Please help with shoes for Classic K and T
Hello,
I've read as much as I can find about wardrobe for K and T but I'm still not clear on shoes. I see that most people like to have a pair of slip-ins for the Jeep, but did you find these suitable for walking around the terrain? Did you use these shoes for the Maasai village visit, where apparently they can get mucky, or did you have a separate pair of shoes for this? Did you also have a third "clean" pair of walking shoes? Would typical NB athletic shoes be suitable for this trip? I have a collection of old ones. Just wondering if hiking shoes or trail shoes are better.
Thank you.
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In my opinion, hiking shoes are not necessary. I had a good pair of brown walking shoes with a good tread. It can be dusty and dirty, so nice to be able to dust and/or wash them off. I would avoid white, if possible. I did bring light weight, comfortable flats, just to have something else to wear occasionally in the evening. I know many recommend slip-ons for the jeeps, but I did not bother with them, and was ok. I did have flip flops for the room, but would not wear them in the dirt.
I would not suggest buying new shoes. Your NB would be ok.
I think good sneakers will do it. When I went I had a pair of Clarks walking shoes, they may look like old lady shoes but they worked.
The first time I went to Africa I threw away my shoes before coming home. Recently, I took an old pair of army green colored lightweight waterproof hiking shoes and wore them all the time except at the nice luxury lodges before and at the end of the trip. I was able to rinse them off and they dried when getting very dirty. I had another pair of light weight tennis shoes (not white) too and a pair of light weight slip ons for lounging. Bring shoe sacks (on Amazon) that close up for your suitcase.
I swear by Merrell Moab slip on waterproof shoes ; it is the only pair I travel with.I will take Keen sandals to walk around the hotel etc.The same pair of Merrell has travelled all over including our previous Africa trip.
When we went to Africa for the first time on the K and T tour, the forum mentioned slip on shoes, but in reality, once you get into the safari vehicle, you can take your shoes off and keep them off as you will be constantly getting up and down on the jeep seats to pop your head out of the vehicle to view wildlife. I now take one pair of closed toe Merrill type suede shoes for the vehicles. I take them or similar ones every time I go to Africa and wash them when I get home ready for the next time. I also take a closed toe pair of Keen type sandals for evenings or a change during the day. I always wear socks with these to prevent any evening naughty mosquitoes.
As you will be staying at fancy resorts, you might want to take a pair of pumps if you want to dress your outfit up a bit. Many including myself, generally just put on clean safari outfits in the evening.
The Melia, Mt Kenya and Four Seasons all have concrete paths to walk along. The Masai village and balloon ride will be on short grass or dirt paths. The breakfast after the balloon ride will be on grass. The picnic is generally at a ‘rest stop’
In reality, you will not be doing virtually any walking at all on this tour. When you get home, you will be desperate to get into your usual exercise routine.
So yes, old athletic shoes are fine, but they will get dusty and it’s usually red dust that stains. Throw them out when you get home.
I’ve been on I guess now, more than a hundred safari days. A word of caution, do be careful standing on the seats, especially if the vehicle is moving and especially when cats are sited, the drivers take off, sometimes without notice at great speed. I’ve fallen twice on these occasions when the driver has not warned us, once being thrown back into the top edge of the vehicle when I got badly bruised, and once when stepping from one seat to another which you can do if there is not a full vehicle. I fell headlong backwards along the vehicle isle, bad elbow bruise that time. Yes, safaris are certainly an adventure! Love it!
The people at the hotel in Amboseli will clean your shoes if you wish after your visit to the Maasai village. You just put them outside your door and they clean them. They will be wet so you need to leave them out to dry.
When I go to Africa, I bring an older pair of sneakers and I leave them in the last hotel and put a note "donate" on them. I also leave clothes that I don't need. Some of the tour directors ask you to bring clothes to donate and have full duffel bags collected from trips to donate,
The duffel bags are also in great demand by the locals. Ask your TD about that. Last year on our family Bridges tours we left several duffels with Chris Mancini our TD and he had a waiting list of drivers and locals who wanted them.
Thanks for all the help with shoe advice. I was about to give up and just take old sneakers, having once again failed to keep my foot securely inside Merrell's or Sketchers slip ins. My heel always slips out. But at a chance stop at an outlet mall I discovered that Sketchers has a style which you can lace up, adjust, then slip in and out of without unlacing. It's not ideal (and frankly not the best made shoe) but seems comfortable and I am willing to give it a try. It looks like a trail shoe for light hiking. "Summit AT" if anyone is interested.
Martha Stewart advertises those in many magazines. As long as we can wash our shoes after these type of tours we are happy. Advise not to buy light colors as the red dirt stains can be difficult to remove.
