I have worked at safari lodges that do not encourage children, this was mainly due to the fact that they did not have the facilities to cater for children, this however does not mean that if you have kids, you should not go on safari, you just have to make sure that the safari you are going on is right for you and your family.

All Inclusive Safari Adventures
Probably the easiest way to do this is to go on an all inclusive safari holiday, designed specifically with children and families in mind.

The Adventure Company (see banner link below) offers just this with child friendly safari holidays, not only in Kenya, but Tanzania, Botswana, South Africa and Namibia. And whilst initially their safaris don’t look that cheap, they do include pretty much everything including flights and all transfers. I guess what you are paying for is  not having the hassle of having to organise flights, transport, accommodation and the safaris as well as piece of mind as you know that the holiday is designed with families in mind.

Example Family Safari in Kenya:

Land of The Masai Family Holiday

Highlights include:

• Meet Masai Warriors in Kenya
• Explore the Masai Mara Game Reserve
• Elephant Orphanage & flamingos

Nairobi

You catch a daytime flight to Nairobi. On arrival you will be met and transferred to your hotel where you will sleep for 2 nights.

Whilst in Nairobi, the capitol of Kenya, you will be taken to meet the animals supported through local conservation projects, namely giraffes and elephants at the Sheldricks Elephant Orphanage and Giraffe Manor where you and your family will get to view the animals in close proximity and learn about them and their plight in the modern world. Your safari begins at the Naro Moru River where Mt. Kenya towers in the distance.

Kenya’s Rift Valley Lakes

The Sweetwaters Game Reserve offers excellent game viewing, and has been instrumental, through its breeding programme, in helping to conserve the endangered black rhinos. Onwards to the Rift Valley lakes – Nakuru to see flamingos and rhinos; Naivasha to view hippos from a cruise boat (optional).

Masai Mara Game Reserve

On day 7 of your tour, you’ll descend into the Great Rift Valley and rolling grasslands of the world-famous Masai Mara Game Reserve. The Mara is effectively a northern extension of the Serengeti, the most famous of neighbouring Tanzania’s national parks, which lies just across the border. Sightings of the ‘Big Nine’ (elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo, rhino, cheetah, giraffe, zebra and hippo) are common, as are herds of wildebeest which roam across the plains. You should arrive at your lodge in time for lunch, followed by an afternoon game drive. You’ll explore the extensive grassy plains where elephant, buffalo, zebra, giraffe, and various gazelles – with attendant predators of lion, cheetah, jackal and hyena can be seen.

Masai Culture

You will also get to meet and know some of the semi-nomadic Masai tribesman to learn about their fascinating culture – including a lesson in how to throw a Masai hunting spear, this is fantastic especially for the children who will learn about a culture completely different to their own.

More Information
For more information on this and other family safaris in Africa take a look at The Adventure Company link below:

Further reading:

• Family Holidays Kenya
• Family & Kids Safari Holidays in Africa

As with pretty much every National Park in South Africa, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi has an excellent road network, making them ideal for self drive safaris and whilst I do believe that if you are a novice in the bush, you will get more out of it if you have a qualified guide with you, I can also understand that it is sometimes more enjoyable to do your own thing. So below are the self drive safari tips provided by the couple as well as a few that I have added myself.

Advice for Self Drive Safaris

In the video the tips they pass on are listed below:

1) Drive Slowly
I could not agree more, you really need to drive slowly, not only will your vehicle thank you if you are on dirt roads, but your chances of seeing game will dramatically improve.

2) Avoid the Mid Day Heat
Again this is excellent advice. If you ever stay at a safari lodge and go on game drive with a safari guide, the drives will almost certainly be either in the early morning or late afternoon as most Southern African animals are much more active at these times. So get to the wildlife reserve early go on a game drive till mid morning and then during the mid day, relax, have some lunch or laze around a swimming pool to keep cool and then go out again later in the afternoon to maximise your chances of viewing the wildlife.

