Your African Travel Packing List During Covid-19 Pandemic
Enthusiastic travelers across the World are eagerly waiting for lockdowns to be eased to achieve their already planned and booked trips. Even regular travelers understand that there is currently a crisis brought-about by the covid-19 outbreak and are still willing to continue with their explorations, in the event that the situation with Covid-19 stabilizes. Situation has started going back to normal in some countries, lockdowns have been eased but with some restrictions that include wearing face masks in public, social distancing, use of hand sanitizers and many others.
It is therefore difficult and disturbing for travelers to know what to pack for travel and therefore this list brings you some of the important things to pack for your trip.
Right and comfortable clothes
The clothes you carry for travel after the covid-19 will depend on a number of factors that include the weather of the place you are travelling to. You might need sweater, jacket, long sleeved shirts and trousers if traveling during the wet/rainy season. Another factor that influences the clothes to pack is the purpose of traveling, whereby if you are traveling for a gorilla safari the packing list is different when traveling for an adventure trip.
Face masks and gloves.
Although most countries have eased covid-19 lockdowns, face mask wearing has been mandatory and thus if you are planning to travel, make sure to carry a few pairs.
Credit or debit card
Cashless transactions are the perfect option during the Covid-19 outbreak, because physical cash has been seen as a good avenue of spreading the Coronavirus and to reduce its transmission, tourists are advised to carry credit cards and debit cards for use in upscale restaurants, safari Lodges, Hotels and upscale supermarkets.
However, you might also need some cash since most small businesses in Africa are cash-only businesses especially restaurants, cafeterias, supermarkets, transport and many others. Having cash means you can easily purchase fruits along the street markets. Having cash makes it easier to tip service providers and be able to grab a cab when connecting to nearby places.
Gadgets.
In this day and age, traveling without gadgets is boring but this doesn’t mean to carry all your gadgets for the trip. Therefore some of the gadgets you will need for travel after covid-19 are a laptop with its charger that you can use for work and be informed during the trip, camera with enough batteries and memory space. If you love taking photos and sharing on social media during traveling, you will also need a cell phone with a portable charger to avoid disappointments of not being able to update your friends and family.
Antibacterial wipes or hand sanitizers with alcohol
Hand sanitizers or antibacterial wipes with alcohol are important for fighting the spread of the Coronavirus especially after touching surfaces used by many people. This applies to travelers planning to use bus, taxi, plane or even boat during the covid-19 outbreak and make sure to apply on seats, seatbelt handles tables and many parts touched by many people.
Footwear
Just like traveling before the covid-19 outbreak, footwear is important for traveling after covid-19 and what you need is closed shoes/hiking boots and sandals. Avoid carrying too many pairs that will take a lot of space.
Medication
Falling sick during a safari is inevitable and therefore it’s important not to forget medication during travel. Make sure to have common cold and flu medicines, anti-diarrheal, sleep aid, anti-biotic ointment, motion sickness tablets, would dressings and many others. Even after Covid-19 situation has been normalized, travelers to Africa may be required to carry and show their Covid-19 negative certificate before being allowed to directly go to their different destinations of the country.