Choosing what to bring on safari can be complicated, especially if your safari includes flights on a bush plane where weight is severely limited. Many of the flight providers in northern Tanzania only allow 15 kg of luggage per person, and that includes both your “checked bag” and your carry on item. There may be the opportunity to buy additional weight allowance at the airport, but it’s not something you can count on. This weight limit forces you to be selective about the gear you bring and in this post I want to share what I brought on my recent safari as well as comment whether I would bring the items along next time.
Main Camera Kit:
Sony A7R III w/Sony 100 - 400 f4.5 - 5.6 GM Lens & Sony 1.4x Teleconverter
Sony A7 III w/Sony 24 - 105 f4 G Lens
Sony 16 - 35 f4 T* Lens
The dual Sony camera approach worked exceptionally well. I used the A7 III for landscapes or when the animals were particularly close to the vehicle, or when they were moderately close but I wanted to include the animal’s environment within the shot. The A7R III's effective range of 140 - 560 mm allowed me to get tight on many animals, and zoom in reasonably on the birds or animals farther away. The 16-35 was essentially never used because I didn’t want to switch lenses (the dust was often bad).
Next time, I’ll leave behind the 16-35 mm lens and I’d probably opt for Sony’s new 200 - 600 mm f5.6 - 6.3 G lens instead of the 100 - 400 giving me slightly better reach and presumably better AF performance without the teleconverter. These changes would be weight neutral. Should Sony release an crop sensor camera with the ergonomics of the current A7 line I would probably bring this rather than the A7R III due to the extra reach and pixel density.
Verdict:
Bring:
Sony A7 III w/Sony 24 - 105 f4 G Lens
Change:
Sony A7R III w/Sony 100 - 400 f4.5 - 5.6 GM Lens & Sony 1.4x Teleconverter
Leave Behind:
Sony 16 - 35 f4 T* Lens
SafariSack Beanbag
Main Camera Accessories:
6 Extra Batteries (4 OEM, 2 RavPower)
6 Microfiber Cleaning Cloths
Peak Design Cuff
Peak Design Slide Lite
Cleaning Kit (Zeiss Lens Wipes, Mini Dust Rocket)
RavPower USB Battery Charger
Watson Compact Battery Charger
Genesis SafariSack
A LOT of Memory Cards
77 mm Circular Polarizer
2x & 4x Breakthrough Photography ND Filters
Everything on here was pretty reasonable, and the only changes I’d make were leaving behind the Peak Design Cuff which I never used due to switching between camera bodies and perhaps only bring the 4x ND filter, leaving the others behind. I only used the 4x ND filter while shooting video on the A7III during the middle of the day and I typically never used a polarizing filter. I did try using it while shooting the car windows during drives from park to park but the alignment of the car didn’t make this ideal. It seems like a lot of batteries, and it was, but as electricity access was inconsistent I did find myself down to my last two batteries at one point.
Our safari company did provide two basic bean bags for camera stabilization. I didn’t know this in advance, but still would bring my SafariSack because I greatly preferred it to the ones they provided. Next time I might actually bring two.
Verdict:
Bring:
6 Extra Batteries (4 OEM, 2 RavPower) in a Think Tank Case
6 Microfiber Cleaning Cloths
Peak Design Slide Lite
Cleaning Kit (Zeiss Lens Wipes, Mini Dust Rocket)
RavPower USB Battery Charger
Watson Compact Battery Charger
Genesis SafariSack
A LOT of Memory Cards in a Think Tank Pocket Rocket Secure
4x Breakthrough Photography ND Filters
Leave Behind:
Peak Design Cuff
77 mm Circular Polarizer
2x Breakthrough Photography ND Filter
Add:
Second Genesis SafariSack
Video Gear:
Rylo 360° Camera
Rylo Invisible Grip
Rylo Action Case
Rylo Everyday Case
Peak Design POV Kit
GoPro Suction Mount
GoPro Clamp Mount
2 Rylo Batteries
Rylo Charger
microSDXC Cards
Shure MV88+ Microphone Kit (Microphone, Smartphone Clamp, Tripod)
Dual Cold-Shoe Adapter
LED Light
RODE VideoMic Pro w/Windscreen
RODE Lavalier Mic w/Windscreen
Alright, this is where I really overpacked. I’ve never been heavily into video but am envious of those amazing travel videos I see on YouTube. I haven’t gone through my footage yet, but I did take a lot with the Rylo and some with my A7s. We intended to have my daughter extend her YouTube video series with daily reports using the Shure MV88+ kit, but that plan didn’t really come to fruition. Next trip I would greatly condense this kit to save weight and space.
Quick Note on the GoPro Clamp mount: This is the OEM mount, but it failed on my sending my Rylo flying into the side of the dirt road. Fortunately this happened without any wildlife around and our guide was able to stop the video and pick it up. Had their been lions or baboons around, I very likely could have permanently lost the Rylo and the footage it contained. I think it was all the dust that caused it to get a bad mount but I didn’t really have an opportunity to investigate and just didn’t use it the rest of the trip.
