Continuity mistake: When Karen and her people are on the way to her husband's camp they get attacked by lions. When she helps chasing them away she gets some deep, bloody scratches in her face, of which there isn't even a trace on the next day. (00:52:40)
Continuity mistake: Bror is sitting by the fireplace talking to Karen - his legs are crossed right over left. Camera angle changes and his legs are crossed left over right. (01:02:00 - 01:02:15)
Continuity mistake: When Bror picks Blixen up at the train station following her treatment for syphilis, he is holding a hat in front of him with one glove on and one glove off. A brief shot of Streep and then back to Bror as he walks toward her shows he now has both gloves off holding his hat. (01:05:00)
Continuity mistake: When Denys Finch-Hatton takes Karen Blixen on a flight in his open bi-plane, he hands her a pair of goggles just before they board the plane. As they sit in the plane she is goggle-less and he hands her another pair.
Continuity mistake: When Denys and Karen go to bed together, she takes his tie off. The scene is cut and then his tie is on again.
Continuity mistake: When Denys and Karen are first on safari, while they are seated at their dining table one evening, Denys peels an orange repeatedly. In the middle of the "peel" scene (the shots cut back and forth between Denys and Karen) the fruit changes to a green apple (taken from the bowl on the table in front of Denys. This is especially obvious because the apples in the bowl decrease from two to one as the orange disappears from the shot). In subsequent shots (when he is holding the orange again) the number of apples in the bowl returns to two.
Continuity mistake: When Karen is tagging household items for the rummage sale she cannot tie the tag to the clock and keeps the scene going. It pans away then pans back and the clock is tagged.
Continuity mistake: When Denys is bathing Karen's hair, his hand is full of foam, but in the next shot there is no foam in his hand.
Continuity mistake: When Streep is trying to chase the lion away from the ox, her ponytail changes between shots from being in front of her shoulder, to hanging down her back, several times.
Continuity mistake: At dinner during the first visit by Denys and Berkely, Denys skewers a sliced strawberry with a toothpick and he holds it while he is conversing with Karen. As the camera moves around the table to the different actors, the strawberry changes to a grape.
Continuity mistake: When Karen is caught snooping in Denys' room at Mutaga and Berkely places the elephant tusk outside the doorway, a significant portion of the top of the tusk is visible from inside the room. It's missing in several subsequent shots during their conversation but can be seen again when Farah comes to collect Karen.
