Family Safaris and Vacations Africa
Family Safaris and Vacations in Africa
We offer the most wonderful, wildlife safaris in Africa for families. These days, parents actually want to spend their holidays with their children! At African Explorations we all have children and we take them on safari with us; it is so enjoyable to witness our children’s wonderment and joy at their first encounter with wildlife. We have assembled the perfect array of properties in both game-rich and non malarial areas. The ultimate family safari combines well with the “ocean”: perhaps a Robinson Crusoe style lodge where children can spend hours searching for shells, being as active as they want, or a luxury villa in Lamu or Diani, complete with ayahs (nannies), 24 hour service and, again, lots for children to do. Often a villa is the perfect solution, allowing total flexibility at meal times and no feelings of “intimidation” from other guests. Many of our clients book a villa for a week, often with another family who are friends of theirs, which allows them complete privacy and luxury, but without it breaking the bank! Perhaps have a week on safari and a week on the coast – the advantage being minimal travel and maximum relaxation! Otherwise, please see below what the different countries can offer you and your family – and then call Nicola Shepherd, our family specialist, who would be delighted to talk you through the most suitable options for you.
Highlights:
In Botswana we have the perfect, authentic, Young Explorer safaris in the Okavango Delta which allow parents and children to discover the wonders of the African wilderness together. The safaris are closed to one family (or families travelling together) for six or seven nights, usually spread over two camps for variety, and you spend time tracking the spoor of big game, identifying birds and animals, finding out how to read the signs of the bush and learning bush skills as well as teaching them about the solar system. It also includes teaching children how to make fires with a bow and arrow, how to fish and they also teach them how to shoot targets. The children will be given a bush journal, safety tips, bird and mammal checklists, notes on common tracks and star constellations and a certificate at the end to prove that they are now fully fledged bush-babies! Lisa Reed is a wonderful freelance guide who can lead mobiles or guide at permanent camps; she is an ex-teacher and takes the family out on ecology and wilderness drives. Not only is Lisa ingenious and brilliant, she also has the patience of Job! Apart from tracking one sees excellent wildlife on a safari like this and there is the chance to do things like fishing or, perhaps, end up in the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans with a bit of quad biking. One can also experience ’sleep outs’ in treehouses, camping on islands and traversing the Delta by mokoro (canoes) during the day.
In Zambia, we have a fabulous programme, where one occupies a private house in the south Luangwa (or stay at a tented camp), and the children are taught about wildlife, taken to see a school, shown how to play drums, learn how to make African bread outside from a simple bush oven and learn all about nature. Couple this with Livingstone and horse riding, white water rafting, bunjee jumping, elephant back riding, microlighting, fishing and canoeing and one has a pretty active, fun filled adventure holiday! End up perhaps staying at a lovely lodge on Lake Malawi, where one can spend time dinghy sailing or perhaps overnight on a catamaran, snorkelling and kayaking en route. There is a wonderful, rustic camp on Lake Malawi where the sole activities are swimming, walking and canoeing – for parents with teenagers.
In East Africa families can go on safari in Kenya with camels or spend time on a ranch, taking in some fishing, horse riding, walking, game drives and masses of other activities. The opportunities are endless! We have several properties, that close the lodge to one family or family group; very spoiling! In Kenya, in the Samburu and Masai Mara National Parks, we have two lodges where they take children out specifically on their own game drives and teach them how to make their own fires, basket weaving, face painting, and all the bushlore passed on from the Samburu and Maasai tribes. We also have a Samburu and a Maasai Warrior’s programme which a family can do together, where you walk out with the Maasai or Samburu for a day and learn about their culture. For a family safari, we can arrange a private vehicle and get one of these guides to accompany you, so you can be together, and still gain all this knowledge! We also arrange camel treks to the northern part of Kenya which is seriously good fun! Then one can swim in the rivers or splash about in the rock pools. Many of the homesteads and ranches have horse riding that we can incorporate too! We can then add on the coast where we have some beautiful private villas in Lamu directly on the beach! We also have dhows that you can sail on for a night or even catamarans that you can go out on for four or five nights for those families that are keen on snorkelling and diving!
In South Africa, there are safari lodges that have their own kids programmes, in the Kruger, KwaZulu Natal, the Waterberg Mountains and Madikwe. Finally, we have several select places that really work, for parents wanting a break or some time to themselves, on the coast in Plettenberg Bay, where there is plenty of entertainment. A few even have nursery schools which are tremendous fun, so no feelings of guilt from parents as they know their children are being intelligently entertained and amused.
Malaria is an issue for parents. Whilst these days there are children’s prophylactics available, Laikipia and the Chyulu Hills in Kenya are excellent for avoiding “dudus” (mosquitoes). In South Africa the Waterberg, Marakalele, Kalahari desert and Madikwe are all excellent for game and malaria-free. Places to stay in South Africa include Pitse, Ants Nest and Ant’s Hill, Jembisa, Royal Madikwe, Tuningi and Marataba as well as the Eastern Cape and Kwandwe and the Kalahari Desert.