I have purposely left shoes that I took on this trip in the hotel room closet with a note saying “I am donating these shoes”. I know someone would wear them more than I would back home.
Your shoes will get incredibly dirty, and I did not want them inside my suitcase for the trip back home.
Thanks OurTravels34 and British. Yes, the idea of donation has been suggested several times.
We wear shoes that can be washed on most of our journeys. We pack them in shoe bags with zippers that are also fully washable.
About 10 years ago, we were staying at the Victoria Falls Hotel on the last day of a trip that started in South Africa, My wife often saves old shoes to wear on our travels, and then leaves them behind with a note indicating she is donating them. (Hotel employees like to have a written not to prove they didn't steal them). I decided to take an early morning walk back to the falls for some more photos before our trip to the airport later on. As soon as I stepped past the hotel grounds, I was accosted by a half dozen or so local souvenir sellers. I was wearing an old pair of Nike running shoes, which I intended to leave behind. The sellers wanted to trade carved statutes of the big five game animals for my shoes, and were very insistent about desiring my shoes. I guess there are lots of runners in Zimbabwe, and even used shoes were in high demand. I told them I needed the shoes to walk in, and that I could hardly walk barefoot to the falls and back. However, when I encountered them again on the way back to the hotel, they were again very persistent in trying to barter for my old shoes. So I told them to wait while I changed into other shoes, and I would come back to make the trade. I rushed back to our room and told my wife to grab the pair of sneakers she was planning to leave behind. We went back and traded our old shoes for some neat souvenirs (probably made in China). The sellers offered an even up trade for the shoes, but I felt so bad that they were getting the bad end of the bargain that I thru in some extra dollars. Actually, they may have done well selling these used shoes on the local black market, because new ones were hard to get in Zimbabwe. Anyway, it made for a great story to tell when we showed off our souvenir carved big five game statues while talking to friends and family about our Africa trip.
Interesting. Is that typical to be harangued like that in South Africa? Was that a Tauck tour? I haven’t experienced that since Pisa, Italy decades ago...and Times Square, NYC. I ask only because I plan to travel there by myself.
On my first tour of sub Saharan Africa, Kenya and Tanzania, locals had ‘duty free’ tables set up at the side of the dirt runway, they wanted to trade for my T shirt, I had to explain I only had underwear underneath! They also wanted to trade for my cheap Timex watch but as we still had a few days to go, my husband refused, I would have been happy to give it them. The people are not aggressively trying to get you to buy stuff but they can be persistent but still not as bad as India or Egypt.
Kfnknfzk, if you are going on the K and T tour, you are not going to be without the group. If you go to a tour that includes Victoria Falls, please don’t walk there on your own because we had a problem with a group of men the first time we went and there wasn’t really anyone else around. We were later warned to be cautious on our own there.
If you go to Capetown or especially Johannesburg, you have to be very very careful, the first time we went there, a colleague of my husband who was from South Africa advised us to wear bullet proof vests!
Thanks. It will be the Elegant Adventure tour. I’ll be sure to stay within the confines of the Tauck “bubble”, but was planning on pre-tour days and really don’t want to remain secluded within the hotel. From other posts, I understand there is a car service that will drop me off by shopping areas. And they will pick me up if I call the hotel for a return drive?
I have always enjoyed your stories of Africa, as well as those of Sealord...and others. Sincere thanks!
Postscript - I’m on a mission to find an alternative to Deet. I thought that was banned.
Deet is not banned, Premethrin is an alternative for the skin. I know you know to talk to your doctor about such decisions.
Thanks, I will confer with my dermatologist who has made a career of slicing into me.
My husband is a dermatologist. Harvard, Johns Hopkins and Stanford trained. Then, lucky him, he married me over 30 years ago to show him the world! No regrets about anything.
Mine is retiring soon after knowing him for over forty years. I dread having to find a new one.
What is the connection between a dermatologist and Deet for malaria prevention?
In answer to the question by kfnknfzk about trading for shoes at Victoria Falls, that occurred in Zimbabwe, not South Africa. Yes, this group of souvenir sellers was one of the most persistent I have ever encountered, but I didn't feel in danger from these sellers. However, there were a lot of elephant trails in the area and I was warned to watch out for elephants, which can be dangerous if encountered while you are wandering around. Although I have done a lot of Tauck tours, this particular tour was with Collette. And I had gone off on my own, not as an organized part of the tour. Probably wasn't a good idea.
British - My reference to a dermatologist concerns my skin’s reaction to certain sprays and topical applications.
Kfnknfzk. I am also extra sensitive to creaks and sunshine. For Africa, I wear long sleeves and pants, socks, a scarf for my neck, or a buff, plus hat, so I need very little Deet spray, wipe or lotion.
And sunscreen all the time.