Verdict:
Bring:
Rylo 360° Camera
Rylo Invisible Grip
Rylo Action Case
2 Rylo Batteries
Rylo Charger
microSDXC Cards
Maybe:
Shure MV88+ Microphone Kit (Microphone, Smartphone Clamp, Tripod)
Dual Cold-Shoe Adapter
LED Light
Leave Behind:
Peak Design POV Kit
GoPro Suction Mount
GoPro Clamp Mount
RODE VideoMic Pro w/Windscreen
RODE Lavalier Mic w/Windscreen
Data Backup:
Lacie 4TB Rugged USB-C Drive
G-technology 1TB USB-C G-Drive
Western Digital 500 GB My Passport Wireless SSD
I’ve been burned by having inadequate backup processes in place previously and was determined to well prepared for any possibility with this trip. My cameras were set to write to both SD cards simultaneously giving me real-time backup as I shot the phots, each night then I downloaded my photos to my Laptop and copied them to the Lacie and G-Technology drives then the drives were stored in two different locations: the G-Drive with my electronics gear and the Lacie thrown in the duffle with our clothes.Cloud backup was not possible due to the low availability of internet bandwidth. My intent with the My Passport was to do an occasional laptop-less backup in the field during the day, but that didn’t happen. Ultimately this meant that I was protected against an SD card failure, a laptop failure, and partial theft.
Thanks to improvements coming in iPadOS 13 around external file support, I think I’ll be able to leave my laptop behind on future trips. What this means for hard drives, I’m not sure yet. I’d prefer to go with iPad Pro + Lacie Rugged, but it may end up being iPad Pro + My Passport. Either way I think SD Card redundancy + iPad Pro + External HD will give me my three location backup protection needed for good backup and require a smaller footprint. I took about 300 GB of photos and video, so the MyPassport would have been enough in this situation though I had two unproductive mornings so the total amount of data generated would have been higher under ideal circumstances.
Verdict (Move to iPad-centric workflow with iPadOS 13):
Bring:
Lacie 4TB Rugged USB-C Drive OR Western Digital 500 GB My Passport Wireless SSD
Leave Behind:
G-technology 1TB USB-C G-Drive
Lacie 4TB Rugged USB-C Drive OR Western Digital 500 GB My Passport Wireless SSD
Other Electronics:
MacBook Pro 13 (2016)
iPad Pro 10.5”
Apple Pencil
Beats Studio Wireless Headphones
Kindle Paperwhite
HyperJuice USB-C Battery Pack
Global Mifi
Cables
International Adapters
Anker USB-C 60W 5 Port charger
Car Charger
Nothing totally crazy on this list, but as I mentioned above I’m hopeful that the external file access improvements in iPadOS 13 will allow me to go iPad only on most trips. (in case you’re not aware, iPadOS 13 will allow you to import RAW files directly from your SD card into Lightroom CC instead of needing to first import into the Photos app). The Global Mifi was great when it worked, but many areas in the National Parks didn’t have data coverage making this less useful. The Car Charger wasn’t needed because our Safari Truck had two regular AC outlets (international outlets like you find on airplanes). Finally, make sure you really think about the cables you need as I ended up having to buy an additional Micro USB cable while I was down there.
Verdict:
Bring:
iPad Pro 10.5”
Apple Pencil
Beats Studio Wireless Headphones
Kindle Paperwhite
HyperJuice USB-C Battery Pack
Global Mifi
Lightning and Micro USB Cables
International Adapters
Anker USB-C 60W 5 Port charger
Leave Behind:
MacBook Pro 13 (2016)
Car Charger
Add:
Extra Cables
Camera/Organizer Bags:
Peak Design Everyday Backpack 20L
Peak Design Field Pouch
f-stop Accessory Pouch - Medium
Think Tank Cable Management 30 v2.0 Bag
BAGSMART Electronics Travel Organizer Bag
The Peak Design Everyday Backpack is great, and I’m a big fan but weight restrictions were a huge factor here, and it was actually our international airline, Qatar Airways, which posed the biggest challenge. Their policy requires that Hand Baggage (we call it Carry-on Baggage in the US) weigh no more than 7 kg (15.4 pounds) and there are reports of their checking baggage weights when you board the plane though this never happened to us. My main camera kit was 10 pounds on its own so storing everything if my backpack wasn’t doable for air travel at least.
Ultimately I used the backpack for my cameras, placed my iPad, Kindle, and MacBook in the carry-ons of other family members and used the Peak Design Field pouch with the Peak Design Slide Lite camera strap to hold my lithium-ion batteries. Audio equipment went in the Think Tank bag, chargers and cables went in the F-Stop pouch, and finally everything else went in the bag smart bag. The field pouch went into the Peak Design backpack so that it could be removed and worn as a personal item (man purse) in the event they were weighing backpacks. The f-stop pouch and BAGSMART bag went into checked luggage.
Reducing any of these would be dependent on reducing other gear. Based on the items I said to leave behind in this post I could likely condense the remaining contest of the BAGSMART Bag and the F-Stop Bag into the Think Tank Cable Management bag.
Verdict:
Bring:
Peak Design Everyday Backpack 20L
Peak Design Field Pouch
Think Tank Cable Management 30 v2.0 Bag
Leave Behind:
BAGSMART Electronics Travel Organizer Bag
f-stop Accessory Pouch - Medium
Peak Design Everyday Backpack strapped to seat in car
One final note on bags, I was able to use a backpack strap to secure my Everyday Backpack sideways on a seat while driving around on game drives. This gave me a secure place to store my cameras while one or both weren’t in use. Prior to putting this solution in place I did have a couple of situations where a bump would result with a camera falling off a seat and landing on the ground.