My Mt Kenya packing list
My Mt Kenya Packing List
This is definitely not advice for professional mountaineers! This is advice for someone like me who is super stressed about climbing a mountain, even more stressed about what to pack…. and this packing list is what would’ve suited me perfectly!
NB. We were lucky, the following was provided, carried & put up for us:
- Sleeping Tents (no bedding)
- A Social tent
- Chairs
- Loo seats and loo tents (no loo roll)
- Water & soap to wash hands & faces
- 3 warm meals per day
- 1 or even 2 snacks per day
- Drinking water, hot water & hot sweet tea.
Who Carried What?
- Billy had 1 porter to carry his large backpack; he carried his daybag.
- I must admit, I had 2 porters – 2 porters to share the load 😅 and I carried my daybag.
Bags & Backpacks
I suggest 3 per person!
30 litre waterproof backpack (a great expandable one available in Decathlon) which will fit your bed, your bedding, your clothes, shoes etc. etc.
- This was carried by a porter.
- Get ready to give a healthy tip if you overpack… the guilt 🤪
20-30 litre daypack – in my opinion, must include:
- A 3-litre bladder for constant drinking.
- Outside pockets for water bottles, snacks, etc.
- I suggest padded shoulders and a padded waist
- Plus space to put:
- A waterproof cover for the bag
- A waterbottle – we loved the Owala bottles.
- Foldable walking poles
- Waterproof jacket, trousers & poncho
- A warm jacket, the weather turns!
- Gloves & a beanie or hat (whichever you’re not wearing)
- Sunglasses & reading glasses if you need them.
- A little portable charger
- Some snacks
A little fanny pack 😄, we went for sparkly, the design choice is all yours! It’s so useful being able to reach your camera/phone to take photos, tissues, snacks, suncream & lip salve without stopping.
- Don’t get a huge one, or you can’t clamber up rocks!
- For men, a top pocket would suffice 😀
NB. Pack everything in waterproof bags/ziplock bags inside these bags.
- Remember the bag for used laundry!
Water
For you and your child
- I’d highly suggest a 3-litre water bladder per person, which you will fill up each morning. Keep it covered to stop too much freezing…
- Plus one extra water bottle that you can take with you around the camp, on small localised walks and to bed in the evening.
- Also useful for an ORS (rehydration tab or two) each day.
- NB. Put boiling water in your bladder on summit day to stop it freezing.
Snacks
If you travel with Savage Wilderness, you’re fed well, very well. I’d suggest you only pack:
- For you:
- A protein bar or a Kendall Mint cake &/or tiny pack of nuts/dried fruit per day.
- A bag of biltong or similar to share
- NB. Everyone has their own trail mix, mixed nut favourites, and I noticed people didn’t eat each other’s.
- For your child:
- 2 protein bars/mint cake or choccy bars per day.
- PS. We all wasted our money on the gel shots, but none of us used them.
From Top To Toe
The head:
- Suncap/hat & fleece-lined beanie for the top (make sure it doesn’t get blown off with the wind)
- Good quality sunglasses (make sure they don’t slip off when you look down)
- Fleece-lined balaclava
- Neck gaiter to protect the front and back of the neck from the sun and the wind.
The Body:
- For me –
- NB. I packed each day into a little ziplock bag, each containing – pants, a bra, underclothes, snacks, handwarmers & a shower wipe:
- From the outside in:
- Top:
- x1 Hooded poncho to cover you and your backpack
- x1 Warm waterproof jacket with hood for extra warmth on the last few afternoons/evenings, buy it big to go over all of the below.
- x1 Warm waterproof jacket for all afternoons/evenings and hikes (under the above)
- x2 Down jackets for under the above… they get dirty 🙂
- Quick dry shirts or long-sleeved gym tops – I recommend x1 per day
- Quick dry t-shirts/normal t-shirts, vest tops for underneath – I recommend x1 per day
- Comfy bras – x2?
- Bottom:
- Waterproof trousers
- Waterproof fleece-lined skiing trousers – I used these for the summit day and some evenings
- Waterproof thin hiking trousers – I took only 1 pair and wore them over the leggings for the last 2 days.
- Leggings or shorts
- Shorts – most people wore shorts for the first 3 days and then hiking trousers for the last 2/3 days
- Leggings – I wore them every day – x1 per day
- Comfy cotton underpants – x1 per day
- For the evenings & nights:
- Thermals as an underlayer / jarmies
- Then pack on the jackets as above
- I took a couple of loose pairs of tracky bottoms for the evenings, also, to wear over the thermals.
- Top:
The hands
- I took wool gloves for the trip and waterproof ones for the summit. This worked.
- Billy wore gloves the entire time.
The feet! What worked for me was:
- x1 pair of Waterproof trainers with good grip for the first 4 days
- Plus a pair of warm merino socks underneath… a new pair each day… getting warmer and warmer.
- On the summit day, I wore ankle-covered walking boots that were too big for me, so I could add another couple of pairs of socks. I didn’t regret this.
