“Is a family safari safe?” is an excerpt from ‘The Ultimate Guide to a Family Safari in Africa book’. You can get your free copy here.
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Is a family safari safe?
It is. Spending time on a family safari isn’t as complicated as you might think. Much like a trip anywhere with children, there are other considerations that come into play. It really depends on the age of your children. The biggest concern we can dismiss right away and that is that with the African animals about it must be unsafe for your children. This assumption isn’t really based in fact. If you’re not going to let your children wander unsupervised through the streets of the US, why would you do the same in the African bush? Likewise, on a game drive, the children are as safe as the adults inside the vehicle. Unless your child is prone to jumping from moving vehicles or you think you will be too enamoured with the animals to monitor that your child stays inside, you will find it a non-issue.
These days Africa has developed a range of experiences for children that could almost make the adults jealous. A world away from the ‘kids club’ cliché, there isn’t a games console or gangs of roving pre-teens in sight. Some places may have dedicated facilities, some may have dedicated guides or rangers, some may have amendments to normal offerings. All in all, they all want to give your children a passion for their world. This can range from going on a bush walk and then diving (non-literally) into an in-depth exploration of elephant dung. They might join the cook in the kitchen to whip up a pizza or some cakes. They might look at tracking animals by footprints or taking unique bark imprints using paper and ash. The range of options is incredibly diverse and warm hearted, as any passion shared is.
What family safari is best at what age?
Any child aged above 8 years is usually fine to take part in the same sort of itinerary as an adult. After all, it isn’t the same dragging them between art museums or churches in Europe. Africa also has a habit of turning serious adults into excitable children, so now they just have appropriate company to do it in. The younger children might need some additional things to do when you aren’t on safari, but the African bush offers plenty of options, ranging from guided walks to children’s programs to even just a pair of binoculars and a good view. At this age, you are making many lifelong memories and lessons for everyone involved.
For children aged between 5 and 8 years, you are usually fine to take them out on safari, with some conditions. The biggest issue isn’t to do with any danger between the animals and the children, it’s usually to do with the kids spending large amounts of time sitting in a vehicle. There are toilet considerations to take in effect and some of the nuance of the guide’s explanation might be too much for the young ones. As a result, for this age its best to take shorter drives looking for animals, depending on the child. We can also align you with lodges that have experience in family travel. Depending on the age of your children, you might have to take up a private vehicle on safari in order to focus on your families wishes. These sorts of places allow for many opportunities to jump out of the vehicle and look at some footprints, some dung or some trees. For young kids, even that climb in and out can be entertaining in itself. When else do they get to put their feet on the seats? Africa is just one giant playground.
For children younger than 4, you will begin to look at the safari as more of an additional focus, rather than the main focus for the children. Attention spans can be short and interest levels fleeting. If you’ve ever spent time with children at a zoo, you’ll know they can often race from exhibit to exhibit and end up at the playground. You can mimic this with short game drives and plenty of family time in the lodge. It is also possible for one parent, or a grandparent, to take care of the children whilst the others take in a game drive. And, at many lodges, they have special guides or staff to educate and entertain your children whilst you take in a safari. With the animals, it can be harder for children to keep their volume low so often guides take this into account and provide some additional distance between vehicles and animals. In East Africa, these long drives between regions can be an additional challenge for small children, as per any road trip.
The only other consideration we hear about children is the taking of anti-malarial tablets in malarial areas. While widely used, some parents have some concerns about giving these to children and will instead choose to stay in non-malarial (or malaria free) areas. From our own experience we’d rather provide the tablet and head to the areas we want, but we understand that this can be a consideration for others and can provide options.
So, long story short: If you are planning on taking a family safari to Africa, you’ll find it safe and easy. And of course, amazing.
