We, both agile superseniors, are doing a travel company safari to northern Tanzania and Kenya's Masai Mara in October 2008. To keep travel weight down, we are considering athletic shoes rather than our hiking boots. Available data suggests that this should not be a wet period and that much of the time will be spent in or near vehicles. Any comments/recommendations?
Posts: 3 | Location: Texas | Registered: 03 November 2007
on safari, we were not allowed to get out of our vehicles except when the tires blew or someone had to go to the bathroom. i was happy wearing flip flops the whole time actually (a welcome break from hiking boots on kilimanjaro the week before). i wouldn't say you'd need any kind of hiking boots. if you want something sturdier than flip flops, i'd say go right ahead with light, breathable athletic shoes. that might be nice if you need to head out at night, so your feet will have a little more protection.
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Freedom lies in being bold.
Posts: 2241 | Location: seattle | Registered: 22 July 2004
Originally posted by wtravlr1: I was on a safari during oct 07 this year. I did not bring my hiking boots because of weight limits (flying in single engine planes) My walking shoes were fine, as most all of the time was spent in the vehicles, only a small portion of time was spent hiking though the bush. As a note we found that Oct. was a good month weather was fine, and as the bush had not yet spouted all the leaves you could see further into the bush. My waking shoes are Gore-Tex, and if it rains that may be of benefit. We were in Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. The pictures of ours are posted at andrew-rabatin.org. Have a great trip, it was a great experience.
I agree with the others; you don't need your boots. Regular running shoes or sports sandals will do. I personnally wore my sandals in the car because we always had to take our shoes off to stand on the seats to stick our heads out of the open rooftop... (private 4x4) But in the evening around camp, I prefered my shoes...
We spent a month in Tanzania, with two weeks in Mahale and Katavi. There were only two days when we made use of our regular sneakers. Sandals on our feet the other 99% of the time.
Posts: 17 | Location: Berkeley, CA | Registered: 11 April 2006
