Safari with Kids
Discussion
Planning a holiday for next year and we really like the idea of taking our kids 9&10 on a safari, neither of us know anyone or been on a safari before, although was a few days away from going when my wife found out she was pregnant with our first! I have noticed some safaris do not allow under 13's.
Looking for thoughts on locations, I like the idea of South Africa. How long is sensible to go safari?
Any help much appreciated.
TIA
Matt
Looking for thoughts on locations, I like the idea of South Africa. How long is sensible to go safari?
Any help much appreciated.
TIA
Matt
Whenever the safari question comes up, everyone recommends the one they've been on so it seems you can't go far wrong.
And I'll do the same
I can't speak highly enough of Flatdogs camp in South Luangwa, Zambia. It's right on the edge of the game park and is a low impact site right in the thick of things. Elephants wander through the camp all day, leopards sometimes appear in the trees at night with their kills.
We had hippos coming up from the river to snuffle around in the evenings. That's quite an experience
On top of all that, they do walking and driving safaris into the national park twice a day to do more traditional animal spotting.
It's a bit out of the norm and it's really well run, the food is top notch, they put a lot back in locally and there are various options for accommodation, from your own lodge to a (fancy) tent
They have chalets for families too. It might be worth checking if there are restrictions on the walking safaris.
http://www.flatdogscamp.com
And I'll do the same
I can't speak highly enough of Flatdogs camp in South Luangwa, Zambia. It's right on the edge of the game park and is a low impact site right in the thick of things. Elephants wander through the camp all day, leopards sometimes appear in the trees at night with their kills.
We had hippos coming up from the river to snuffle around in the evenings. That's quite an experience
On top of all that, they do walking and driving safaris into the national park twice a day to do more traditional animal spotting.
It's a bit out of the norm and it's really well run, the food is top notch, they put a lot back in locally and there are various options for accommodation, from your own lodge to a (fancy) tent
They have chalets for families too. It might be worth checking if there are restrictions on the walking safaris.
http://www.flatdogscamp.com
Oh, for a little more luxury I can also recommend Mfuwe Lodge:
http://bushcampcompany.com/mfuwe-lodge-index.php
http://bushcampcompany.com/mfuwe-lodge-index.php
I would highly recommend the Sabi Sands in South Africa. It's an annexe to the Kruger national park, but run/managed like a private game reserve.
Specifically:
- You can't self-drive in the Sabi, only Land Rovers from the lodges. So you don't get buses of people showing up to every sighting.
- You don't have to stick to the roads. So you can get properly close to the animals, and follow them if they move. You can even end up in a cross country-race to follow a kill if you're lucky.
- All the lodges are seriously seriously good. And most are very family friendly.
https://www.sabi-sands.com
I stayed at Savanna Lodge, which is mid-range in terms of Sabi pricing. You're looking at ~£250 per person per day (i.e. £500 per room per day), including all food, wine, game drives, etc.
This is aside from recommending South Africa generally as a wonderful place to visit - so you can stick in a quick trip to Cape Town, or go up to Zambia/Zimbabwe for Victoria Falls.
Specifically:
- You can't self-drive in the Sabi, only Land Rovers from the lodges. So you don't get buses of people showing up to every sighting.
- You don't have to stick to the roads. So you can get properly close to the animals, and follow them if they move. You can even end up in a cross country-race to follow a kill if you're lucky.
- All the lodges are seriously seriously good. And most are very family friendly.
https://www.sabi-sands.com
I stayed at Savanna Lodge, which is mid-range in terms of Sabi pricing. You're looking at ~£250 per person per day (i.e. £500 per room per day), including all food, wine, game drives, etc.
This is aside from recommending South Africa generally as a wonderful place to visit - so you can stick in a quick trip to Cape Town, or go up to Zambia/Zimbabwe for Victoria Falls.
If it's with kids think about how they are in cars. Safaris are great and I loved mine (tsavo, serengeti and masai) but very long days sitting in vehicles on poor roads with no toilets. You can't just pull over for a wee or if the kids get bored when they have only seen zebras for 5 hours.
We went in 1998 when I was 11 and my sisters were 10 and 7. We went to sun city for a week so it was Pilansberg (sp?) NP which is malaria free I believe. We then went back twice more visiting Kruger, Addo Elephant Park and a small private game reserve that I can’t remember the name of, I do remember the rhino that hung around the fence outside the main house being called Pebbles and Bam Bam.
I’m going back in April doing SA, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe so will post up any places I end up that appear to be child friendly.
As much as anti malarial tablets are quite horrible as kids we really enjoyed Kruger but as has been mentioned the days can be long. If staying on a private reserve or lodge you should have the option of short early morning drives and sunset drives which is pretty much when all the action is anyway and allows the kids to play around in the pool and not got bored between them.
One thing to consider with SA is that the flights are all night flights if going direct. You could break up the long trip into fairly equal chunks by staying a couple of nights in Dubai and avoid the night flights.
I’m going back in April doing SA, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe so will post up any places I end up that appear to be child friendly.
As much as anti malarial tablets are quite horrible as kids we really enjoyed Kruger but as has been mentioned the days can be long. If staying on a private reserve or lodge you should have the option of short early morning drives and sunset drives which is pretty much when all the action is anyway and allows the kids to play around in the pool and not got bored between them.
One thing to consider with SA is that the flights are all night flights if going direct. You could break up the long trip into fairly equal chunks by staying a couple of nights in Dubai and avoid the night flights.
keirik said:
If it's with kids think about how they are in cars. Safaris are great and I loved mine (tsavo, serengeti and masai) but very long days sitting in vehicles on poor roads with no toilets. You can't just pull over for a wee or if the kids get bored when they have only seen zebras for 5 hours.
Why can't you?keirik said:
If it's with kids think about how they are in cars. Safaris are great and I loved mine (tsavo, serengeti and masai) but very long days sitting in vehicles on poor roads with no toilets. You can't just pull over for a wee or if the kids get bored when they have only seen zebras for 5 hours.
To be fair to them they are really good, happy to sit quietly on a flight for 11.5 hours to Mexico last week,Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff