60 days to go.
I certainly won’t be spending stacks of money on kit because a) I don’t need it and b) I can’t afford it!
I haven’t been to that continent before so I’ve had to do a bit of research on kit and clothing as well as taking advice from the expedition leaders.
Here’s the recommended kit list:
Training and work clothing
- Large brimmed sun hat or similar
- “Cargo” type trousers (2 pairs)
- Long sleeve cotton shirt (2)
- Synthetic thin socks (2 pairs)
- Walking socks (3 pairs)
- Underwear
- Desert or Jungle boots
- Belt
Evening/relaxation wear
- Shorts (cargo type)
- Cotton “T” shirt (2)
- Sandals or lightweight foot wear
- Underwear
- Warm fleece or similar (the evenings can become chilly)
- Flip-flops
- Swimming gear (is there a pool there?)
Camo is illegal in some African countries. I’m not sure about Namibia, but I’m not taking any chances, so outfitting at my local surplus store is out. Ttsetse flies are attracted to blue and black colours. Anything white or black or bright is not a good idea. It’s very similar to our own principles of blending in with the landscape with neutral colours; so olive green and khaki or sand colours is the way ahead.
You might ask why do African tribesmen (for example the Masaai) wear bright colours in the bush. The answer is simple – they are protecting their cattle from attack by predators, and so want to stand out as much as possible.
I spotted some hard wearing Rogue cotton shirts, and a pair of trousers at the Wilderness Gathering on John Muirden’s stall and I couldn’t resist a multi-pocketed waistcoat. At £12-00 to £17-00 per item I think I’ve made a bit of a saving. I’ve already got a khaki coloured Tilly hat, so I’m pretty confident I won’t spend much more on clothing. Perhaps some new sandals would be good.
I will have to sort out a light fleece. The night temperatures may drop quite a bit. I suspect the old Swandri shirt will be a bit of an overkill as well as being heavy to pack.
Actually, I’ve already raided the surplus store for some boots. £20-00 saw me walk away with some good fitting second hand Meindl desert boots. Just the job – oh, and a nifty sand (actually pale pink) coloured light weight neck scarf at £4-00. Good sturdy boots are important because of the large thorns which will apparently shred light footwear.
Clothing wise I think it’s all systems go.
Pablo.
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I have not ever heard that ‘camo is illegal in some African countries’ argument before. On my expeditions course years ago at the RGS Royal Geographical Society though we were told it was simply ill advised to wear it; as one might be mistaken, and arrested or shot as a mercenrary or a suspected combatant in many areas.
Hi Pablo. Been reading your blog for a while now but never posted! However – I have quite a bit of Africa experience (currently a walking guide/camp manager in the Mara area) so thought I could give you a hand and point you in the direction of things that work!
Rogue shirts are great, however, I’ve always worked on the principle (its army so you probably know it too!) of 1 on, 1 in the wash and 1 in the bag ready to go! So basically 3′s! Especially in Namibia – quite sweaty during the day.
I’d also highly recommend Keen Newport sandaly-shoe things. I’ve got 3 pairs and almost live in them.
Walking wise I have the same Meindl desert boots which are great but prefer walking in Merrell Moab Ventilator trainer type shoes with canvas gaiters (Boyt do some good ones available from MidwayUK – no affiliation – or you can make some out of old shirt/jacket cuffs!) if there is a lot of grass seed about (gets stuck in socks making them unusable etc) or the Keen shoes above (which give you pretty funky tan marks on your feet).
Hope that helps. I’ll put my thinking hat back on …….
Thanks a lot for the advice and on the bino’s post as well. Any other advice would be welcome.