Mid July 2023 K&T Classic Safari LUGGAGE & CLOTHING questions...
Hi...We are headed on the K&T Classic Safari this summer and need some guidance.
Luggage: We read through the Luggage Restrictions/Recommendations for this trip and we are a bit confused. We are hoping to pack just a medium sized Rolling Checked piece and take a carry-on Backpack, but we might need to also pack another small Rolling carry-on if we can't fit our stuff in those 2 pieces. I know Tauck is sending a Duffle for certain days, but do you bring that 'as is' or pack it and use that as a 'second' piece (instead of, perhaps, that small Rolling Carry-On)? What Luggage did you bring? Can you bring 1-Checked Roller, 1-Carry-On Roller or Tauck Duffel, and one Backpack?
Clothing: What did people wear on the Tour and at Dinner? Did you change to 'nicer clothing' for dinners, as we did on other Tauck Tours, or did you just wear your safari, tour-type clothing to Dinner? Also, did the color of the clothing really matter relative to bug bites (i.e. no dark/black colors?)
Any help/guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Comments
A rolling medium suitcase and backpack is sufficient for this tour. The duffel bag has changed manufacturer and I believe it is a little smaller. You can pack all you need in that for the safari days, no problem. If it comes to you in it’s own little bag, don’t undo it as it will be hard to make it as small for packing in your suitcase to bring with you. We prefer to pack the duffle rather than take it instead of a rolling suitcase as we are not fond on carrying what turn out to be heavier bags than you think. Even if you bring more bags, you will only be allowed to take the duffel and a backpack on the small planes, your other luggage stays behind.
Most people change into clean safari clothes before dinner, but often there is not time to change before and most go straight to dinner after the late afternoon safari. Once it is dark, some camps require you to have an escort to take you to and from your room, so that helps decide. If Tauck still goes to the Mount Kenya safari club, a few people might change for dinner there, but it really isn’t necessary, this is an African safari and great fun. We were not that fond of that hotel as quite frankly you could be in any country, it just doesn’t feel like Africa but i know SeaLord loved it there.
It also does not really matter what color clothes you wear as long as you avoid black and dark blue in case you encounter tsetse flies and you can never guess when they will be around. insects see in color but the animals don’t. You might want to avoid white as the reddish dirt can stain if it is a dusty time. Tsetse bites/stings really hurt, I have personal experience! And they can carry sleeping sickness.
It is a good idea to keep as much of your skin covered as possible both to avoid the sun at the equator which is intense, not necessarily hot, but more intense than you realize. Also to avoid mosquitoes… the malaria carrying ones tend to bite at dusk and at night but there are ones that carry other things like yellow fever that bite during the day too. These African mosquitoes are smaller, are loners and not easy to see.
Laundry service is very cheap in Africa so that helps. We can generally pack all we need without having to launder much at all.
We are contemplating booking an African tour later this year, which will be number seven, we already have one booked next year, we are kinda obsessed with sub Sahara Africa.
The duffle is the only luggage that can be easily stowed on the small aircraft used on tour. You really shouldn't need more than one checked bag apiece for K&T. I'm not sure if Tauck is currently mailing the duffles or handing them out on Day 1. On your flight to Tanzania and your flight home you can use the duffle as a carry-on if you really need a little extra room.
Click on the East Africa > Tanzania & Kenya category to the right of this page for tons of responses, many with photos, from previous tours. .
Black and blue flags are used to attract the tsetse flies to the traps at the Four Seasons. We had a young man in our safari vehicle who had lost luggage, so all he had was a black sweatshirt. He was like a fly strip. The flies did not bother us at all … they all went to him. His ‘callsign’ became “Fly”.
