African Safari With Kids: Everything You Need to Know

03.12.2024 - 18:27 / cntraveler.com

I clearly remember a pivotal moment during my first safari in Kenya with my wife. We traveled across the country, often flying into luxurious, five-star safari camps on small chartered planes. We had already witnessed the Great Wildebeest Migration, spotted the Big Five with ease on game drives, and shared curdled milk from a calabash with Maasai warriors. Now, nearing the end of our trip, a Samburu warrior in a red and blue checkered shuka led us up a hill that looked remarkably like Pride Rock from The Lion King. We were headed to one of our final sundowners.

Although we were too high up to see many animals, we could make out the distinctive, swaying gait of giraffes in the distance. It was so quiet that when an elephant trumpeted in the distance, the sound burst through the silence like thunder. The warrior offered me a gin and tonic with a smile, and I exhaled fully for what felt like the first time on the trip. (As a photographer, I rarely feel truly relaxed until I’ve gotten “my shots.”) Sitting on top of the rock, cold drink in hand, looking out over a beautiful panorama, I remember asking myself, ‘Is this what I’ve been heading towards my whole life? Could it possibly get any better than this?’

That ‘first’ was over 10 years and several safaris ago now. Over the last decade my wife and I have tracked gorillas in the misty hills of Uganda, rowed mokotos in rivers teeming with hippos and crocodiles on the Okavango Delta, and camped on the otherworldly Etosha salt pan in Namibia. And so, we imagined sharing some of the wonder we’d experienced with our two daughters—but with a rambunctious one- and six-year-old in tow, the logistics of any safari adventure felt complex. Doubts crept in: Were they too young? Were lodges and camps even able to welcome them? And, with one of them being so little, was it still worth going, knowing she might not even remember the journey?

A female lion peering into the safari vehicle in Maasai Mara

The author’s elder daughter, Aria, left, and her friend, Savannah, enjoying mugs of hot chocolate on an early game drive in Maasai Mara

Finding answers wasn't easy. Recommendations and rules for taking children on safari vary, as some parks and camps only welcome kids over six years old, others over eight; and many don't permit kids under 12. We canvassed family, friends, other travelers in our sphere—and while there were plenty of options and opinions (some encouraging, some not), it was hard to make sense of what advice best fit our situation. The general guideline that emerged from our research was to consider waiting until our youngest reached six to eight years old, when more accommodations and experiences would be open to us. But what if your littles have five years