Despite two decades in the safari industry under his belt, Karl Parkinson, head of partnerships at African Bush Camps, was hesitant to take his 8-year-old daughter and two teenage sons on their first safari trip last year.
“One of the trepidations my wife had was, is it safe for an 8-year-old?” Parkinson said. “And my teenagers at the time were 16 and 14, and I was wondering, will there be enough to keep them interested? Because half the challenge as a parent these days is keeping connected with your kids.”
Parkinson’s concerns quickly faded once his family arrived at African Bush Camps’ Bumi Hills Safari Lodge in Zimbabwe. His kids were fascinated by the wildlife they spotted during long game drives. He and his teen boys tried their hands at fishing. His wife and daughter enjoyed some downtime at the property’s spa. And all five family members made good use of the lodge’s game room, their spacious villa-style accommodations and, most importantly, fast WiFi.
“My boys still had the opportunity to post their Instagram stories or TikTok videos,” Parkinson said with a laugh. “But that was their way of sharing their experience. And for me, being able to share this with my kids, who had never been exposed to a safari, offered a very different and meaningful perspective.”
The trip was such a success that the Parkinson family is embarking on a second Zimbabwe safari later this year. This time, they plan on staying at African Bush Camps’ family-friendly Somalisa Acacia camp in Hwange National Park, featuring tented accommodations.
Parkinson acknowledged that for many travelers, finding family-friendly safari accommodations can prove challenging due to strict age restrictions and safety concerns at certain properties, as well as the fact that larger lodging options with connected rooms or tents tend to be in short supply.
The African Bush Camps portfolio spans more than a dozen properties across Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia, and not all are family-friendly. The ones that welcome kids, however, offer at least one family unit with more space as well as access to the company’s Ngawa Club programming, which features activities like nature walks, arts and crafts and cooking classes.
This emphasis on enhancing the family experience appears to be paying dividends.
“Over the last two years, we’ve definitely been seeing more multigenerational and family groups, which generally include parents, kids and sometimes the grandparents and the nannies, too,” said Parkinson, adding that this uptick has “put a lot of pressure on the business.”
“For our coming season, which starts in May and continues to October, a lot of our family units are fully booked, and we’re now booking families for 2025 and 2026,” he said. “The dial has shifted, and it’s really informed us on how we need to build our accommodations and equip our camps in the future.”
Demand for multigenerational travel still high
That multigenerational and family travel demand has boomed in the wake of Covid is well known.
What is a bit surprising is that this demand has remained elevated within the safari sphere, which has traditionally been viewed as a bucket-list travel occasion best suited to retirees or honeymooners.
“It used to typically be couples booking safaris, for either a honeymoon or a big anniversary,” said Linda Sergeant, founder of Far and Away Luxury Destinations. “But then something did start to change, and even pre-Covid, grandparents started saying, ‘Hey, I want to take the entire family on safari’ because they wanted to create memories with their kids and grandkids. And after Covid, that multigenerational trend grew even more.”
Erina Pindar, COO and managing partner at SmartFlyer, has also seen a sustained increase in family-oriented safari bookings. SmartFlyer’s multigenerational safari travel business increased 46% year over year in 2023, with this jump driven in part by evolving safari accommodations.
“Private villa options offered by various operators have made family-friendly safaris even more accessible,” said Pindar, who cited properties operated by companies like Singita, which offers private residences across South Africa, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Rwanda, and the Royal Portfolio, known for its private safari villas in South Africa’s Greater Kruger reserves, among other family-friendly accommodations.
Sergeant also noticed that more camps and lodges are making family-friendly accommodations a priority.
“I’m seeing more lodges with amazing villas that allow for two people in one bedroom and then connectivity to family members in another room with double beds,” Sergeant said. “And I also see a few lodges bringing their accommodation count down and going from, say, 15 accommodations to eight but making the accommodations much larger for families, because that family trend is going in such an upward direction.”
Kids club-style programming has also proven a popular addition. Suzanne Teng, Abercrombie & Kent’s product manager for Africa, pointed to examples like the Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve’s Bush Lodge, which has an EleFun Centre where children ages 4 to 12 have access to an indoor arts and crafts studio and playroom as well as an outdoor playground.
“For game drives, you may be sitting in a vehicle for two to four hours at a time, and for younger children, that can be problematic,” Teng said. “So, while parents are on game drives, the kids can make a cast of animal prints or run around and be active. And other places have specialized caretakers and guides who can take kids on a walking safari around the camp to keep them engaged.”
According to Teng, A&K has been doing brisk business on the family safari front. The company has long offered both a customizable Tailor Made Kenya: Family Safari product as well as a 12-day Family Kenya & Tanzania Safari small group tour, which does six to seven departures each year and consistently sells out.
