool sipping a champagne at "breakfast in the bush" after the early morning balloon ride over the Masai Mara:

cathyandsteveg__

oh my...I see WHITE!!!! lol

I appreciate the help you provide....i am shopping on line ....but am not jumping in with both feet yet but gosh this is exciting...I have to admit

taxare

So for those of you going this year, we received our "green book" with detailed information around six weeks prior to departure and the duffels around four weeks prior. The "medium" duffels come in small little pouches and are 24"x12"x11" (3600 cubic inches). They are equivalent to the Eagle Creek "No Matter What Duffel".

British

The Tauck Eagle Creek duffles are wonderful and very well made. My husband and I still laugh about our non Tauck experience to Namibia which was a beautiful country but everything else about that tour company was terrible including the duffels. From the photos they looked like the Tauck duffels but when they arrived they looked very flimsy and we had to use them as our only bags for the tour from home unril returning home. Halfway through the tour they had holes in the bottom. I had read about them getting holes on that tour company’s forum so had taken the precaution to carry large plastic bags to put our clothes in first. No such problems with a Tauck duffels, we have used them as extra bags on return from our Africa tours sometimes when we have bought souvenirs or want to separate the very dirty shoes and laundry from other clean things.

Sealord

Because of the touring before and after the ‘safari’ part in Botswana, we brought more on this trip than to East Africa. That being said, we often travel with the Tauck duffels and one rollaboard. We check one Tauck duffel with the ‘liquids’ and other things that we don’t consider ‘essentials’. The other Tauck duffel we carry aboard the plane along with the rollaboard that we use as a cart for the Tauck duffel. We are over 70 so we don’t want to schlep the duffel anywhere, but the rollaboard serves well as a cart. We used that system for K&T the last time and will use it again. We actually seldom used anything that got transfered to the rollaboard after our arrival in Arusha. The duffels could carry everything we needed. Of course, last year we did a trip to Russia, BA had our luggage and we never got it until we got home, and we did just fine with what we had in our carry-ons.

DawnC28

Hi!

We live in Canada, so my understanding is that we won't get our duffel bags until we arrive in Livingstone. Can anyone tell me how much they weigh? I want to make sure I leave room in my checked bag to bring them home!

Thanks so much!

AlanS

DawnC28 wrote:

Hi!

We live in Canada, so my understanding is that we won't get our duffel bags until we arrive in Livingstone. Can anyone tell me how much they weigh? I want to make sure I leave room in my checked bag to bring them home!

Thanks so much!

Eagle Creek, No Matter What, medium- 1 lb 12 oz, (includes straps and reusable "stuff pouch")

British

If you haven't got room in your checked bag, just leave them behind or use them as an extra checked bag. If you are flying business class you won't have to pay for a second bag. We use zip ties to 'lock' our bags and have never had a problem.

AlanS

A few trips ago I started using packing "cubes" (they are not really cubes but approx 3"-4" thick rectangles when fully loaded) They are great- one or two types of clothing per cube. I like the kind with two zippered compartents- clean clothes all on one side to start (other side is collapsed) but as items get dirty I put them in the "dirty" side- the cube stays the same size/thickness throughout.

There is no need to disturb the entire bag or suitcase digging around to find socks, underwear etc. Just pull out one or more cubes, get what you need, and put them all back in again. They work just as well in a duffle as they do in a suitcase.

DawnC28

AlanS wrote:

Eagle Creek, No Matter What, medium- 1 lb 12 oz, (includes straps and reusable "stuff pouch")

Thanks! Just the info I needed!

DawnC28

One more question, when using the duffel bags for the safari portion of our tour, does the 3oz. liquid rule apply?

I am never sure if inter-country flights use the same rules as the TSA.

Thanks!
Dawn

(3 weeks to go before we start our trip!!)

British

No it does not apply apart from the flight from Maun.

Sealord

DawnC28 wrote:

One more question, when using the duffel bags for the safari portion of our tour, does the 3oz. liquid rule apply?

I am never sure if inter-country flights use the same rules as the TSA.

Thanks!
Dawn

(3 weeks to go before we start our trip!!)

