Packing list for Nairobi, Zanzibar and a first safari
Kenya and Tanzania in the dry seasons: khaki rather than navy, because tsetse flies prefer dark blue; a soft duffel under 15 kg for the bush plane; your own binoculars; a fleece for a 50°F (10°C) dawn drive; malaria tablets and the yellow fever answer sorted before you fly; a sarong for Stone Town; and small dollar bills from 2013 or later.
On a phone with Waystop installed, the button adds the list to your trip as a bag you can tick off. Otherwise copy it and paste it into Waystop’s Chat with “add this to my packing list”.
Checked October 10, 2026.
Tick things off as you go and this browser will remember. Changed your mind?
0 of 21 packed
Clothes for the bush
0/5The bag and the kit
0/6Health and the sun
0/5Stone Town and the coast
0/5What the weather is like
Nairobi in the cool dry season from June to August is 73 to 75°F (23 to 24°C) by day and 54 to 55°F (12 to 13°C) at night, with about 11 mm of rain in July; January and February are 81°F (27°C) by day and 57°F (14°C) at night. A dawn game drive in an open vehicle at 1,700 meters is around 50°F (10°C). Zanzibar is 84°F (29°C) by day and 70 to 73°F (21 to 23°C) at night from June to September with 30 to 40 mm of rain a month, and 91°F (33°C) by day and 75°F (24°C) at night in January and February.
- A hard-shell suitcaseIt will not fit a Cessna hold and the airline can leave it behind; a soft duffel under 15 kg is the only bag that boards
- Anything navy, black or camouflageTsetse flies pick the dark colors, and camouflage is military dress in East Africa
- A hair dryer and a travel kettleTented camps run on solar and a shared charging point; both trip the system and the lodge asks you not to use them
- A Safaricom SIM with M-PesaThe counter is in the arrivals hall at Jomo Kenyatta, and you need your passport. A week of data costs a few dollars and the wallet pays for everything a card cannot.
- Snacks for the game drivesNairobi supermarkets sell biscuits, nuts and fruit cheaply, and the morning drive leaves before breakfast.
- Bottled water for the road daysCamps refill bottles, but the transfers are long, and Nairobi supermarkets sell water for a fraction of the lodge price.
Worth knowing
- Weigh the duffel on the hotel scales the night before the bush flight with the camera bag on top of it. Fifteen kilos all in is less than it sounds; most camps do laundry overnight for a few dollars, so pack for four days whatever the length of the trip.
- Carry the yellow fever booklet, the malaria tablets and the passport in the same zipped pouch, and photograph all three. The Tanzania desk asks for the booklet when your boarding pass says Nairobi, and your Waystop documents open offline when the airstrip has no signal.
- Dress for the drive, not the lodge: the fleece, the hat and the repellent go in the vehicle every morning even when the sky is clear at 6 a.m., because the drive is four hours and the weather and the light both change twice.
Trips to pack this for
Never leave the charger in the hotel again.
Waystop keeps a list for each bag and each person. On the morning you change hotels it walks you through a quick pack-up check, and Chat can suggest items to add when you ask what to bring.