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Best daily bag for safari vehicle
What is the best size "bag" that will easily fit in the vehicles? I will have 2 small cameras, 2 binocs, 3 field manuals, purell, etc. which will fit in a 20 x 12 x 12 small duffell.....too big...small? I would think it should be big enough to hold removed layered upper clothing?
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Your bag seems too large. A backpack or small canvas beach bag would be much better. We just threw the discarded jackets wherever there was space.
I would strongly suggest that you leave the field manuals in the hotel or at home. They are heavy books. I am a birder, and I had 2 great books. But there is no way to look up info while you are riding in the jeeps. I just photographed everything and identified them later. Your guide will know every bird and animal, so I kept a pad of paper handy at all times to write down the names.
Seems I'm always agreeing with Ilene but there's a reason. She's right! The seats in these safari vehicles have absolutely no room underneath. It's not like a plane where you can slide your bag under the seat. Moreover, the aisle between the seats is not that wide when you have occupants from both sides of the aisle standing at the same time.
There is another factor at work here too. Most of the time the road (I use that term loosely) is too rough to stand while the vehicle is moving. If you are tall, there's not a lot of room for your knees or your feet. It is difficult to stand up quickly when an animal is sighted. The men on our safari stood whenever they could.
What worked for me was to carry my camera around my neck and put everything else in the pockets of my safari jacket. We were in Africa in January. There was no need to peel layers. I removed my jacket's zip off sleeves and put everything in the pockets. I had room for extra camera, batteries, binoculars, buff, hand sanitizer, bug repellant sheets, etc.
I guess I have made the ride sound awful. It's not. We all worked around the limited space. It was irrelevant. We were focused on the wildlife and scenery. When I say it is the experience of a life time...I'm serious. Several months ago we made plans to return to safari in June 2013. This week we decided that was too long to wait...we are returning to Tanzania in October 2012. Africa is magic!
Leo M