With the current fashion trend of wearing animal prints, I thought it would be a good idea to advise on what colours to wear (and not wear!) if you are on safari in either Africa or India.

Best colours - olive green, tan, khaki, light brown, neutral colours.

Bad colours -No bright colours, including white and red. No dark colours. Blue, purple and black attract insects and mosquito borne diseases, including malaria, yellow fever and dengue fever (depending which country you are in).

Blue attracts tsetse flies in Africa - I had to share a jeep with someone who ignored any advice on clothing, and I can assure you that tsetse flies were very attracted to her!

If you wear the right colours you are less likely to attract attention from (or annoy) the animals, and increase the chances of close encounters with wildlife.

I have done many game drives in both Africa and India, and been lucky to see the Big 5, and also at least 6 tigers.

A hat and sunglasses are important for protection, and also a Buff scarf is useful. I am just back from India (3 tigers!) and all the guides wore Buff scarves to keep out the dust on the game tracks.

Hope this helps, Good Luck, and no bright animal print clothing - save it for the lodge!

Cheers,

Hils

This is all very useful advice especially about different colours attracting insects.  In my view animal prints are only attractive on the live animals they are meant to be on.  

The other thing to consider is footwear.  Flip flops or thongs have their place on holiday but consider whether you are climbing in and out of jeeps etc and also whether you may need to move quickly at some point.

Regards

Cheers

Mike