Things for Kids to Do on Safari

1. Junior Ranger Programme

Some resorts have created exciting, action-packed programs to encourage and motivate children on safari. When they arrive, youngsters usually get a rucksack full of goods, including caps, T-shirts and novels. Your safari guide will tailor activities to the youngsters’ interests, assist them in gathering any supplies they need, answer their questions and make amusing tools for them to use out in the jungle. Each youngster becomes an official ‘Junior Ranger’ at the end of the tour, with some well-earned bragging rights to take home to their friends!

At Tswalu Kalahari, the youngsters in the Junior Ranger Program are busy making their own bow and arrow, testing out their craftsmanship with archery classes, then heading out on spoor identification and casting, as well as tracking wildlife on foot! All of this is quite instructive, and a lot of fun for kids of all ages.

2. Micro Safari

Sometimes it’s not simple for children to relate to big game creatures on safari. Even the most patient youngsters aren’t meant to sit in a car for long! But it is typically the size, danger element and sense of the unknown that divert young safarists. This is when the micro safari really shines, allowing the kids to wander around the camp/lodge and seek for all sorts of bizarre and wonderful mini-beasts, from lizards and insects to snakes and scorpions. Getting up close and personal with each species, and peering at them under a magnifying lens, gives young brains a more tangible link to the natural world.

The Londolozi Cubs program is an absolute joy. The centrepiece of the design is the ‘Cub’s Den’ featuring a fish pond for splashing, Land Rovers for ‘driving’, camp-out tents for exciting adventures and an educational center where wildlife is the star. Little explorers can participate in bug capturing, dung spitting and species identification (with a microscope and checklist in hand).

3. Bush Buddies

Wilderness has developed a great ‘Bush Buddy’ learning program throughout the company’s Southern Africa lodges, to cater to the entire range of young guests.

This is a complimentary service in which a ‘Bush Buddy’ will accompany your family at each Wilderness resort and will be a mentor and friend to the children. These important professionals have received training in child care and the educational aspects of looking after young ones in the bush. They create specific activities to occupy the youngsters while their parents are out on game drives and provide them with insights into the natural environment. Safety is always the first priority. Parents can simply book early mealtimes or evening activities, allowing them to enjoy romantic dinners and some much-deserved rest, always knowing their children are in wonderful hands!

4. Fishing

Fishing from Chongwe House in Zambia’s Lower Zambezi National Park is another fantastic method to keep active young minds busy and engaged. In fact, chances are if there is a river or huge dam nearby, most of the camps and lodges in this region of Africa will have fishing gear at hand and enthusiastic guides to hand to help new fishing fans make their first catch! Chongwe House is a family lodge set in tiger fish country. It provides great fishing opportunities for the kids to hone their 10-to-2 cast along the Zambezi or even on the banks of the Chongwe River for bream.

5. Frogging at Phinda Game Reserve

Phinda is privately owned so there is much freedom and flexibility to design activities for youngsters and break away from the standard safari routine. The guides are highly enthusiastic as well, a contagious trait! One of the activities is the amusingly termed ‘frogging’ which brings guests to as many as 40 kinds of frog in Phinda Game Reserve’s seven diverse habitats. After dinner, the young safarists head out with a wildlife guide to find a small, shallow waterhole, then strap on their head lamps, and try to identify as many frog species as they can! Frogs are more active at nite thus we recommend this activity for somewhat older kids with later bedtimes and youngsters who don’t mind getting muddy. The optimum time for frogging is the rainy season from November to March when several brightly coloured alien species like the water lily frog, painted reed frog and leaf-folding frog thrive in the moist conditions.

6. Archery

Some camps and lodges include bows and arrows for the kids to practise their archery abilities. This is especially popular with the lively younger guests, getting the competitive blood going and seeing them go head to head with other family members! But never fear, the tips of the arrows are dull, so nobody gets hurt.

This is taken one step further at Sasaab Lodge in Kenya’s Samburu National Reserve. Kids can also go into the forest with indigenous Samburu guides who will take them under their wing and teach them how to construct traditional bows and arrows. They will next be taught how to aim and shoot arrows at targets before taking part in the Samburu Olympics which includes javelins and throwing the rungu as well.

7. Plaster-Casting Tracks

Tuningi Safari Lodge is a wonderful family friendly place where kids learn to track animals in a fun engaging way. They can find some interesting tracks in mud or sand, then produce a perfect copy and sign their name on the plaster plate. Lion, leopard, cheetah or hyena tracks tend to be the best and make great souvenirs! Kids can also try their hand at clay sculpture, shorter ‘bumble’ game drives and treasure hunts, as well as plaster casting.

8. Cooking Up a Storm

In certain safari lodges the chef is eager to invite the youngsters into the kitchen. One example is El Karama in Kenya, where children are taught to bake by preparing dozens of animal-shaped cookies and cakes. They can even invent their own pizzas from scratch and create a whole menu of their own! All the produce is from the conservancy’s own vegetable garden, where kids can help pick fresh veggies and even meet the small farm animals. El Karama is owned and maintained by the Grant family, and they have their own children growing up at the lodge, so whether it’s play time in the kitchen or out on the farm there are lots of activities to keep the kids entertained!