j450n74y wrote:On another note, these safari planes are limited to 15kg.. or 20kg max (including hand carry!). do most of you book an extra seat for your gear?Just my laptop, 2 cameras, 100-400, 24-70, 20mm and a tripod (debating on the mavic air as there's not a lot of place to fly in Kenya/Tanzania) will contribute to that load. I got a peak design 45l travel back pack and probably buy a soft duffel bag for clothes etc. Thinking of the patagonia black hole ...Suggestions for these small planes and packing/carrying gear?First, definitely leave the Mavic at home. You are correct in that there is no place to fly it, especially in the game parks of Kenya & Tanzania where it will be confiscated by wardens. There is a zero tolerance on drives in game parks. Maybe possibly there is a private reserve that is allowed to have guests fly drones but I am unaware of any.As for weight, especially for a backpack, as long as you do not have an over sized XXL backpack clearly weighed down by all the lead bars you are fine. These do not get weighed. At most your check in bag, like a duffel or other, is fine so long as the lead bars are left at home, or you somehow manage to pack something so heavy the staff find it unusually heavy. Then it will get noticed. Other than that those too are usually not weighed and just thrown into the cargo hold.For my trip this past September I believe I was roughly 8-10 lbs over limit. But as I am about easily many lbs under the average person it was all good, plane did not run out of gas. I did buy the REI brand duffel 90l which worked perfectly, though I kicked myself later for not getting their one with wheels. Absolutely nobody from our tour director to airport staff to airplane staff seemed to care or notice those that had large wheeled luggage (the kind we were advised NOT to use).Lastly let me say that if you own the 200-600 great, but if you do not and own the 100-400 then do not waste your money on the 200-600 for these trips. If you do not own either, just get the 100-400 and maybe the 1.4 teleconverter. From Amboseli to Ngorongoro to Serengeti to Maasai Mara there are wide flat fields that go on forever....but you will find that almost 99% of the wildlife is within a rock throw distance from your truck. Often the wildlife is right there on the side of the road, almost as if they are waiting for you to take photos. Cats love to use the trucks as a nice cooling sun shade too. I have had only 1 occasion where I wanted that 200-600 for a Black Rhino that was still too far away anyways. In the end the greater distance is blown out by the haze anyways.

Ahh thanks for this. I was thinking of the mavic air for south Africa and leaving it with my in-laws to take home before we headed to Kenya and Tanzania. Maybe could have used it in Zanzibar too.Now I wished I got the wheeled duffels as I've just receiived my 2x 100l Patagonia Black Hole duffels. They seem durable and will last years so guess it will come in handy still in the future.I got my 100-400gm with the 1.4tc and was debating the 70-200 as a second lens but think I'll stick with my 24-70gm ii which I'm waiting on receiving this week sometime.