A few More tips:

Stop on Bridges
I noticed in their video that they stopped on a bridge and looked up and Down the River, this is a great tip – most animals need to drink at some time or another and because of this sources of water always make great places to find many species of animals and birds. You never know what you might see. Even if the river is dry, many animals especially larger ones like Elephant will use dry riverbeds as highways, partly because they are easier to walk down than through the middle of the bush and because there is often an abundance of food sources growing on river banks – so it is kind of like an animals version of a street market.

Use a 4×4
This is not so much due to the roads, as mentioned earlier most National Parks in South Africa have an excellent road network, perfectly fine for a saloon car. It is more for the height advantage, the higher up you gan get the better, this is especially important during and after the rainy season when there will be plenty of tall grass about.

Use Hides
Many Reserves will have game viewing and bird watching hides located in the park. The are usually positioned in areas where wildlife is often seen (water holes are a favourite). So find out where they are on the reserve, try and get to one either early in the morning or later in the afternoon and hopefully you will get plenty of sightings.

HluHluwe Elephant: 1 German Car containing Swiss Tourists: 0

A Swiss couple had a holiday experience that they will never forget, when came a little too close to an elephant on their African safari in HluHluwe Game Reserve in South Africa.

For me it really illustrates the importance of going on a Safari Game Drive with a qualified safari guide (field guide). Sure there will always be accidents, even with a qualified safari guide because the African bush and it’s animals can be unpredictable at times.

A trained field guide will not only will they have been trained in animal behaviour and what to do in an emergency, but they will also be able to point out many interesting aspects of what you are looking at. Their local knowledge will also mean that you are bound to see more of the wildlife as well.

Self Drive Safaris
Most of the National Parks in South Africa, including the Kruger National Park, Addo Elephant National Park and the HluHluwe uMfolozi National Park allow you to go on a self drive safari, but usually only on certain roads. Most also offer Guided Game Drives as well as options to hire a guide who will travel with you in your own vehicle.

So please when you go on Safari to one of the many National Parks in South Africa make sure you organise a guided game drive as I am sure the Swiss couple of Rico Beltrame and his sister Angela would vouch for.

For those who are interested, Rico Beltrame and his sister Angela were both fine after the incident although the damage to the rented cost about R7000 to repair!

Kariba Houseboat Trip Report – March 2009

Day 5 | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 |

Thunderbolts & Lightning – Spurwing to Antelope Island
A massive thunderstorm, drove me from my bedroom under the stars to the cabin in the early hours of the morning and we later woke to some heavy winds and steady rain. We made the decision to put off our trip back to Antelope island until the wind dropped, not that it was a danger to the houseboat, but rather the small tender boat that we were towing that would have taken on water with the large swells. This gave me time to explore this section of Spurwing Island and I managed to get some photos of a hippo taking advantage of the sunless sky to spend some more time on land grazing. Then I spotted a group of about 6 small raptors, which I later identified as (Western) Redfooted Falcons using the strong winds to catch dragonflies. It was a fantastic sight and luckily I managed to get some photos of them using tree stumps as perches. Upon closer investigation, I found the discarded wings of the dragonflies around these stumps.

Once the wind calmed down we made our way back to the northern side of Antelope island, the 5 hour journey going without hitch, apart from right at the end when we were mooring, the gearbox of the boat seemed to loose all drive.

Day 6: Antelope Island to Kariba
We were unable to fix the gearbox overnight, but because Kariba is only 20 minutes away by speedboat we decided to go and get help, rather than call for help on the radio. Whilst help was on the way it gave me another opportunity to explore some of the other side of Antelope Island. I found some old foundations, and all that remains of what once was a tsetse fly control research centre. I think they used Antelope island because it is large enough to hold a permanent population of Buffalo, but small enough to be able accurately assess the results.

