What to Pack for a Game Drive

There's a specific magic to an early bush morning. It's cold and still when you climb onto the vehicle, the light just coming up grey and soft, everyone a bit quiet. Then the first coffee comes out of the flask — steam curling up, a splash of Amarula in it because why not — and somewhere off in the thornveld a francolin starts up. That first sip, in that chill, watching the bush wake, is worth the early alarm on its own.

Every safari blog will hand you the same advice on what to pack for a game drive: neutral colours, binoculars, sunscreen. All true, all a bit boring, and none of it is what actually makes the morning.

So here's the honest version from Eric, who's run a few thousand drives — starting with the part nobody puts first.

What to pack for a game drive: start with the food

Something happens to your appetite out here. The cold, the early start, the fresh air — it all conspires to make you ravenous, and ordinary food suddenly tastes extraordinary. A croissant stuffed with cold meat and cheese, eaten while a herd of impala drifts past, is one of life's underrated pleasures.

So pack properly. Our tried-and-tested spread: a flask of coffee (with Amarula in it for the grown-ups — it's cold out there), croissants or fresh rolls with cold meats and cheese, a packet of chips and something sweet to pass around, biltong or drywors and later, once the sun's up and the chill's gone, a flask of chilled white wine or a couple of beers in the cooler. For the kids, the cool drinks and treats you'd usually ration — this is the morning to say yes to all of it.

Two quick rules: keep it in a soft cooler bag you can wedge at your feet, and everything in sealed containers or packets — not because anything will mug you, but because a chip packet blowing off the vehicle is litter, and Eric will turn around and make you fetch it.

Dress for the drive, not the day

The mistake nearly everyone makes: they check the forecast — "22 degrees, lovely" — and dress for that. But you head out early, before the day has warmed, in an open vehicle where the wind chill peels off another five degrees. A Dinokeng winter morning can start bitterly cold, then have you stripping down to a T-shirt by nine.

So dress in layers you can shed. In winter, a warm jacket, and a beanie — yes, a beanie, in Africa. (Don't stress about a blanket; there are cosy leopard-print ones in the cupboard at the house — grab a couple on your way out.) In summer it flips: a sun cap, proper high-SPF sunscreen because the African sun bites even at eight, and sunglasses for squinting into that gorgeous low light.

Colours, keep dull-ish — khaki, olive, grey — so you're not a bright shape against the bush. But don't agonise. Nobody ever lost a lion to a navy fleece.

If you're bringing a camera, think like a photographer

This is where a bit of know-how beats expensive gear. The best sightings happen fast, in soft early light, and the difference between a keeper and a blurry mess is nearly always preparation.

Charge everything the night before — batteries drain faster in the cold, so a spare is gold. Shooting on your phone? Bring a power bank; there's nothing worse than a dead battery the second the leopard steps out. Bring binoculars, a pair per person if you can — you find things with the binos first, then lift the camera, and sharing one pair during a sighting is how holiday squabbles start. Rest your lens on something soft — a rolled jacket, a beanbag — because cold hands shake.

And the real photographer's secret nobody tells you: the shot comes to the still, quiet vehicle. When you reach a sighting, let Eric cut the engine, and go quiet. Animals settle, come closer, carry on as if you're not there — and that's when the picture happens. (We wrote a whole piece on the things that quietly ruin a sighting — worth two minutes before your first drive.)

The little things regulars always bring

A small backpack to keep it all together, so you're not scrabbling on the floor when something appears. Wet wipes, because cold-meat-and-cheese fingers. A hat that won't blow off. And your quietest voice — the most useful thing you'll bring, and the one thing you can't pack.

You don't need the forty-pocket safari vest. Warm layers, good food, a charged battery, and a bit of patience. Get those right, and the rest is just Eric doing what he does — finding you the things you came all this way to see.

→ Warm bed, hot coffee, and your cooler bag packed the night before. Book direct at katekileescapes.co.za