Wouldn’t your children get an adrenaline rush if they got a chance to see animals that till date, they have seen only on television or in the pages of the books? No matter how old your kids are, they are sure to have an experience of a lifetime when you bring them to the safaris. In fact, there is more than one reason to take your kids out on the safari.
Why Should You Take Your Children For Safari?
A trip to Africa will make your children explore a different civilization and get them up and close to the animals that they have perhaps seen only on TV or at the zoo. Moreover, a safari trip, more precisely a trip to Africa will also make your kids aware of the challenges of the second and third world lands, which will obviously make them more knowledgeable individuals.
However, before you take your kids for a safari trip, there is something that you should consider.
Things To Consider Before You Take Your Child For Safari
- Unfortunately, many safari lodges don’t allow children below 6-7 years old, not unless you book the whole camp for your family. Moreover, you should consider if your child can endure the tedium of long flights to reach Africa. To cut the long story short, you should choose a safari that is age-appropriate.
- You will also have to be careful about your child’s preferences. Make sure that your computer-game obsessed kid will love spending time in the lap of nature for many days.
- Your little daughter may love her stuffed toys, but perhaps, she will be upset to see real animals fighting. So while on safari, she may come up with a number of curious questions that you may find hard to answer. So make sure that you think about some age-appropriate answers for her queries.
- Before you take your kids to Africa, make sure that you consult your pediatrician as well as a travel doctor. Malaria is very much prevalent in many parts of the continent so make certain that you take preventative prescription drugs.
- You can also select malaria-free regions like the Shamwari Game Reserve or the Madikwe Game Reserve (both in South Africa).
How To Make Your Safari More Enjoyable For You And Your Children
Consider the following things before you start your trip to Africa
- Let your child bring something from home. Perhaps he would like to bring his favorite toy or a blanket. You can thus help him to do away with any homesick feeling.
- Get your kids accustomed to the local food. Since children are usually very picky about their food, you can cook some African foods at home to give them an idea about the local cuisine.
- Keep a medicine bag handy: Take the preventative prescription medicines and emergency first aids.
Choosing A Safari Lodge For Your Family
In Africa, there is no dearth of game lodges and tented camps for families. Some of them include:
- Camp Jabulani (near Kruger National Park in Kapama Game Reserve, South Africa): Here your family can meet a herd of very special elephants that reside on the property. Your kid can also take part in Team Tusker, which is an excellent children’s program arranged in the park. Your kids can also participate in activities like storytelling, bird watching, bug catching and dress up parties.
- Zambezi Queen (based at Namibia’s Caprivi Strip on the river Chobe): The riverboat offers a trip to a nearby village. You can also try angling and give your family a chance to get close to bathing hippos, crocodiles and elephants.
Some of the other safari lodges for family in Africa include
- Luangwa Safari House: It is a private house in Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park.
- Giraffe Manor in Nairobi, Kenya.
- Kings Pool Camp in northern Botswana’s Linyanti Wildlife Reserve and many more.
A Gift For Your Child
Before you take your child for a safari trip, you can consider gifting him a binocular, something like the Backyard Safari Field Scope which will come handy to explore the beauties of wilderness. The impressive attributes of the unit include:
- It provides up to 6X magnification.
- It can zoom in on bugs.
- It is easy to carry and it can be taken everywhere.
- Your child can turn on its light for better viewing in the nighttime.
- It comes with an AAA battery which is needed for its operation.
Most of the buyers have loved the unit. It gains a decent rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars at Amazon.com. If you want to learn more about this impressive unit, why don’t you visit the Amazon website?
You hardly need to give a second thought for planning a safari trip if your children have no problem in joining you. Though you may need to do a little homework before taking your kids out, but considering the fun and thrill that you are going to have together, the hassles appear to be but trifle.
