Safari holidays and Travel with Children to Tanzania.

« « Air Travel Discount Fare: Getting The Most Out Of Your Hard Earned Cash | Travelling To Cyprus? 4Tips on Getting a Bargain at Cyprus Airlines » »

November 27th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed

Our Top Travel Resource - You Won't Believe What You're Reading!

We watched as elephants trecked through the hotel while on safari in Africa

We travelled from South Africa to Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia and Tanzania both the mainland and Zanzibar when Juliette was nearly two years old. My wife and I both love Africa and we couldn’t resist the temptation to visit our friends in Africa and go on safari as a family.

We had a splendid safari and actually had no trouble with finding food for our daughter or cots in the hotels etc. In fact the whole trip was just perfect. We were very careful to use mosquito nets, to cover her with a strong mosquito repellent and in fact she was not bitten once in the whole trip.

So if you are thinking of travelling to Africa with your family but are worried whether your children will enjoy the safari and whether they will be safe, we hope you will be encouraged with our personal experiences. Juliette has been on many safaris since a very young age and we have many friends who have children that have grown up in the safari lodges so the answer is a simple one, yes children are fine in the wild conditions.

Children tend to love the wildlife and a safari is usually a wonderful experience for children of all ages. It can get a bit long and hot for children so we have some suggestions for you;

take with you some animal spotting safari games
learn the Swahili names for the animals which will help the children build a relationship with your driver and should provide fun.
Keep the kids busy with downloadable “safari games” free from the web. We have a FREE children’s activity pack which you can view or download and print free of charge and includes a safari animal check list with Swahili animal names, plus some other fun stuff.

The only real incident that we had that could be useful for other parents travelling with young children while on safari…
We went on a night drive in Zambia in an open vehicle with other guests from the lodge.The night ended up being one of the most fabulous we have ever done. We found a young leopard and soon we were right in the centre of a herd of buffalo that was being ambushed by four female lions. Suddenly we realised that the lions missed their prey. In all the excitement our daughter began crying, it took seconds for the lions who characteristically think vehicles as just part of the landscape began to think the vehicle as a promising prey, like a small animal in distress. It was lucky that our driver recognised the change and drove away quickly with a pack of lions following us.

Children’s food in a safari lodge is no problem as the meals are usually flexible so that isn’t a problem for you either. There won’t be any difficulties with keeping the children entertained, this is a new and exciting world where they will be introduced to different cultures and also perhaps even poverty for the first time, the world and experience of Africa might play an important role in the education of our children.

Common sense is if the parents are sensible and make the children abide by the safari rules no danger will come to the children. Once you have booked your safari it would be a good idea to sit down with your children and explain that Africa is a different world from the one they are used to, where there is danger around. There is no need to inflate but camp rules must be obeyed, because if they are not, the consequences can be very serious. For very young children I recommend you choose your camp carefully and confirm with your travel advisor which are most appropriate for children. We can guide you on this from personal experience as we have been on many safaris with our children. We also have a lot of information for going on safari & travelling in Africa

It is recommended that young children should not be vaccinated and are excused in most countries for yellow fever but truthfully I don’t feel this should be of concern. This is a rare disease which you should not meet in a safari lodge. More concern is for malaria which is a problem all through the tropics. The local population catch it repeatedly and it is generally deemed no worse than a bout of flu. However depending on the strain, it can be dangerous and the solution here is good prevention. You should get advice from your doctor because young children cannot take malaria tablets. Before the sun goes down make sure that you put insect repellent all over their arms and legs making sure any exposed area is covered then check to make sure they are sleeping under mosquito nets. If you take these safety measures you can reduce the risk of malaria to almost zero.

Don’t be scared about taking your children to Africa, it is a wonderful experience for them and we have been back with Juliette many times, but do cover them up well and no safaris in open vehicles for very small children

Note: The above information is advice given on the basis of the author’s experience at the time of writing and the author cannot take responsibility for any traveller choosing to take the advise above. Prior to travelling you should speak to your doctor he will provide advice for your travel and probably point you in the direction of further advice from the relevant authorities before travelling.