Tricks to maximise the family fun in a safari lodge
by Caroline Goodwin
You have now read about the best way to select a luxury safari lodge for your family and ow to maximise your family’s enjoyment while in camp. Here you will read about all those other helpful tips that make your family safari so much better:
Pack light. Most lodges offer laundry service so you don’t need loads and loads of clothing. A warm jacket is always essential for drives, but the layers generally change all day long so very little gets worn for long or gets very dirty. So don’t feel you need to pack full outfits for each drive for children.
Child-friendly lodges often have child-friendly staff. Feel free to ask the staff to help with the kids or ask what they can offer for the children. Some places we’ve stayed at have taken the children off on walks to identify bugs, plants, birds, tracks. Some have cooked the high tea snacks with the children helping out, allowing us to have an afternoon nap. Some have taken them on their own mini-game drives around the lodge perimeter. They are often very willing to help and entertain your children for a few hours.
Kwandwe Game Reserve, Eastern Cape, South Africa
No matter the season, always pack a swimming costume. You will be amazed at how often it is hot enough to swim and children will swim no matter how cold the water is if allowed to. Most lodges have lovely pool areas and even if they are only splashing on the steps, it’s often a nice place for a gin and tonic for the grown-ups and a bit of downtime.
Also, no matter the season, don’t forget the bug stuff. And if it’s a malaria area, (check with your GP) the malaria medication. Those armbands that are meant to detract the bugs end up being chewed and gagged on by our children, but the stickers that can be attached to their clothing or their bed areas work a charm. These can usually be bought at Cape Union Mart or the like and can be attached to bed headboards as well as clothing to keep most insects at bay. Most lodges provide some mozzie spray on drives and in the rooms.
For during the day, we usually set up an art station or pack a fair amount of craft supplies for entertainment. It’s quiet and can often be done outside. Playdough, crayons, some Lego and paper, and colouring-in doesn’t take up too much space when travelling. Children have about four hours to fill during the day when we’re not eating. It sounds like a long time, but it’s actually not too much. So as with the clothing, don’t be tempted to overpack. Most lodges will have board games and puzzles, lawn games etc in storage too.
Sanbona Gondwana Family Lodge, Sanbona Wildlife Reserve, Western Cape South Africa
Screens. This is a personal choice entirely. At home, my children are limited on-screen time. However, when we are in the game reserve and they have been good on a vehicle for three hours plus in the morning, I will offer the reward of some screen time on their iPad once we’ve had brunch. It also allows them some downtime, often they will actually lie down, or at least sit quietly for a bit. What’s also nice is that a tablet is many activities in a small package – so easy to pack. Many lodges now have complimentary Wifi, which might appeal, but generally, I download a few new movies and games before long trips and the iPads come out to play when my head or eardrums are done for a while. I’ve also got a tendency to load items with the theme of the game reserve, so the games, books, and movies will be loosely around the idea of animals and then the iPad will also be a little educational. I would never take these on a game drive proper though. Unless your children have the self-restraint to only use this as a camera. Which mine don’t.
The goal of a trip such as this is surely two-fold: relax with the people you love most and educate your children so that they will grow up to love nature. In order to relax, these little lessons will definitely help, failing that, start the morning with Amarula coffee and end the day with a G n T at sunset, and you will be golden.
To educate your children, be patient as they learn. An impala and a warthog will be fascinating to them long after you’ve become bored. The LBJ will not hold any allure to them, so be okay with perhaps not spending too many hours watching the flittering feathers. It will be worth it to try to keep it entertaining for them. Soon they will love seeing the LBJ’s and identify a toothbrush bush by sight. The time in the game reserve, undisturbed by work and television and shopping malls lends itself to such quality time with your family and almost certainly, memories to last a lifetime. My unequivocal advice to you is: do the trip. And enjoy every moment.
To get further advice and plan your luxury family safari, contact the experts at TravelHouse Africa.
Tuningi Game Lodge, Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa
Banner image provided by Lion Sands Game Reserve, Sabi Sand Game Reserve, Greater Kruger National Park, South Africa