Exciting stuff. We are just back from our second K&T, and we did Botswana two years ago. You are going to love it. We were flipping coins to decide which trip we were going to do again, and K&T only won because we didn’t feel that we needed to do the same ‘touring’ events on each end of SA trip for a second time. The animals are always different, and they were. Our first trip was during a drought, and our second was after a flood of a wet season. There were far more animals on the second trip. We never saw a leopard closer than two hundred yards the first trip. On the second trip we were within 10 or 15 yards of them numerous times. And on one ‘rest’ stop, the lions had taken over the picnic area and were wandering among numerous safari vehicles. Quite a sight.

DawnC28

British wrote:

No it does not apply apart from the flight from Maun.

Sorry, not quite understanding. On the flight from Maun, do we bring all of our luggage or just the duffles? And if so, are we limited for the rest of the safari portion to the 3oz size for liquids?

Thanks for clarifying!

British

As it is two years since I took this tour, I don’t totally remember every detail, but no worries, if the green booklet you get does not explain, then the daily details when you arrive will, and if not, your tour director will clarify. If you are worried about hair products, don’t, you will have a hat on all the time or you will want to have a hat on because your hair looks so bad. And by the time you get to the Kalahari and there is no electricity for a hairdryer and you are seeing and doing incredible things! Wonderful! Can I come with you and see who has the worst hair!

Sealord

DawnC28 wrote:

Sorry, not quite understanding. On the flight from Maun, do we bring all of our luggage or just the duffles? And if so, are we limited for the rest of the safari portion to the 3oz size for liquids?

Thanks for clarifying!

When you leave Maun it is like a regular airline flight as opposed to the other in country flights that fly from small runways with no terminals. They will weigh your luggage, and if it is more than 44 pounds you will pay extra. We were on a small twin engine jet. I don’t remember where we got our luggage back, but we had it and one bag was too heavy. We travel light for K&T but had extra stuff for Cape Town. On the other in country flights they don’t check anything.

DawnC28

British wrote:

As it is two years since I took this tour, I don’t totally remember every detail, but no worries, if the green booklet you get does not explain, then the daily details when you arrive will, and if not, your tour director will clarify. If you are worried about hair products, don’t, you will have a hat on all the time or you will want to have a hat on because your hair looks so bad. And by the time you get to the Kalahari and there is no electricity for a hairdryer and you are seeing and doing incredible things! Wonderful! Can I come with you and see who has the worst hair!

Hair products are the least of my worries! LOL

I have medicines that I have to take, and I wasn't sure what volume I had to bring, several small bottles or not. I usually have a small carry on bottle and pack the rest in my checked baggage.

Thanks for the clarification.

British

I would never ever pack medicines in checked luggage. If you have to take liquid medicine then you can get a note from your doctor to say it is a necessary medicine for you to have available. You can check the rules about these on the FSA Website I am sure. If they are lost in transit or delayed you are not going to have a chance to even get them replaced until you get to Cape Town.
If you can bring the same medicine in several small bottles to have the amount you require for your trip, as long as they fit in the regulation size ziplock bag, I am sure your pharmacist will dispense them in bottles that size for you with an appropriate label!

DawnC28

British wrote:

I would never ever pack medicines in checked luggage. If you have to take liquid medicine then you can get a note from your doctor to say it is a necessary medicine for you to have available. You can check the rules about these on the FSA Website I am sure. If they are lost in transit or delayed you are not going to have a chance to even get them replaced until you get to Cape Town.
If you can bring the same medicine in several small bottles to have the amount you require for your trip, as long as they fit in the regulation size ziplock bag, I am sure your pharmacist will dispense them in bottles that size for you with an appropriate label!

Thanks, but it's my understanding that our luggage is stored for us while we are using the duffel bags? If so, I am not worried about it if I have to leave it behind for a few days. I do have the necessary paperwork for the international flights, but would rather not have to deal with it during the tour, which is why I asked the question if we need to heed the 3oz. rule during the tour flights.

cathyandsteveg__

Dawn...now that you have been on the trip...can you answer some of your own questions?