South Africa packing panic
I do not know where to start...from the suitcase size for the smaller flights to the clothing needed... can I have back pack and carry on and checked bag? do I need 'dressy' clothes...what does one wear on the Elegant Adventure in S Africa.. end of Aug into Sept? thank you for easing my anxiety
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“Special Luggage Restrictions for this Tour:
Checked luggage aboard the on-tour flights to and from Johannesburg and Victoria Falls may not exceed 44 lb (20 kg).
In addition, guests are limited to one soft-sided, carry-on bag per person not to exceed 15 lbs (6.8 kg), and no larger than an average knapsack.”
If you look at the information regarding checked and carry-on luggage for the tour, you will see what I have copied regarding the on tour flights.
As to a few of the dinners, they are dressy casual, not dressy.
We took this tour around the same time. For daytime, we primarily wore safari-like travel clothes. It was on the cool side for morning game drives, and we layered with a fleece jacket and windbreaker/rain jacket. I did bring shorts and swimsuit and used both. Safari style hat with chin strap is handy for the game drives. Lots of mosquitoes at Victoria Falls.
This is a wonderful trip. Enjoy.
thank you for all the suggestions!! so helpful...I cannot wait
I am leaving on this trip early Sept. Tauck just send the final documents & it is 44 lbs checked bag & 15 lbs carryon, but it does not stipulate soft-sided. It does state the measurements 20x15x10 (which would include wheels & handle. Hope this helps.
We did this trip in August. Checked luggage was sometimes weighed but they were forgiving for slight overages. They never weighed a carry on bag. As overheads are small on the included flights, I'd suggest that you be pretty sure your bag could fit under a seat. If so, you'll have no problem. We had perhaps 4 or 5 dinners where nice casual clothes were ideal. Many other dinners were attended in the clothes we toured in that day.
I am still confused about the luggage for this tour. Mil mentioned packing your duffle inside your checked bag for use on the smaller airplane flights. What do you do with your "checked bag" when you embark on the small planes? Also, read about leaving heavier bags in Johannesburg when you travel to and from Victoria Falls. I am not sure what happens on tour, and I, too, just got the final docs for our September trip and found these issues unclear. Can anyone please give me some guidance specific to this Elegant South Africa tour? Thanks.
If you are on the Elegant South Africa tour, you don’t need to worry about the duffle. There is a duffle for the classic safari Kenya and Tanzania tour that you have to use for a couple of the flights while your main luggage is taken by vehicle to meet you at the following stop. I think the other Africa tours have specific duffles that are intended to be your only luggage, but I have been on both the first two tours.
The internal flights on Elegant Adventure are commercial flights with an airline called Airlink. You can look at their website for specifics, but if you live in the middle of nowhere like we do (Wyoming,) these planes are bigger than the ones we fly to Denver.
When you leave Johannesburg to travel to Victoria Falls, you will have the opportunity to leave some of your luggage in Johannesburg to be securely stored rather than taking everything with you for the two nights in Victoria Falls. If you leave something there, it will be returned to you when you return a couple of days later for your flights home. I hope that helps.
Thanks, scsmithwy. So much appears on this forum that i have been confused about the Elegant Adventure trip. I think your response says it all until someone else jumps in with different advice!
Sandman - scsmithwy is 💯 correct! No need for a smaller duffle on the Elegant Adventure tour. However, if, like me, you don’t feel like having to worry about all of your stuff (plus alcohol if you bought any in South Africa) for a couple nights in Zimbabwe, you can check that bag in at the airport. Tauck has someone who will help do that for you (we had “Jo from Jo’burg” 😜). So basically the local Tauck rep will come meet the group, and she’ll take care of any luggage you want to store from there. Then she’ll have it for you when you come back to the airport in Johannesburg. Easy peasy! I think I may have been the only person on our tour who left a bag with Jo but I just found it easier to travel light to Zimbabwe.
Thanks as well, buonviaggio. I appreciate the direct response that reinforced what scsmithwy advised. Don't know why i was getting so confused, but with 7 weeks until we leave I can now plan how to pack for this trip. Problem with past trips is my wife and I always travel "heavy" and will have to cut back. We are going and coming home through Dubai and plan on leaving a bag there with stuff we wont need on the safaris.
Thanks to scsmithwy and buonviaggio for the information about Elegant Safari. We are on the 9/18 trip and appreciate your tips. The ability to store luggage while in Zimbabwe sounds like a nice option. If there is anything else you wish you knew ahead of time, please feel free to post!
I can relate regarding the packing, Sandman! I do the same thing….But this tour isn’t as limited luggage-wise as some of the other African tours. Jean - The one thing I would say is if you can arrive early and visit the Winelands, do it! We did - but friends of ours with whom we were traveling didn’t and regretted it after seeing our pictures. Also, I recommend visiting Robben Island if you arrive early. It’s well worth it. If you are there prior to the start of the tour and have a beautiful, clear day, you may want to go up to Table Mountain on your own since weather can be iffy there, and if the winds are too strong and/or weather is rainy/foggy, you won’t get there. The day we were supposed to go with Tauck it rained and was completely fogged out, but fortunately the next day was better and our fabulous TD switched the itinerary around so we still got to see it. One other tip - we sprayed our clothes with permethrin in advance and used Deep Woods OFF and despite being a mosquito magnet, I managed to dodge being bitten! I didn’t see many mosquitos (we were there in October) but generally, even if there is just one, it will find me. In Johannesburg we had a spectacular dinner at the upscale Marble Restaurant which I highly recommend! Scenic views of the city skyline and wonderful food and ambience. But if you go, have the hotel’s driver take you and bring you back (it’s about a 15 minute drive from the hotel). It’s not really safe to walk around Jo’burg at night. This is a totally amazing tour - one of our very favorite trips! Enjoy!!!!
Thanks as well, buonviaggio. Jean S, it looks like we will be on tour with you. Look forward to a great tour. Our first in Africa.
Go to Marble in time for for the sunset. It is a great restaurant in Joberg and not to be missed. Lots of security in the area.