I just returned from an African Safari- South Africa, Botswana, Zambia- and it was definitely a trip of a lifetime. I want to share with other (very new) amateurs like me that you don't need the best equipment or skill to get some shots you can enjoy later.
I brought:
-Canon EOS 20D
-Lenses: 16-35, 24-70, 70-200
-Flash: 580EX
-Mem Cards: 3- 2GB (backed up & formatted as needed)
-Storage- Epson p5000 (also stored on laptop)
-3 batteries
-Tenba Temsol Laptop Messenger Bag (everything fit in the bag except carried the 70-200 separately)
-Gitzo GM2561T Carbon Fiber Traveller Monopod
-Bean Bag- brought one but didn't use
-Lens cleaning kit
Shot .jpg about 3000 photos. Although I did a lot of experimenting- in general- tried to stay between 100-400 ISO; used AV mode quite often to use large aperture; used shade white balance often.
Mistakes:
-Left my 2x extender at home.
-Dropped a lens on the first day and broke the UV filter. The only other filter I had was circular polarized and since it was tinted very dark, I often had to take it off. Most game drives (and the best lighting) were early morning or late afternoon when a dark filter is not necessary. Should have brought extra UV filters.
-Didn't bring my lens hood. Often had glare- like sunset photos.
-Lens cleaning blower I brought was too small. It would have been good to bring a large one on drives to use because of constant dust.
-Choked (nervous?) on a lot of important shots like seeing the lions and leopards up close. I often had experimental settings on my camera from the last location and would often forget to reset when we found something new. The first shots were often the most important because then the animals would move.
Other tips:
-Bean Bag was useless in the open air Land Cruisers we used.
-Monopod was useful about 25% of the time but still worth bringing.
-Bring flash on every Game Drive.
-I was very worried that I didn't have the 100-400 lens but space was so limited I'm glad I didn't. We got close enough to the animals that I really didn't need it (especially because I'm not looking to sell any!) Although my 2x extender would have been nice 
So... for not really knowing what I was doing, I got a few shots. (Not photoshopped. Only cropped and slight level changes.)
I'd love advice for next time...
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