WORDS by CAROLINE HICKMAN | IMAGES SUPPLIED by HICKMAN & BOUSFIELD
Caroline Hickman, owner and designer for safari outfitters Hickman & Bousfield, has mastered the art of safari chic. Formerly a costume designer in London, Caroline moved to Botswana four years ago where her partner Ralph Bousfield runs various safari camps and works as a well-renowned safari guide.
We asked Caroline to share her 6 safari essentials with us – here’s what she never leaves home without.
1. Haman Towel
I always have one of these in my daypack. It doubles up as everything – towel, picnic rug, sarong, sheet… If in East Africa go for a kikoi, but I have spent a lot of time in North Africa and am addicted to these ones which we source from Turkey.
It has to offer full cover from the African sun. My first designing job at our college was for a great hat factory in Luton – they now manufacture our fedora and trilby, using fur felt from Czechoslovakia (the best source). I sweated over the colours for weeks, but I particularly like our sage green fedora as it is very flattering and somehow seems to work in the bush, in London and the countryside when I am back in the UK.
3. Linen shirts
Need I say more! I guess this is my Out of Africa fantasy. But I love linen, it is tough enough to endure endless hard washes in the laundry and seems to improve with age. Can’t live without them.
4. Penelope Chilvers boots with cashmere socks
Cashmere socks are my guilty secret. Not practical for a walking safari, but if you are going to be sitting in a vehicle they’re great. They seem to keep your feet warm as toast for those 5am freezing morning drives, and keep them cool in the middle of the day. Ridiculous I know, but my desert (island) treat.
I designed our pleat-fronted trousers as they have an extra bit of give when you are clambering around in and out of vehicles and are more comfy when sitting down, which you invariably do when travelling. They are 98% cotton with a tiny bit of stretch in them. It is the only place in the collection that I allow any non-natural fibres!
It has traditional safari styling, but unusually I used a soft cotton moleskin, sourced from the UK. When it is chilly enough for a jacket you want it to have a tactile quality and this one almost feels as soft as wearing a cardigan, but is tough enough to ‘do the business’.
To view more of the Hickman & Bousfield range, visit: www.hickmanandbousfield.com
Instagram: @hickmanandbousfield