- PS. Not a bad idea to take 2 pairs of hiking shoes in case one gets wet.
- NB. I took Uggs & warm, cosy socks for the evenings & night… and was forever thankful!
For the teenage son – pretty much the same was packed for him, but it seems he didn’t change, even his underwear…. for the entire week 🤣
- He was indeed thankful for:
- Clothes:
- The poncho
- The jackets
- The waterproof trousers
- The gloves
- The beanie & the balaclava, never took these off!
- Shoes:
- The 2 pairs of shoes (trainers & hiking boots) as his got wet.
- Clothes:
Bedding
This really is key, starting from the bottom up:
- The bed – I believe what worked best was either:
- Mattress/bed:
- An inflatable mattress (and a pump strapped to the backpack) from Decathlon, or
- Helinox lightweight campbeds
- NB. The fancy blow-up sleeping mats squeaked all night; the thin ones were too thin.
- On top of the above, a little non-slip fleece-lined underblanket. Remember to think of the materials, a lot of nylon together, and you’ll be a fire hazard all night… no names 😂
- A 4+ season sleeping bag with a head warmer bit
- NB. I suggest getting a rectangular one so you can move around, rather than the coffin-shaped ones.
- Fleece lining – loved this bit!
- Blowup pillows? I’m not sure if they really did help, but my advice would be, don’t blow them up completely! Some others brought a pillowcase and just stuffed the warm jacket inside, which may have been better?
- Handwarmers!!! I definitely wouldn’t have slept without hand warmers. Two on the first night, four on the second and I think at Mento’s I must’ve used six.
- Don’t take a hot water bottle because there’s not enough hot water.
- Mattress/bed:
- Billy was thankful for all of the above, but never put up a campbed, so a little camping mattress would have been perfect.
Lighting
- A head torch each
- A little hand torch each, if you like, not 100% necessary.
- I’d also suggest you bring a little hanging light per tent.
- Plus spare batteries/a charging cable for each of the above.
Entertainment
- Billy took a fishing rod and flies that made it fun! 🎣
- Plus a tennis ball for some mountain cricket? 🎾
- Small backup portable chargers for your phone, camera, lights, torches etc.
- A kindle &/or an audiobook for the evenings – I found the hands were too cold to hold a real book, and lighting is awkward.
- The kids loved their iPods in their tents in the evenings.
- We took card games, but never played them.
Medical Stuff
Each morning, after breakfast, I took:
- Some thyme in hot water – to open up the lungs (apparently)
- x2 creatine tabs – enhance athletic performance
- x1 Omega-3 fish oil tab – boosts the immune system and is anti-inflammatory
- x1 turmeric & black pepper tab – anti-inflammatory
- x2 ORS and 1 etab Boost in my 1st litre of water – rehydration & energy 😀
- Did it help? Well, I felt as good as I could, I guess 😂
Other medicine – Also a couple in your fanny pack and more in your main backpack:
- Panadol for headaches
- Ibuprofen for owie muscles
- Piriton, as some developed some sort of hayfever/allergies… maybe to help sleeping too 😴
- Citro-soda sachets
- Lemsip sachets
- Vicks breathe easy
- Compeed blister plasters
- USN Crampblock
- Germoline or similar for grazed knees, bites, burns, etc.
- Deep freeze anti-inflammatory with ibuprofen cream for twisted things
- A bandage/ankle support, knee support
Beauty Stuff
- A small pack of tissues per day – for nose & the loo
- Spare hair bands.
- Toothbrush & toothpaste
- Shower body wipes, x1 per day.
- A small deodorant.
- Face moisturiser for day & night, I used Natural Magic Face Magic… the magic will happen 😄
- SPF factor 50 – I suggest a mini La Roche-Posay
- Good lip salves, I suggest …
What Else?
- Collapsible walking poles
- I used them at the top of the summit and going down hills
- Billy used them pretty much the whole time.
- An umbrella – that can fit into your daypack… for rain and to squat behind 😆
- A teeny tiny towel in a tight waterproof bag, which can be carried on the back of your backpack to dry each day.
- 30 Hand warmers, between Billy & me (15 pairs)
- Make sure to get the 10-hour ones.
- I started to use 2 per night, working up to 6 on the summit night! They were lifesavers!
- A waterproof Gorilla tape & superglue… for broken shoes, torn bags, etc.
- Sloe gin to help the hike
- A bottle of whiskey or port for the last night. I suggest one bottle per adult. It’s worth it!
Oh and…
- I highly suggest getting yoga/breathing help before going
- And climbing lots and lots of hills and smaller mountains before going, to train your muscles, lungs & state of mind!
- And a purely positive state of mine!
Read about our trip in detail here:
Climbing Mt Kenya, the Fun Way ← 🏔️
Of course, we’d love for you to book your entire Kenyan adventure through us at The SAFARI Company so we can organise all transport, accommodation and the climb itself. We guarantee you won’t pay more if you book through us.
