Both in our experience. Many of the nylon cargo/safari style pants (for men at least) have zip-off legs to allow conversion. Pants also provide sun protection.
I went back through my pics and everyone on our tour (June 2015) wore long pants 95-100% of the time. One Canadian couple wore shorts occasionally. Shorts may also have appeared at the Mount Kenya Safari Club during down time, golf, etc. Some of us wore pants with zip-off lower legs, but few ever unzipped. A number of the women wore Capris.
There are three issues- bugs (mosquitoes and Tsetse flies), temps, and the intense sun. We were lucky and had few mosquitoes and fewer flies during our tour. I understand, at other times, the bugs can be quite bad. Most of the year the temps are very moderate (mid to high 70's), not as warm as you might expect in other parts of Africa. This is mainly due to the altitudes- you spend most of the time at 5000' or higher. It can actually be a quite chilly during early morning and evening game drives and it was downright chilly during the balloon ride. Many people left sleeves rolled down and wore safari jackets or fleece vests much of the time.
One side effect of the altitude is less atmosphere to reduce the intensity of the sun. Due to the temps, you may not feel it, but you may be more inclined to sunburn.
Agree totally with Alan on his recommendations. I have some proper safari items of clothing but I also wear clothing of a similar style in the khaki.beige, light brown color range that is a thin cotton, light and cooler than the nylon type, easily wash and dry. I wear it on many vacations of a similar type and regularly at home. The sun really is deceptively sunburn prone, please use extreme caution when exposing your skin. The more skin you cover, the less dangerous Deet you will have to put on yourself. I can't wait to get back to Africa next month!
Agree with everyone's comments. For me, the sun rather than the insects was a bigger issue. I wore shorts for one game drive (lightweight longer khaki golf shorts) and felt they left my knees too exposed to the sun as I sat in the vehicle. I never wore them again.
Comments
There are three issues- bugs (mosquitoes and Tsetse flies), temps, and the intense sun. We were lucky and had few mosquitoes and fewer flies during our tour. I understand, at other times, the bugs can be quite bad. Most of the year the temps are very moderate (mid to high 70's), not as warm as you might expect in other parts of Africa. This is mainly due to the altitudes- you spend most of the time at 5000' or higher. It can actually be a quite chilly during early morning and evening game drives and it was downright chilly during the balloon ride. Many people left sleeves rolled down and wore safari jackets or fleece vests much of the time.
One side effect of the altitude is less atmosphere to reduce the intensity of the sun. Due to the temps, you may not feel it, but you may be more inclined to sunburn.