Bob,
Exciting news! It's almost as much fun to anticipate and plan the trip as it is to do it. You've gotten rock solid advise so far.
April is too hot, too many snakes, but most of all, the grass is green and not burned off. It is harder to spot game. The middle of June through the middle of September are much better months. Toward the end of the season, the game concentrates around water, and makes hunting a bit more predictable.
Sunscreen, chapstick, Deep Woods Off in Tsetse areas, permetherin for ticks. I hunt with a pair of baseball batting gloves to protect the hands from thorns,incest bites (tsetse), and sun.
Medicine chest (figurative)that has all your Rx meds, Cipro for dysentery, a broad spectrum antibiotic and Rx analgesic just in case. Benedryl for allergies and allergic reactions. Lomotil (or Tylenol III) for diarrhea.
A hat and a bandana. A wind breaker and/or fleece because it can be cold in an open vehicle in the morning. I pack some peppermints or Tic Tac's or gum to prevent dry mouth when on the march for buffalo or elephant.
Grab 3 or 4 paperbacks for the airplane ride and the afternoon siestas.
I usually dream up something fun to take to amuse the staff. That has varied from shotgunshells with reports that are used to scare away birds, (big laughs), light sticks, or there is the time on safari with a French outfit that I brought bottles of Ch. Latour and Ch. Mouton Rothschild, and told them we have that is ordinary table wine in the US. (They shat themselves over that one!)
I take an aerosol bug bomb to zap the creepy crawly things in the hut or tent. Airlines are fond of transporting them I know, but I have had an objection yet.
I'll think up some stuff later.
