Think you’ve packed light? Safari luggage limits might still catch you off guard—are you ready for the rules?

Many, many, many lodges in Africa are accessible be small plane.

This could be for two main reasons:

• It’s literally the only way to get to your chosen camp
• The distances are too great and you’re flying to save you precious travel time.

The thing is though, that flying in a small plane, means there are luggage restrictions. And they are strict.

Airlines do not compromise their rules as they will not risk the safety of their passengers. And I, for one, am really glad to know that.

However, the luggage has to reach some criteria in order for you to be able to take it on the plane (and to the camp) with you.

Safari Luggage Limits to Know So You Can Take your Bags on the Plane with You

1. Your luggage has to fit within specific dimensions. The hold of the plane only has so much space, and a 10-seater plane, needs to be able to fit in 10 pieces of luggage. No large Samsonite pieces on these flights!
   
   
2. In all seriousness, NO Samsonite (or any hard/ rigid) luggage is accepted onto these flights. All bags must be soft-sided so they can be manipulated to fit into the hold. It’s not a big space at all.
   
   
3. Every flight has maximum weight allowances for every piece of luggage. This is for safety reasons as pilots do checks and balances for every flight based on this.
   
   
4. You are only allowed one piece of checked luggage per person and sometimes, only one piece of hand luggage (that also comes with its own restrictions).

What If You Do Have Too Much Luggage?

First of all, read your travel documents and know what your luggage restrictions are! Honestly, it’s really that straightforward.

But I am still amazed how many travellers still arrive at airports with either way too much luggage, or luggage that is the exact opposite of what is allowed.

But, if you do arrive somewhere and have too much luggage you do have a couple of options, although some can be quite expensive.

If your first night in the city is in a hotel…

… you can arrange with the hotel manager to store your luggage for you until you return. If you are going to have your last night in this hotel, then you can easily pick it up after your safari when you get back.

If you are not staying in a hotel on your first night but you will be returning to that city…

… you can leave your luggage with the airline and MOST of them will store your excess luggage for you until you return.

So, let’s say you arrive in Nairobi, Kenya, you stay at a hotel for the night and the following day you are flying out to the Masai Maara with Governor’s Aviation. Governor’s Aviation will store your excess luggage for you, and give it back to you at the end of your safari when you fly back to Nairobi.

Travel Tip: If you are a family or group of at least six people travelling together, get a quotation for private charter flights. For one or two people this is costly, but for larger groups it can be a more effective option, and you will have more space for luggage without paying anything extra for each excess bag.

If you’re flying into one city and out of another….

… let’s say you fly into Maun Airport, you’re going to enjoy your safari, and then fly out to Kasane Airport as you’re going to Victoria Falls. You are going to need to get your excess luggage from Maun to Kasane (both in Botswana). You can either pay for an extra seat for your luggage to travel around with you FOR EVERY FLIGHT YOU TAKE, or you can pay for a flight transfer for your luggage. The costs of both of these will depend on the airline, and this can be prebooked and prepaid, or you can pay for it when you get there. However, if this is not pre-arranged, the airline will send your luggage up to Kasane (or wherever you’re going) when they have capacity on their flights and it will get stored safely in Kasane (or wherever) for you.

Note that this is not so simple when crossing countries, for example between Kenya and Tanzania, or Tanzania and Rwanda. It will take a long time to sort out and your luggage is likely to have to be cleared through customs and so on.

If You Have to Take All Your Luggage with You

You are going to have to pay for an extra seat for each and every flight you take. And if it’s more than one piece of luggage, you may have to pay for more than one extra seat.

Samsonite Bags Are a Big No-No

If you arrive at the airport with hard suitcases ie. they cannot be bent or manipulated to fit into the hold, the airline has every right to ask you to repack your bags.

These bags are NOT accepted onto the small planes.

They will loan you the correct type and size of bags that you will need to repack your things into. They will store your hard suitcases safely for you and will return them to you when you arrive back in your originating airport. When you do return, you will need to repack your luggage back into your own bags, and return the loan bags.

It’s a pain, I’m sure, but this can all be avoided if you read your travel documents and know your safari luggage limits.

And if for some reason this info hasn’t been given to you, please, please ask for it before you leave home so you have the correct luggage.

Safari Luggage Limits if You’re Flying on More than One Airline

This is quite common in East Africa.

The small airlines in East Africa are, to name a few, are Governor’s Aviation, Coastal Air, AirKenya, Auric Air, and Safari Air.

And most of these have different luggage rules.

So, what do you do?

You follow the guidelines and rules of the airline that has the STRICTEST luggage conditions. By doing this, you can be sure that you will be fine for the other airlines you will be flying with.

What About Helicopter Flight Transfers?

Helicopters have their own luggage limits when you’re heading into Africa for a safari.

This is more likely in Botswana and Rwanda.

I’m not talking about scenic flights, but actual transfers by helicopter. On scenic flights you don’t take your luggage with. Maybe a small backpack, but you don’t need anything really, except your camera!

So all-in-all, do your homework, ask your agent, read your travel documents, and know the safari luggage rules. Then you will have smooth sailing when it comes to your luggage.

If you have any questions about the luggage rules in southern and East Africa, feel free to reach out to me and I’ll try my best to answer you! Happy travels!