Family safaris

Safaris work well with children when the pacing is right. Long transfer days and back-to-back dawn game drives are where family trips come unstuck, so the routes that suit families best are those with shorter driving legs, water-based activities and places where everyone can get out of the car.

Lake Naivasha is the single most useful stop on a family itinerary in Kenya: a boat among the hippos, Crescent Island where you can walk safely among zebra and giraffe because there are no large predators, and Hell's Gate which can be cycled. Ol Pejeta adds guided walks, rhino tracking and the chimpanzee sanctuary. In Uganda, Lake Mburo allows walking and horseback riding for the same reason.

Two practical constraints are worth knowing early. Gorilla and chimpanzee activities have age and health rules, and camps may set their own age policies. We confirm the current conditions before quoting.

We do not publish a separate family product line. Instead we take a route that suits the ages travelling and adjust the pacing, the room configuration and the activities. Tell us the ages when you enquire and we will flag anything on a given route that will not work.