Birds: Antelope Island
Only new species from those previously listed are shown below:

• Pearl-spotted Owlet (heard not seen)
• White-Browed Sparrow-Weaver

Trip Report Menu
This post is part of a series of posts on a Lake Kariba Houseboat Trip in March 2009

• Day 1 – Harare to Kariba to Antelope Island
• Day 2 – Antelope Island to Palm Bay
• Day 3 – Palm Bay
• Day 4 – Palm Bay to Spurwing Island, Kariba
• Day 5 & Day 6 – Spurwing Island to Antelope Island to Kariba

For more Information Check out the Safari Holiday Guide to Lake Kariba Houseboats & Safaris

Kariba Photo Gallery
For more photos of this trip, check out my Kariba Wildlife Photographs.

Photographic Equipment Used
All the photos in this gallery were taken using the Panasonic DMC-FZ18 Digital Camera. I also often used the Olympus TCON-17 1.7x Tele Conversion lens (TCON-17). For more information check out:

• The Best Digital Cameras for Safaris
• Telephoto Conversion Lenses for the Panasonic DMC-FZ28 & DMC-FZ18 Digital Cameras

Kariba Houseboat Trip Report – March 2009

Day 4 | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 5 & 6 |

Spurwing Island, Kariba
We decided to move on, around Spurwing Island finding a place stop on the northern shoreline of Spurwing, right next to Fothergill Island. As the houseboat moved at it’s leisurely pace past the Spurwing Island Lodge, I took the smaller boat with my father to go and check out the lodge. We spoke to the manageress, who was a little busy at the time as they were hosting a large wedding party. The whole lodge complex seemed in  excellent condition and for around $100 US, you can still spend a really comfortable night in one of their chalets and go for a game drive with one of their two full time field guides (safari guides), something well worth considering for our next trip.

Birds: Spurwing & Fothergill Islands, Kariba

• (Western) Redfooted Falcon
• African Fish-eagle
• White-crowned Lapwing (Plover)
• Blacksmith Lapwing (Plover)
• Spotted Thick-Knee (Dikkop)
• Woolly-necked Stork
• Cattle Egret
• Wire-tailed Swallow
• Grey-headed Gull
• Reed Cormorant
• African Darter
• Pied Kingfisher
• Egyptian Goose

Trip Report Menu
This post is part of a series of posts on a Lake Kariba Houseboat Trip in March 2009

• Day 1 – Harare to Kariba to Antelope Island
• Day 2 – Antelope Island to Palm Bay
• Day 3 – Palm Bay
• Day 4 – Palm Bay to Spurwing Island, Kariba
• Day 5 & Day 6 – Spurwing Island to Antelope Island to Kariba

For more Information Check out the Safari Holiday Guide to Lake Kariba Houseboats & Safaris

Kariba Photo Gallery
For more photos of this trip, check out my Kariba Wildlife Photographs.

Photographic Equipment Used
All the photos in this gallery were taken using the Panasonic DMC-FZ18 Digital Camera. I also often used the Olympus TCON-17 1.7x Tele Conversion lens (TCON-17). For more information check out:

• The Best Digital Cameras for Safaris
• Telephoto Conversion Lenses for the Panasonic DMC-FZ28 & DMC-FZ18 Digital Cameras

Kariba Houseboat Trip Report – March 2009

Day 3 | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 4 | Day 5 & 6 |

Palm Bay, Matusadona National Park, Kariba
I woke up as the sun was just about to peer over the horizon, to find that there was an Impala ram silhouetted against the fiery sky…. what’s that saying about the early bird catching the early worm?

I spent most of the day taking photographs, either on land, from the houseboat or taking out the smaller fishing boat to get closer to the action. Highlights included a family of at least 11 elephants with plenty of young not far from us, a saddle-billed stork, an African Fish Eagle that was happy to pose for me and what I guess best of all, a Banded Gymnogene that I think was almost in breeding plumage, with a pinkish bill. It was obviously on the hunt for chicks in nests in trees and when I managed to get close to it, it was being mobbed by a pair of brave Glossy Starlings.

