Family Safaris
This week we are going to very briefly help you to make the most of your time in Africa with children and guide you towards the best places to visit. As with every safari that we put together all elements are completely flexible and the best way to find the right trip for you is to give us a call and talk to us personally so that we can get to know you and how to advise you best.
The first thing to work out is where is best for your family, this can come down to a number of factors, of which possibly the main one is the age of your children.
For young kids then undoubtedly the best option is South Africa, the major factor being that there are malaria free areas and private reserves that specialise in family safaris. The country is well developed and does not seem as ‘wild’ as other parts of Africa making for a very relaxing holiday for parents.
For those still under 12 then some activities in Botswana and Zambia are not possible (walking and canoeing) so we suggest Kenya and Tanzania which have some fantastic family options with the Mara Bush Houses making a pretty fantastic experience.
Once your children are over 12 then they can enjoy almost everything that Africa has to offer. Zambia has some great private houses and family units, specifically in the Lower Zambezi and the South Luangwa, which we think, make the best family experiences in Africa!
Regardless of where you go we would suggest making sure that you will have your own vehicle, in some cases a family of 4 will automatically get a vehicle to themselves but it is definitely worth checking. This is especially important for families with younger children, safari activities can involve early starts and a lot of sitting around and having control of your schedule makes a big difference to how comfortable you will feel, in our experience it is much easier for parents to relax into their holiday a lot more if they have their own vehicle.
Guiding also makes a huge difference and we have come across guides that are fantastic with children and some that do not quite know how to interact with them. It is important to make sure that you know you are going to a place with guides that can keep your children engaged and entertained. This is again where going to a property that is properly set up for families with a family unit or your own private house is best for families rather than a camp that will simply add beds to a normal room can be massively underrated before travelling but makes a big difference, this is because the guides will be used to spending a lot of time with children and there will often be one or two specific family guides within one company.
The summer holidays are generally peak season in Africa, in some places you can still get shoulder season rates in July but for most places August is the start of the best game viewing and therefore the prices increase. Depending on where you travel it is possible to get a great price in the Easter holidays and have a great safari experience, for example, in Southern Africa the rains will be ending and the surrounding countryside will be a bright lush green.
Taking into account all the considerations necessary to plan a family safari can be a difficult task if you are starting from scratch, by far the best thing to do is to find a consultant that can help to put together a great trip and remove all the stress of holiday planning.