We don’t use the duffels as additional luggage, but as primary luggage, and we bring a rollaboard which becomes a ‘cart’ for one duffel and we check the other duffel. We each carry a backpack. We do have the old Eagle Creek duffels (went out of business) and the new ones are a bit smaller. If using the new duffles, we would probably have two rollaboards … one checked. . We take three sets of safari clothes … one to wear, one to change into, and one in the laundry. You will need a warm jacket for the morning drives. If you get cold easily gloves and a hat would probably be a good idea. You are at the equator, but you are at high altitude and it can be quite cold. We always had a fire in our fireplace at the Mount Kenya Safari Club at night. Also, a good pair of binoculars are handy. If you don’t have them, you will likely be borrowing someone else’s … and then they are ‘blind’ while you can see. (;-). Many of the animals are up close, but others are a bit shy.
My husband and I went with a friend last August on K&T. This was during the luggage fiasco with airports. We each took a 20 inch wheelie, the new size Tauck duffle and a day pack onto the plane. (and a CPAP). Daily everyone wore natural colors, usually safari type pants with side pockets and a travel type shirt over a long or short sleeve t-shirt. We brought lightweight down vests for the morning and light rain jackets. You need sturdy sneakers or low hiking boots. Only one man wore shorts and he didn't look too good walking through the tall grass trying to see the Rhinos. No open toe shoes either. For dinner everyone put on clean clothes but nothing dressy. I would say most women wore dressier tops for dinner if there was time to change. You do need to bring binoculars. Also I found a cell phone lanyard helpful to keep my cell phone handy for photos. I highly recommend an inflatable seat cushion for the safari seats. There are many miles of very bumpy , unmaintained roads. We did rinse out some clothes along the way, if there was enough drying time and sent out laundry once.
Oh, consider treating your clothes with Sawyers/Permethrin to help keep the skeeters away. Wear a mask (a simple one will do, you do not need one like I'm wearing) when applying it and keep your pet away. It is only hazardous when wet. I just treated the neck area and shirt/pant cuffs.
NOTE: After performing the activity in the picture above Alan's skin turned very dark so beware! 😂
Thank you all so much for the GREAT guidance and taking the time to respond!!! Getting psyched ;=)
Festive1, my husband and I and a friend will be on this tour with you! (Tamara, Frank and Cindy). We wanted a rolling carry-on so Cindy and I are using a rolling duffel bag that collapses enough to put in medium rolling suitcase later (if we need to). We could have used the Tauck duffel to carry-on, but we didn't want to carry it through airports, etc. We are leaving on June 29 , going to Capetown, Vic Falls and a Safari camp in Nairobi (to visit a few places not on our trip) before we join the Tauck tour. My husband is likely going to use the Tauck duffel as he doesn't mind carrying the bag.
You can use a rolling carry on to carry the Tauck duffel. We have done it many times. We pack the duffel and the other carry on with everything we ‘must’ have. We also wear safari clothes on the plane. On our last K&T several couples arrived without luggage, and not having safari clothes can be a bit of a bother. One young man only had a black sweatshirt to wear. We gave him the callsign “Fly”, because he attracted all the flies, which was nice for the rest of us. Be sure to bring a jacket. The mornings can be quite cold.
My wife and I are taking the Great Migration trip starting on August 17, 2023, and are questioning the luggage issue. According to the website, Tauck is providing " a large rolling Eagle Creek Duffle." What is the size of this duffle? Eagle Creek makes many duffels, and they all look large.
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Your tour says the following
AIRLINES and CHECKED LUGGAGE: Due to space limitations during your Tauck journey, we ask that you please limit your checked luggage to one average-size suitcase per person. Besides complying with the Tauck restriction noted above, you should also be sure to research and comply with all airline baggage restrictions relating to your flights to and from your Tauck journey. Airlines have become much more strict in enforcing size and weight limits in recent years, and are free to revise luggage policies without notice. Researching and complying with airline luggage restrictions is the responsibility of the guest, and Tauck cannot be held responsible for any costs or disruptions to travel caused by the failure to research and comply with airline policies. PLEASE NOTE that if you are booked on a tour that includes on-tour flights, the checked luggage weight restrictions for these flights may be lower than the weight restrictions for your international flights.
Special Luggage Restrictions for this Tour
To help in your packing, Tauck will provide each guest with a large rolling duffel bag. The duffel bag has been specially designed to provide more than adequate space for essential items needed while on safari on days 2-9. Please pack light and bring ONLY the Tauck-issued duffel bag with you on safari.
