Lions! Elephants! Malaria! A family safari is on your mind, but so is one big question: Is it Safe for Children? The answer is easy: it’s as safe as any other travel destination but to make it so, you should go to the right place at the right time of year. Here’s what you need to know.
THE EASY CHOICE: SOUTH AFRICA
Family safaris have long been part of the safari scene in the Kruger Park and its private reserves like the Sabi Sands; several lodges are especially family-friendly and the wildlife includes some of the best Big Five viewing in Africa. The Kruger does however lie in South Africa’s (modest) malarial belt and families with younger children should visit during the dry season (June through October) when the risk of malaria is at an absolute minimum.
But you can also enjoy Big Five game viewing in South Africa without any risk of malaria. The private Madikwe and Waterberg reserves (north of Johannesburg) and the wildlife parks of the Eastern Cape are all malaria-free with both accommodation and activities designed for families with children of any age. As an added bonus, you can easily combine a safari with Cape Town, the Whale Coast and the Garden Route – all fabulous, malaria-free family destinations that work very nicely on a self-drive itinerary.
SELF-DRIVE ADVENTURE: NAMIBIA
Safe, friendly and blessed with good infrastructure, Namibia is an ideal self-drive destination. Of course, you can go on guided tours and fly-in safaris but this is a country where you can dictate the pace and the destinations with your own vehicle, stopping off on the way and getting to know Africa a little better.
Namibia has many stunning destinations to visit – silent red deserts; teeming savannahs; bird-filled wetlands – and with the accommodation to go with them but this is a big country, twice the size of Spain, and some of the distances between destinations are long: we’d recommend self-driving Namibia with older children, and spending at least a couple of nights at each destination. Spend the most nights in Etosha National Park where wildlife is abundant and easy to see, and go in the June to September dry season to avoid the risk of malaria.
SAFARI MAX: BOTSWANA
Synonymous with safari, Botswana offers several camps that have been designed for families with children: double rooms, age-appropriate activities, a kids’ menu – everything is taken care of. Set in prime areas of the Okavango Delta and Chobe Park, these camps showcase Botswana’s famous wildlife and are best visited in the June to September dry season when animals are concentrated at water, especially elephants.
With transport often by boat, light aeroplane and certainly by 4X4, Botswana is a destination suited for children over six; it’s also not exactly the cheapest safari destination although you can visit on a relative budget if you avoid peak season. One thing everyone recommends for a family in Botswana is a private guide and vehicle: now you can do things your way and in your time.
THE CLASSICS: KENYA & TANZANIA
The golden grasslands of East Africa are where safaris began and they still echo to the sound of hundreds of thousands of migrating wildebeest and zebra. Kenya’s Masai Mara and Tanzania’s Serengeti are the places to go for the Great Migration, and each have a host of supporting safari destinations as well as Indian Ocean holiday add-on options – we’d recommend either Zanzibar in Tanzania or the Kenyan coast.
Both Kenya and Tanzania have family-friendly safari accommodation but Kenya is the easier of the two: it’s a smaller destination and has packaged family safaris with lodges and fly-in logistics; Tanzania usually requires more overland driving and is better suited for children over ten but has more wildlife destinations, including the Ngorongoro Crater for easy Big Five viewing. Time your visit in either of two ways: go during the phase of the Wildebeest Migration that you want to see, or go during one of East Africa’s two dry seasons (June to October, or January/February).
OFF-THE-BEATEN-PATH: ZIMBABWE & ZAMBIA
Calling all families with older children AND a sense of adventure! Zimbabwe and Zambia are home to excellent national parks with abundant wildlife, and the camps and lodges within them tend to offer a greater diversity of activities than other destinations. As well as 4X4 drives, you can choose to explore by motor boat, or canoe, or even on foot with a guide and armed ranger – it’s the real deal and children have a lot of fun.
And both Zimbabwe and Zambia are home to Victoria Falls, one of the wonders of nature and a very family-friendly destination with a wide choice of activities – bungee jumping, white-water rafting, elephant-back safaris – but you will have to be mindful of malaria. This is a region where you’d be wise to visit during the long dry season – June to October – to reduce the risk of malaria to a bare minimum. Go between June and August for the mildest weather; September and October are very hot.