“Our guests like the camaraderie of having other families with them,” said Teng, who added that the group is accompanied on the trip by a tour director and a dedicated child-activity coordinator.
New developments in family safaris
Although it has leaned family-friendly since its inception in 1999, South Africa tour operator Royal Portfolio’s most recent expansion — the Waterside Lodge at Royal Malewane in Greater Kruger — showcases its all-ages approach to luxury safari travel.
Opened two years ago, the Waterside Lodge offers amenities such as a game room and access to the company’s Royal Rangers Club kids programming as well as spacious, kid-friendly accommodations like the two-bedroom Baobab Suite and the Waterside House private villa, which sleeps up to eight in four bedrooms.
And with family travel trends proving robust, the Royal Portfolio plans to add a family villa to its offerings in the Franschhoek Valley winelands in the coming months, said Georgina Muirhead, marketing and communications manager for the Royal Portfolio.
“We see a lot of family celebration travel in particular coming in,” she said. “And we also get a lot of people just wanting to expose their children to nature and the outdoors and give them some time away from their device. I think more parents are consciously choosing a safari in order to disconnect [from the digital world] and reconnect to nature.”
The Elewana Collection, which is part of the Minor Hotels portfolio of brands, has similarly found success by way of a family-friendly slant, with all but one of the group’s 16 Kenya- and Tanzania-based lodges, camps and hotels welcoming children of all ages.
“There are no age limits, but we do advise our clients to use their own judgement when it comes to game drives with their children, and we encourage them to go at their own pace,” said Alina Haq, director of marketing and communications for the Elewana Collection.
Kid-oriented activities are a primary focus for the brand, with Elewana properties offering activities such as lessons on starting a fire, guided bush walks and village visits that offer children a more culturally immersive experience. For older children, more advanced offerings like wildlife photography sessions are available.
“Post-Covid, I think a lot of people realized that life is short,” Haq said. “And so they’re taking the opportunity to do these multigenerational trips. But something we’ve realized is when these families book their first safari, they think of it as this once-in-a-lifetime trip, but after the experience, they long to come back. So, we do get people that come back every year.”
A more recent entrant into the safari space, RockFig Safari Lodge in South Africa’s Timbavati Game Reserve debuted in early 2019 with a family-friendly policy but without a dedicated family suite or villa offering. That’s set to change when the property relocates in 2026 to a new, nearby lodge building that will offer accommodations better suited to families with kids, with connecting rooms and private pools.
“Although we can currently accommodate two kids under 12 in a room with their parents, offering a bunk bed if they all want to be together, there were other properties that families might choose over RockFig because of that,” said Kim Beyers, who oversees sales for the property. “But we think that will change, once we’ve built our new RockFig.”
When Batoka Africa’s Zambezi Sands, which is part of Preferred Travel Group’s Beyond Green portfolio, debuted in Zimbabwe’s Zambezi National Park roughly a year ago, it also lacked a dedicated family accommodation. In response to demand, however, it’s in the process of building a four-bedroom family suite, which will join the camp’s inventory of 10 tented accommodations.
The property has also rolled out a variety of family-friendly activities, including cooking classes and an on-property safari walk, which kids can do while parents go on their own off-property walk.
“Traditionally, in the safari industry, our key market has always been the retired, particularly in Zimbabwe,” said Batoka Africa CEO Vimbai Masiyiwa. “But because of Covid, we began to rely a lot more on regional travel, and that’s when we started to see the increase in families with young children traveling.”
Masiyiwa describes the soon-to-open family suite as a “mini-lodge,” with an indoor-outdoor living and dining area. In addition to the extra space, it’s located slightly farther away from the property’s other accommodations, allowing for privacy. A stay in the family suite will include a dedicated guide and, importantly, dedicated childcare.
“And we’re definitely looking at adding more [family-friendly] programming,” Masiyiwa said.
But despite the increasing availability of lodges and camps with family-friendly accommodation options, demand continues to outpace supply, meaning that time is of the essence for those looking to secure a multibedroom suite or villa.
“When it comes to the luxury family travel space in Africa, there is a lot of choice, but because it’s in such high demand at the moment, if families are looking to travel, they’re probably looking at booking for 2025,” said A&K’s Teng. “The accommodations exist, but because they’re limited in the number, once one family books, they’re gone.”
For Teng, however, going through the trouble of getting a family safari on the books is worth it. She said she took her son on his first safari to Kenya when he was 12, describing the experience as overwhelmingly positive.
“He loved it,” Teng said. “I think one of most beautiful things is to see someone experience their first safari, and especially if it’s through the eyes of a child, there’s just this sense of wonderment. It’s contagious.”
