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Introduce your children to the wonders of African wildlife with a family safari. The African bush is a natural arena for learning about the cycles of the earth, the predator hierarchy, the fascinating ways animals adapt to their environment. However we recommend that you work closely with us in deciding on the best family safari experience for your family.
Some of the factors to consider are:
• The age and attention span of your children
• Trade-off between seeing animals in an accessible region (minimizing travelling time) versus seeing some of the Big Five in a more remote safari location.
• Your attitude towards taking precautions for malaria
• Whether you'd like a specialist children's safari programmes (available at selected lodges in South Africa)
• Your children's ability to sleep in a separate room in a bush environment (if they are too old to share a camp bed in your room, or if you have several children)
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Broadly family safari options fall into three categories. See our family safari hotel suggestions for specific recommendations.
Family Safaris - Traditional Big Five Game Lodges
Many of our recommended safari lodges welcome children and allow children over 6 on game drives, (and over 9 years in Botswana). However only a few game lodges specifically cater for children. Thus in many cases only one child can share with parents or possibly two smaller children and older children may need to occupy their own room (with associated cost implications). These game lodges are ideal for older children, multi-generational family groups and families who want to spend all their time together.
Family Safaris - Child-Friendly Game Lodges
Family-friendly safari lodges are happy to cater specifically for families, and usually offer all or some of the following: some form of children's drive (possibly at a different time of day from the main drive), supervised activities for younger children whilst their parents are on safari, activities after breakfast allowing parents to take a bush walk or have some time alone, evening bedtime stories or videos. Children's activities are usually orientated around exploring the natural environment – identifying spore, foraging for feathers and porcupine quills, making plaster casts of animal tracks, even helping the children staff bake afternoon cookies. Family safari accommodation is usually in family rooms with children occupying an annex to the room or a part of the room. Thus families with three children or more will usually need to take two rooms. See Suggested Game Lodges for recommendations.
Exact activities and safari accommodation varies from one lodge to another so discuss your needs with our expert consultants.
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Family Safaris - Accessible Game Lodges
The final group are more affordable lodges which are often closer to the main sight-seeing areas thus reducing the need to travel so far or to take an extra flight. These are nearly always in non-malaria areas. They may not offer the Big Five but often they compensate by either having some form of rehabilitation programme so that children can see animals at close quarters, or they are well priced so that you can afford to test out whether your family enjoys the safari experience without breaking the bank. This is ideal for younger children but parents need to appreciate that they will not necessarily get a prime wilderness experience. Good examples are Botlierskop, Buffalo Hills, Kariega Main Lodge or White Elephant Bush Lodge.
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Malaria
Before sallying forth into the bush for your family safari, some reflection on health issues is advisable. Malaria is a concern in most, but not all, safari areas of Africa. We recommend that very small children do not go to year-round malarial areas. Older children can take the same precautions as adults. You'll also need to take precautions to avoid being bitten by covering up with long-sleeved trousers and shirts just before the sun sets and applying child-friendly insect repellent.
However it is winter during the Northern Hemisphere Summer holidays so the risk of malaria in South Africa particularly is greatly reduced. This is the time when South African families head to the Kruger with the adjacent private game reserves of the Sabi Sands, Timbavati and Manyeleti, and to Maputaland in northern KwaZulu Natal.
Non-malaria areas also offer excellent game-viewing; the primary ones being in the Eastern Cape, the Madikwe Game Reserve and the Waterberg.
South Africa also has a number of seasonal malaria areas where the risk of malaria is greatly reduced between May and September i.e. during the Summer School Holidays in the northern hemisphere. This is the time when South African children visit the Kruger.
Please see the following article for a more in-depth look
Kids on Safari
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