I’m still in awe of the trip we were fortunate enough to spend three weeks in Africa for our honeymoon. Capturing every moment while we were there, not knowing when or if we’d get to go again, was so important to us. But, we had to deal with a HUGE weight constraint. 30 pounds a person for 21 days, everything included – clothes, shoes, toiletries, camera equipment.
The bulky tripods, extra lenses, and fun accessories were all out. One DSLR and a GoPro plus a few minimal accessories was all we could manage.
HERE’S WHAT WE BROUGHT
A 35mm lens and one zoom lens. We knew we could capture most everything with the 35mm. The zoom, though, was one thing I couldn’t live without on game drives. It’s hard to swap lenses when you’re out there and the risk of damage is so high!
A Jobi GorillaPod. Safari vehicles shake a lot, and this flexible pod enabled us to balance the camera against our chest to stabilize the image while in motion or prop up the camera on the vehicle side rails to capture some amazing vehicles when we stopped.
LOTS of SD cards. We brought 10 for the DSLR and 8 for the GoPro. It was an investment, but it meant we never had to format or clear videos off a card – which was great because we didn’t have space for a laptop to download the photos during the trip. Tip from a travel pro: rather than buying new cards, which could get expensive – fast!, we borrowed from family for the trip. We returned them to their owners after we had a chance to download the images and reformat the cards when we got back.
And speaking of no computer, the risk of no backup is HUGE so we invested in a RAVPower FileHub and a 2T Portable Hard Drive. The FileHub connects to your phone via a private wifi network and can be used to transfer files from memory cards to the backup drive. We could also pick photos we loved and send them back to family throughout the trip – all without a computer. Bonus: it also works as an external battery if you need to recharge your cell phone!
A shockproof case or two. We put a lot of faith in our portable hard drive and camera cards to preserve all those memories. A few extra dollars to protect the drives was so worth it. We picked up this one that held the portable hard drive and file hub and a second just for the cards. Both of ours were waterproof too, which was great for those unexpected rain storms.
A bag to keep all your cords and cables. I’m all about organized packing. A bright green eBag was easy to find in my backpack and gave all of my cords a home the whole trip.
It was definitely an investment for the first big trip but I am SO glad we picked these items up. They’ll all be headed to Cozumel with us this October and to Iceland this winter.
Any other ideas of camera equipment we need for our next trip?
SHOP MY FAVORITES
Nikon 35mm lens ($197) // Jobi GorillaPod ($48) // 64GB SD Card ($28) // 64GB MicroSD Card ($23) // RAVPower Filehub ($33) // 2TB Portable Hard Drive ($70) // Shockproof Hard Drive Case ($8) // Waterproof Card Case ($10) // eBags Padded Pouch ($19 for a set of 3)