The cold hour
An open jeep at 4:30 AM moving at speed is genuinely cold. A light jacket or a scarf makes the first hour comfortable — and the first hour is the best hour.
By nine o'clock you will have taken it off and be reaching for the hat and sunscreen instead.
Papers and pictures
Bring your passport. It is needed when the entrance tickets are bought at the gate.
For cameras: a long lens if you have one, and a beanbag or a rolled jacket to rest it on the rail. We supply drinking water in a cool box, and binoculars come with the Viator tours.
What not to bring
Drones are not permitted. Loud voices cost sightings — a leopard will fade back into scrub long before you have finished pointing at it.
Plastic you would have to leave behind: take it home with you, as we do.