Strict limitations on our on-tour flights require that each guest take only one piece of soft-sided luggage (the duffel bag) weighing no more than 33 pounds, or 14.97 kilograms. This weight limit includes all camera equipment. Soft-sided luggage is required to ensure your piece fits into irregularly shaped luggage compartments.
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You can take a regular suitcase but not take it while on the safari part of the tour, for the duffel, the weight limit says 33 lbs, not 40. That will be plenty for what you need to take.
Thanks for the quick reply. Do you know which Eagle Creek Duffle Tauck provides?
I thin k SeaLord is correct, they went out of business. It doesn’t really matter which duffel, you will have plenty of room, I’ve taken six safaris this way and yours is very short.
I don't know why you think that Eagle Creek went out of business. They are very much in business, and their products are available.
They certainly have a website.
https://eaglecreek.com/?cm_mmc=affiliates--affiliates--10-_-FlexOffers.com&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_source=FlexOffers.com&ranMID=45034&ranEAID=PPkX79%2Fc*b0&ranSiteID=PPkX79_c.b0-UegZJFz5vT9jF05EDVAx1A
Tauck has changed their duffels at least three times since I started traveling with them and the first type was the one we liked best. Sad to see it go.
I did a little research and got a little more information. Eagle Creek had been bought by a larger corporation, and in the throws of the pandemic decided to shut it down. Then one of the entities within that corporation decided to buy it. As best I can tell they did cease operations for a while, but restarted a relatively short time later.
If you do a search located In the right hand corner of the forum page and type in Tauck duffel bags, you will see a post from AlanS in November 2021 where the thread has several photos of Tauck duffels. No wheeled ones as yet.
As to the history of Eagle Creek, Sealord is correct. I could be wrong, but believe the new version of the company has a much smaller product line which may not include the the exact style duffles we all know and love.
They do sell PACK-IT™ REVEAL SLIM CUBEs, which are similar to the dual-sided packing cubes I use. They are fairly pricey, however.
Actually, I just went on the Eagle Creek website, and there on the first page is the “No Matter What” 60 liter duffel, which is the exact duffel that Tauck provided in the past. Only the color is different. (It’s actually 59 liters.)
Is the duffle that Tauck provides eligible for carry on, or does it have to be checked luggage?
I received my duffel for a trip to K & T and it looks like you could carry it on (although I am going to pack mine). It is smaller and a thicker material than the Eagle Creek one I received (and still use) from 7 years ago.
I don’t think there is any reason you can’t take and use your old duffle on your Kenya and Tanzania trip. My mom and I both took our old ones rather than the new ones to Kenya & Tanzania last summer. In our group of 26, there were at least 8 of the old duffles.
Geraldsanders - We have just returned from Tauck's trip to Peru and the Galapagos Islands and carried on the duffle bags that Tauck provided without any problems.
SCSmithway, did you carry on the wheeled duffle that Tauck provided? On previous trips Tauck gave us small duffles without wheels, but on this trip, Tauck says that the duffles have wheels. We have to change planes in Amsterdam, and I always worry about the checked bags not making the flight with us, so we'd like to take the duffles as carry on.
We have always used the old Eagle Creek duffels as carry on. We don’t plump them out … technically I think they are about an inch too large, but if not crammed full no one will question them.
The old duffles I'm talking about don't have wheels. We received for the Peru and Bolivia trip we took in 2017. We packed them empty in our luggage and then checked them back, basically full of laundry.
The duffel bags we received from Tauck for our Peru and the Galapagos Islands had no wheels.
I really think Tauck wants people to take the duffels they send out because the sizes and shapes have been different over the years and the entire reason for having them is so that they are all the same size and easy to stack, especially in Safari vehicles. I suppose if people turn up with the old bag that is different there really isn’t anything the TD can do. Maybe the wheeled bags these days are to help the Tauck people schlep them around.
On our last safari a number of people were using the ‘old’ duffels … including the TD.