Planning for an African safari vacation can be difficult, especially if you haven’t been on one before. You can find yourself wondering about several factors; What are you supposed to pack, are you taking too much, or too little, what will the weather be like, and are there laundry services? Packing all of your safari essentials especially with gorilla trekking and mountain hiking entails selecting both lightweight clothing that will fit inside a duffle bag plus the boots. When it comes to packing for a safari, it is better to pack less. But you may be concerned that you won’t have enough clothing to last the entire trip. Or that you won’t be able to find laundry services including cleaning shoes after a gorilla trek, chimpanzee trek or mountain hiking.
Fortunately, laundry facilities are available in most of Africa’s popular National Parks and Game Reserves, so dirty clothing and shoes should not be an issue. With this in mind, you should check in ahead of time with your tour guide if your specific camp or lodge provide laundry services so you can plan accordingly. Some camps and lodges may even offer free laundry services to guests.
Plan ahead of time where you will wash your clothes to streamline the packing process. Most safari lodges and camps provide free same-day laundry service (as the clothes are normally air dried this will depend on the weather). However, please keep in mind that you may be asked to wash your underwear due to local customs, particularly in small camps in remote areas where washing machines cannot be used and laundry must be done by hand. In this case, eco-friendly laundry detergent will be provided in your room. During your initial briefing upon arrival, the camp manager will make this clear to you.
Furthermore, most camps and lodges will provide a laundry bag in each room where you can leave your clothes to be washed. These washing and folding services are typically completed within 24 hours, so make sure you time it correctly to avoid leaving the camp or lodge with wet clothing.
In cases where your camp does not provide laundry services, you can simply hand-wash your clothes in a sink or tub, then hang them to dry wherever is convenient. Thus, it wouldn’t hurt to buy a small package of laundry detergent to keep on hand in case of emergency. Remember to specify which items of clothing have a “no iron” or “permanent press” label, as some camps use irons heated with hot coals. Also, certain delicate fabrics cannot withstand the high temperatures of these antique irons, so inform the staff ahead of time to avoid any issues.
Nonetheless, before thinking about laundry, it is important to know what to pack for an African safari. Choose light easy to dry clothing, rain ponchos