Angry Hippos
Other wildlife spotted included a bachelor herd of Impala, a herd of Zebra, Hippo, Crocodile and a Terrapin. One thing that was very noticeable was that apart from the usual pods of hippo there were a few hippos just wallowing in an inlet on their own, they seemed to be far more aggressive than usual (I found this out when trying to manoeuvre the small boat to get some photos of the Saddle-billed Stork!) My guess is that they were females getting ready to give birth: Pregnant hippos will remove themselves from the rest of the pod to find a safe sheltered spot to give birth and will stay away until the baby is able to survive the attention it will receive once they re-unite themselves with the others.

That night we had a braai that included steak and some excellent boereworse on the front of the boat.

Birds: Palm Bay, Kariba

• African Wattled Lapwing (Plover)
• African Jacana
• African Fish-Eagle
• Gymnogene (African Harrier-Hawk) (Mobbed by Glossy Starlings)
• White-Headed Vulture
• Cape Glossy Starling
• Cattle Egret
• Wire-tailed Swallow
• Greyheaded Sparrows (building nest in hollow of a tree)
• Redbilled Wood-Hoopoe
• Grey-headed Gull
• Reed Cormorant
• African Darter
• Pied Kingfisher
• Egyptian Goose
• Grey Heron
• Blacksmith Lapwing (Plover)
• African Openbilled Stork
• Great White Egret (Black bill – in breeding plumage)
• Burchell’s Coucal
• Lilac-breasted Rollers
• Little Bee-eater
• Common Sandpiper
• Green-backed Heron
• Dwarf Bittern
• Saddle-Billed Stork
• Red-billed Hornbill (Heard)
• White-faced Duck
• Black Heron
• African Sacred Ibis

Trip Report Menu
This post is part of a series of posts on a Lake Kariba Houseboat Trip in March 2009

• Day 1 – Harare to Kariba to Antelope Island
• Day 2 – Antelope Island to Palm Bay
• Day 3 – Palm Bay
• Day 4 – Palm Bay to Spurwing Island, Kariba
• Day 5 & Day 6 – Spurwing Island to Antelope Island to Kariba

For more Information Check out the Safari Holiday Guide to Lake Kariba Houseboats & Safaris

Kariba Photo Gallery
For more photos of this trip, check out my Kariba Wildlife Photographs.

Photographic Equipment Used
All the photos in this gallery were taken using the Panasonic DMC-FZ18 Digital Camera. I also often used the Olympus TCON-17 1.7x Tele Conversion lens (TCON-17). For more information check out:

• The Best Digital Cameras for Safaris
• Telephoto Conversion Lenses for the Panasonic DMC-FZ28 & DMC-FZ18 Digital Cameras

Kariba Houseboat Trip Report – March 2009

Day 2 | Day 1 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 & 6 |

Awaking just before sunrise, I went for a walk on Antelope Island, I wanted to see if I could get a photograph of the sunrise with a Fish Eagle in it, the birds wouldn’t play ball and even with my new 1.7x Teleconverter lens on my camera, I couldn’t get close enough before they flew off. All I managed, was to get dive bombed by a Blacksmith Lapwing, protecting it’s nest and to see what can only be described as the biggest Baboon (excuse my French) turd on top of an anthill ever (I would hate to meet that boy down a dark ally late at night!)

Antelope Island to Palm Bay, Kariba
After breakfast we left for the long 5 hour trip to Palm Bay, a wonderful spot at the foot of the Matusadona Mountains. I could see plenty of elephant through my binoculars as we passed Fothergill Island, Spurwing Island and Bed Island (Yes someone has actually cemented down some bed bases and all you need is a matress, should you want to sleep on this tiny mosquito infested island. Although I am not sure if by now they have rusted away or not?)

‘Holy Croc infested Sandbanks Batman’
On arrival in Palm Bay we saw that another houseboat had taken the inlet that we had planned to use. Whilst searching for another in very shallow water, we hit and got stuck on a sandbank. After nearly two hours of shouting, sweating and using the small tender boat (usually used for fishing) to push and pull the big boat, we finally managed to get free. By the time we had, the spot we originally wanted was now free! Drama over and now in our preferred position we were rewarded by an elephant bull, who shortly before sunset, wandered out of the bush down to the lake right next to us to drink and to cool off.

