I'm going to South Africa in a month. Looking through my notes:
Spray all of your clothes with permethrin (called Permathrone at walmart). It lasts 6 weeks and kills ticks and skeeters on contact.
Do *NOT* bring synthetic/polyester clothes. Yes, they say cold cotton kills. In rural africa you will need to dry your clothing with a hot iron after washing it in order to kill some of parasites that can get through your skin. An iron will melt synthetic clothes. It will probably be bloody hot in November so you'll want cotton or linen anyway.
Long pants and long sleeves may be hotter but the acacia thorns are 1" long and hurt. If you're going to wear shorts and be in the bush then bring gaiters for your boots to keep the grass seeds out. Otherwise you'll be shaking your boots out every hour.
Bring leather work gloves. Again, acacia thorns are big.
Some people buy thornproof boot liners in case they step on a thorn.
If you wear sunglasses then make sure that they are a grey tint. Brown tinted glasses will actually make it harder to see animals.
I hear passing around hard candy is a great way to befriend the locals. They won't know what to do with gum.
A few deflated soccer balls and a pump are small and can entertain a whole village. A frisbee could also be good and it doubles as a plate to eat off of.
I would probably bring a small rolled-up 1L or .75L platypus water bag. The MULE is a little big to always carry around. The platypus will fit in a cargo pants pocket.
I've also been told that bringing gatorade powder is almost a necessity for some african villages because the water tastes so bad. YMMV
Dermabond or vetbond. It's a medicinal superglue that's great for closing small cuts. Vetbond comes with multiple tips in case you need to treat different people. With the HIV rate in Africa I wouldn't even risk sharing it even with the multiple tips.
A multitool may go farther than a knife. I'll be carrying a fixed blade knife myself but I have a 50lb luggage limit. Kenyan poachers are known to use wire snares to catch animals. A multitool's wire cutter will be able to remove a snare. If you're leaving from the states you're not going to be able to carry on a blade. I believe that most african countries do let you fly with a knife on your person.
Paracord and duct tape are dang useful.
The small photon lights are great when you're tight on space.
Marbles makes some great tiny brass compasses that take a beating. DLTtradingcompany.com sells them.
I never go anywhere without a travel towel. REI might still have them on sale for labor day. They're tiny.
Never lend a local your knife. They will "sharpen it" on a rock.
Bring clothes that you don't care too much about. Leave the extras with the village when you leave. It will also give you more room for souvenirs
The most important thing is a camera and enough batteries. They may not have power or they may only run the generator for one hour a day. Take tons of pictures and post them here
