All Ages Safari

The honeymoon’s over (and has been for a while)—now you have a whole family to consider, and you’re wondering how to make a safari work. We run down three properties that offer South Africa’s best; tailored specifically to babies, kids, and teenagers.

Visiting Africa with a family requires plenty of special considerations. Malaria risk areas can be a concern, and many lodges won’t allow children in the land rovers on game drives for safety reasons. This is not to say you shouldn’t go, you just need to choose a camp that is suited to your family’s needs. Our top three:

For Babies & Toddlers: Jaci’s Lodges
Safari with babies is generally quite a challenge, but Jaci’s has built their whole model around small children in particular: they have family friendly villa or cottage accommodations, and run separate (shorter) game drives specifically designed for the littlest conservationists. It’s all about making things more fun for kids, and in doing so more fun for their parents. While comfortable and well-appointed, nothing is too precious or fancy in terms of style and design, and the property also has an adults only section, so you’ll never feel like you’re bothering anyone if you come with kids in tow. In addition, Jaci’s is located on the Madikwe Game Reserve, which is entirely malaria-free. This means you don’t have to worry about anti-malarial medications (which are not recommended for young children).

For Kids 6-12: Tswalu Kalahari
At this age guiding is key, because it’s important to engage kids. Tswalu is the kind of place that guides are excited to work at because it’s so different—those who are tired of just driving a jeep around will come here, so there’s plenty of great talent and enthusiasm at the camp. Some of the weirder (and cooler) excursions on offer for kids at Tswalu include a night walk searching for scorpions with an infrared light, safaris on horseback, and the chance to see the giant Kalahari lions, which has never left one child bored. For the family that wants their own private space, you have the ability to take over Tarkuni—the Oppenheimer family’s own personal home at Tswalu. It’s just you and the desert out here… and your own private guide, driver and chef.

For Teenagers: Phinda Private Game Reserve
Phinda has many different lodge options, but the most teenager friendly is Zuka Lodge—a cosy private property made up of four thatched Zululand bush cottages, it’s a fantastic way to stay close together without getting too close for teenage comfort, and a great home base to call your own while you explore the whole reserve. Phinda caters to the short attention span of teenagers because because it has a wide range of bush environments: from mountains to plains to forests. There’s even a coastline nearby which you can fly to to see whale sharks and hatching turtles, or perhaps go for a scuba dive. When you’re back on the reserve you can also participate in a variety of research projects, such as leopard and rhino tracking—and great guides mean teens can split apart from the family on expeditions they’re interested in while remaining in safe hands.

Amy Smithers is our Sounder editor and safari dreamer writing all about family travel this week.

Note: This post was originally published on May 2, 2012.