Trip Report Menu
This post is part of a series of posts on a Lake Kariba Houseboat Trip in March 2009

• Day 1 – Harare to Kariba to Antelope Island
• Day 2 – Antelope Island to Palm Bay
• Day 3 – Palm Bay
• Day 4 – Palm Bay to Spurwing Island, Kariba
• Day 5 & Day 6 – Spurwing Island to Antelope Island to Kariba

For more Information Check out the Safari Holiday Guide to Lake Kariba Houseboats & Safaris

Kariba Photo Gallery
For more photos of this trip, check out my Kariba Wildlife Photographs.

Photographic Equipment Used
All the photos in this gallery were taken using the Panasonic DMC-FZ18 Digital Camera. I also often used the Olympus TCON-17 1.7x Tele Conversion lens (TCON-17). For more information check out:

• The Best Digital Cameras for Safaris
• Telephoto Conversion Lenses for the Panasonic DMC-FZ28 & DMC-FZ18 Digital Cameras

Kariba Houseboat Trip Report – March 2009

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 & 6 |

Harare to Kariba

That’s around 15 beers a day…per person, I thought to myself as I finished loading the car with all the food, clothes, fishing equipment and the cases of beer for our 5 night Houseboat trip on Kariba. Soon afterwards, we set off on the Lomagundi road, for the four hour journey from Harare to Kariba. A journey that was only interrupted by a stop just before the town of Karoi at Buffalo Downs butchery for my supply of biltong (dried meat) and chili bites (more dried meat.. with a chili flavour).  Oh and one emergency stop just before Kariba on the twisting, winding road from Makuti down to the Zambezi Valley when my nephew, became more than little car sick… all over the car… after eating my biltong!

Kariba to Antelope Island
We finished loading Nautique (my dads houseboat) shortly after lunch. After paying National Parks for fishing permits, lake fees and some other fees, that I guess are for his new Mercedes, we set course for Antelope Island, just over an hour away, giving us plenty of time to get sorted before sunset. We moored in our favourite spot, on the western side of the island, with it’s wide open grassland area and tall dead ‘Kariba’ trees, it makes an excellent habitat for Fish Eagles. I immediately counted over 10 individuals and 3 nests, each with chicks in them. As well as Fish Eagles, we saw Baboons, a small herd of Impala and in the water: Hippo and the usual Crocodile. With sunset approaching, I cracked open an ice cold beer or two and later on placed a mattress on the front deck of the boat under Orion and his mates and drifted off to sleep.

Birds
On the road trip From Harare to Kariba

• Martial Eagle
• Bateleur Eagle
• Gymnogene (African Harrier-Hawk)
• Francolin – think a Coqui
• Golden Weaver Birds
• Lilac-breasted Rollers

Antelope Island

• African Fish Eagle
• Cattle Egrets
• Wire-tailed Swallows
• African Pied Wagtails
• Pied Kingfishers
• Crowned Lapwing (Plovers)
• Blacksmith Lapwing (Plovers)

Trip Report Menu
This post is part of a series of posts on a Lake Kariba Houseboat Trip in March 2009

• Day 1 – Harare to Kariba to Antelope Island
• Day 2 – Antelope Island to Palm Bay
• Day 3 – Palm Bay
• Day 4 – Palm Bay to Spurwing Island, Kariba
• Day 5 & Day 6 – Spurwing Island to Antelope Island to Kariba

For more Information Check out the Safari Holiday Guide to Lake Kariba Houseboats & Safaris

Kariba Photo Gallery
For more photos of this trip, check out my Kariba Wildlife Photographs.

Photographic Equipment Used
All the photos in this gallery were taken using the Panasonic DMC-FZ18 Digital Camera. I also often used the Olympus TCON-17 1.7x Tele Conversion lens (TCON-17). For more information check out:

• The Best Digital Cameras for Safaris
• Telephoto Conversion Lenses for the Panasonic DMC-FZ28 & DMC-FZ18 Digital Cameras