Can you bring young kids on a safari trip? That’s the question we asked our selves when we started to think about our adventure in South Africa. We have been on safari’s numerous times with just the two of us and we know we like to be in the bush looking at wildlife. But long days in the car, boring if you don’t see a lot, short span of attention, hot days, cold nights……there are plenty of reasons why not to try this with kids. But we also know that many South Africans do bring their kids and by doing so they instil a love for nature and wildlife into their kids hearts and minds. This is one of the gifts we like to give our children as well, so we decided to give it a go. We will visit a few different wildlife reserves this trip, but we decided to start in the Kruger National Park.
The Kruger park is the largest, most well known wildlife reserve in South Africa and in our opinion also the best park for a self-drive safari with our kids. The size of the park is almost double the size of the Netherlands and it would take about 18 hrs to drive from the southern gates to the most northern gate. Kruger contains several large rivers and has a wide variety of habitat from open grassland to bush to forest and hence it can support also a wide variety of animals. It is home to the Big 5 (Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Buffalo and Rhino) and it is not uncommon that you encounter the Big 5 in a day in some areas. You can stay in a lodge outside Kruger and take organised day-trips into the park, but you get the best experience if you stay in one of the 12 main camps or in any of the smaller bush camps.
This time we spent 14 nights in and around Kruger. The first three nights we stayed in Marloth park, a bush area bordering Kruger and overlooking the Crocodile river. Then we moved into the park and stayed one night in Lower Sabie, five nights in Skukuza, two nights in Satara and we finished with three nights in Mopani. We booked all the accommodation via the Sanparks website, which is easy to do. Problem is that in the popular camps accommodation is sometimes fully booked a year in advance, so you need to be creative and flexible if you make a last minute booking like we did. Luckily there were some cancellations which allowed us to book in Lower Sabie and Satara, two of the most popular camps. Accommodation in Sanparks camps is basic, but good enough for us. All the camps are set-up for self catering, so perfect for families.
Wildlife viewing was superb this time. As it is winter here, the bush is relative thin and very dry. So animals tend to congregate around the water sources and are relative easy to spot. Also because we had two weeks, there was plenty of time to look for animals and drive different routes to look for the best spots. So some of our highlights: we saw leopards four times, once with a kill and once straight next to our car; we saw lions about ten times; we came across large herds of buffalo and elephant and we were surprised by how many baby elephants there were; we had several good sightings of rhino; we saw hyena’s, crocodiles, hippo’s, many birds, many general game, more giraffes than we could count; and on two occasions we even spotted a honey badger – something you don’t see very often. Is there still something we wish for? Yes. The two animals that we would love to see, but we could not find on this trip were the elusive cheetah and the cunning wild dog. So we need to come back another time for this.
Our kids liked it as well and every evening they were asking if we could get-up in the dark again tomorrow morning and sit in the car in their pyjama’s. The early mornings are magical in the bush, you get-up before dawn hoping to see any of the cats who are still active in the early hours, then there is beautify red sun rise which paints the bush into a magical yellow gold colour. The perfect time for shooting great pictures. Back in the old days we could drive for 4 or 5 hours in the morning, having our breakfast in the car, but with two energetic young kids this did not seem to be wise, so we limited the morning drives to 2 or 2.5 hrs max and we returned to the camp to have breakfast there followed by a few hours of play and rest in the camp. Then around 4 in the afternoon we would do another drive till sunset. We did the same when we booked the accommodations, making sure that the distances between the camps are not too long, so we could leave mid morning in one camp and arrive mid afternoon in the other and still have time to run around. During the drives we kept the kids entertained by trying to get them actively involved by sharing stories on wildlife, telling them fun facts and playing animal related games. They have become great spotters and have learned a lot about animals. They even know the difference between a waterbuck and bush buck! They had their own booklet with a picture check-list to cross of all sightings, which kept them excited and engaged. And we always bring an iPad in case the drive is too long or too boring, so they can listen to a audio book, watch a movie or play a game in the back-seat.
So yes, we think it is totally doable to bring young kids to the Kruger National Park and we have seen much more families with young children enjoying the bush. It’s different than before, but hey, traveling with kids is always different than traveling without. We managed to find a good balance so that the whole family could enjoy this experience. So if you ever wondered if you should come to South Africa to do a safari with kids, stop wondering, book your tickets and just go. You won’t regret it. If you still have doubts or questions, let us know, we are more than happy to share our experience and enthusiasm further with you.
