South Africa safari - yes or no?

[angstybaby]

Me, DH and 3 kids (8, 10 and 12) have the opportunity to go to S Africa and do a safari somewhere so the question is: where?

• eastern Cape?
• Kruger?

If we go with Kruger, it'll be south in May. S Africans I know say they don't take anti-malarials for that as the risk is very low. Should I follow their advice?

Many thanks

Check latest nhs advice on vaccinations and anti malarials, it does change fairly often, not worth getting sick of preventable illness. Remember it's very different if you're staying in hotels vs camping and effective use of bug spray

I'd go to Kruger and drive yourself. Drive around in the early morning, stop for an amazing breakfast and back to the hotel in the afternoon. It's amazing. Book a night safari to see the night animals for one night.

We didn't always take malaria tablets but I'd recommend that you follow the proper advice. People, even locals, would get malaria. Malaria medication is much better than it used to be years ago.

Kruger!!!!

find the Kruger Sightings facebook page for great advice. You can absolutely drive yourself.

I went to Jo’burg for work and went on a safari to Pilanesburg for a long weekend I loved it. I stayed in a lodge and we had all our meals included and 6 safaris and transport to and from Johannesburg. There were quite a few families and kids there (mostly S African, no Brits really). We saw so many animals - Lions, elephants, cheetahs, leopard, rhinos, hippos, giraffes etc. every drive we saw amazing things. The Lodge had a pool etc and also a bus to Sun City. I’d love to go back with my kids but would cost a fortune. Enjoy!

I went to hluhluwe near durban and it was amazing. Would recommend.

Second Hlhluwe near Durban, or Manyoni private game reserve which is also nearby- absolutely amazing! You could also go to St Lucia and see the hippos/ snorkel at Cape Vidal. Easy flight to Durban from Jo’burg too. Have a brilliant time!

South African here.

How long will your holiday be for?

If it is for eg, a two week holiday I think that whole time might be too long for safari. Especially for your your your youngest DC. If you go to EC you can add other sights into your trip too. Or KZN as others have said. You can mix it up a bit.

It's going into winter then, so it won't be freezing but the beaches won't be packed.

Generally we don't take anti malaria meds. And also with it being that time of year as well. But definitely stock on peaceful sleep and other sprays and follow all other advise to keep covered etc if you don't.

I went to a private reserve west of Kruger it was unreal!!!
Welgevonden Game Reserve... Highly recommend it.

I understand you can self drive and do some amazing stuff in kruger. There are self catering lodges etc.

What I would say is as a Londoner who is reasonably savvy I was fully escorted the whole time I was going in and out of joberg and wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

Also went to cape town and think it's an amazing place for older kids. We ziplined down a canyon, did sugar loaf, StellanBosch and Kirstenbosch. They have stunning beaches outside of cape town... I think we went to Woodstock?

I went to Kampana Safari lodge in the summer. Hoedsprickt (sp?) airport is right next door. Very professional and excellent tours. It was the SA winter though so I didn’t worry as much about malaria but the advice was no need to either.

What I would say is that the guides privately told us that they were not very keen on taking guests with young children (I.e not all of them are teenagers at least) as near to the animals as we were as kids can be unpredictable in terms of their reactions. The animals are used to the shape of the safari vehicles with everyone sitting - the minute anyone stands up to get a better look/take a photo etc, the animals can react to it. The safari was awesome though.

We also went whale watching in Hermanus and penguin watching near the cape. It was amazing.

Would also recommended the wine region.

The whales won’t be there in May. They arrive a few months later.

Regarding a safari, there’s no issue with well behaved DC. We’ve taken ours from age 8. If they are interested and can take photos, it’s ok for them. Plus they can be great spotters!

Definitrly liked Hluhluwe Imfolozi and St Lucia (now renamed) area. We have always stayed at lodges with their vehicles for better viewing and greater knowledge of where to go and habitats. It was a better experience for dc too. We have also been to Sabi Sands and Kruger. I can certainly recommend KZN too and Cape Town. You just need to decide how much you want to drive or fly.

The whales are available to see in June-December. Apologies OP I didn’t see you were travelling in May. My comment regarding the current view of safari guides concerns stands and necessarily not known freely. It would be frustrating to spend a fortune on something to find it doesn’t quite offer what you think it does. @TizerorFizz if you have recently travelled with an 8 yo, fair enough but the OP asked for recent recommendations and the current experience is not the same everywhere. I’m not saying kids aren’t allowed, I’m saying they won’t be as close as other vehicles which may be important to the OP.

Highly recommend going to Kruger and then fly into Livingstone to go to Chobe National Park - we saw the rare painted dogs there as well as a microlight flight over Victoria Falls. DT’s were 10 when we did this as part of a longer trip to South Africa.

SA is great for safari. You don’t need to take malaria tablets.

What you do very much depends on budget. I’ve been several times, how much are you looking to spend roughly?

Sometimes being too close is not acceptable anyway. For anyone. We never had the experience of vehicles hanging back with us because we had dc with us. We also went to Kenya and India with them and DH took DD to Tanzania. Kenya has lodges that welcome children. Not sure about SA but lots of families go with dc. In all the camps we have been to, we were never treated differently. You just need children who are interested in what they are seeing. It might be worth checking if dc are welcome to avoid any issues though. Some camps do activities for dc as well.

I’ve travelled with my children (7 and 11). Some camps accommodate children better than others.

@CrackerlessCracker That is definitely the case. Do a bit of homework and you are fine.