Kenya with 5 year old

[FrameyMcFrame]

It's my 40th next year and I'm looking to go to Kenya for a beach/safari/beach type holiday.

A lot of the ones I've looked at say minimum age for the safari part is 7.
Has anyone done Kenya with a little one? Or is this something I will have to wait for until he is older. I also have a wildlife obsessed DD who is 11 and desperate to go to Kenya.

reading on various travel forums it seems I am mad to be considering safaris with a 5 year old... hours in the back of bumpy jeep in the boiling heat.
Anyone got any ideas for a wildlife type expirience that could be ok for smaller kids too?

some good ideas here

I wonder if it might be worth waiting until your child is a bit older & will appreciate the wildlife?
Also you will have to be very aware of Malaria (using lots of repellent & taking tablets) & you may need to have a Yellow Fever Vaccine.

I believe children should never stop anyone from visiting any destination. Just exercise caution and you will all have fantastic memories. I have been travelling with my now 5 year old and 13 year old since he was a year old.

Remember the trick with children is travelling slow, those who think it isn't suitable tend to want to see loads and do load of drives from one area to the other. With younger children move less and even with the wildlife obsessed it really is pushing it expecting them to be out all day on a Safari. You can do early morning and sunset tours to avoid heat.

By the way I personally would go to Tanzania over Kenya for safari. Kenya safaris are too much of tourist zoos. You can do Zanzibar + Safari too and you have the Stone town too in Zanzibar for a bit of culture.

I have done the kind of holiday you describe (mine without DC's) and the safari part does have a lot of time spent waiting around for something to happen, simetines hours, which I think would bore young children. I also think it would be unfair to whoever else is in your jeep that they would have to listen to children moaning that they are bored.

I've done safaris in Kenya with the dcs who are four and three. It was great. I'd recommend looking at the company East African heritage. Their intrepids camps are great for kids,

Thanks for all that info! :)

We did a safari with 7 and 5 year old daughters. We went with another family with the same age children so no boredom and our children were very patient and easy about travelling and fitting in at that age and had travelled quite a bit.

Choose a good company. It really is one of the most memorable holidays we have had.

We took our 4, 6, 9 and 10 year olds and drove around Namibia for two weeks in August last year.
We booked it through Audley travel and had a fantastic time. We spent three nights here
www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g424916-d1750988-Reviews-Andersson_s_Camp-Etosha_National_Park_Oshikoto_Region.html
traveled to nearby Etosha park where we saw Lions, elephant and giraffes as well as many smaller animals.