Plan My Safari
We plan family safaris the way we take them — as a family.
Evance and Jenny safari with their own children — so every family itinerary is built from lived experience: short flights instead of long drives, camps with fenced pools and real family suites, guides who turn tracking into a treasure hunt, and afternoons left gloriously unplanned.
Every trip is private — your own vehicle, your own guide, your own pace. Nobody else's schedule, and no minibus of strangers when someone needs a nap.
What makes a family
safari work
Paced for children
Short, story-driven game drives, light-aircraft hops instead of long road days, and pool afternoons built into every camp stay.
Junior-ranger guides
Tracking lessons, spoor casting, Maasai games and bush-craft badges — guides who make eight-year-olds feel like explorers, not passengers.
Malaria-smart routing
For younger children we can route through South Africa's malaria-free reserves or high-altitude areas — the same wildlife, more peace of mind.
The beach finale
End on the Kenyan coast or Zanzibar, where the adults finally exhale and the kids trade binoculars for snorkels.
Where to go if you want no malaria risk at all
This is the question we are asked most by parents of children under about six, and it deserves a straight answer rather than reassurance. Some of Africa's finest reserves carry no malaria risk whatsoever — and you can see the Big Five in several of them. Here is how we tier it.
South Africa's malaria-free reserves
The Eastern Cape (Kwandwe, Kariega, Amakhala), Madikwe, the Waterberg and Tswalu in the Kalahari all sit outside the malaria zone entirely — and the first three hold the Big Five. Add Cape Town, the Winelands and the Garden Route, all equally risk-free, and you have a complete two-week family trip with no tablets for anyone.
Best for: children under six · nervous first-timers · grandparents on medicationNamibia, and the islands that qualify
Southern Namibia — Sossusvlei, the NamibRand and the Kalahari — is malaria-free, and children love the dunes more than most game drives. For a beach finish, Mauritius and the Seychelles carry no risk either. Egypt and Morocco are also malaria-free if you want culture rather than wildlife.
Best for: teenagers · photography families · bush-and-beach without tabletsThe high-altitude East African route
Kenya's Laikipia conservancies and the Ngorongoro highlands sit high enough that risk is considered very low, and this is how families still get rhino on foot and the crater in one trip. It is low, however, not nil — prophylaxis is normally advised, and we would rather tell you that plainly than call it safe.
Best for: children eight and up · families set on East AfricaWhere tablets are part of the plan
The Serengeti, the Maasai Mara, the Greater Kruger, the Okavango, South Luangwa, Zanzibar, Diani and Mozambique are all malaria areas — most at their lowest risk in the dry winter months. Thousands of families travel them happily every year with paediatric prophylaxis, repellent and screened rooms. We simply want you deciding, not discovering.
Best for: older children · families who want the migration or gorillasWe are safari planners, not doctors: your travel clinic makes the final call on medication, and we will send your exact routing and altitudes to take to that appointment. What we can promise is that no NndeeAfrika itinerary quietly puts a small child in a high-risk area without telling you first.
Exclusive-use villas for the whole tribe
Your own house in the bush — private chef, private vehicles, private guide, and no other guests. Grandparents keep their own rhythm, teenagers sleep in, toddlers nap on schedule, and everyone meets for dinner under the stars.
It's also the way to bring children younger than camp minimum ages — the whole place plays by your rules.
See where families stay →Family safari questions
What age is best for a family safari?
From about age six, children get real joy from game drives; eight and up is the golden window. Many camps welcome younger children in private-vehicle or exclusive-use setups, and some have minimum ages — we route around them for you.
Is a safari safe for children?
Yes, with the right camps and routing. We use family-experienced camps with fenced pools and family suites, private vehicles throughout, and agreed medical protocols at every stop — the same standard we hold for our own children.
Will the kids get bored?
Not with the right pace. Drives stay short and story-driven, junior-ranger programs fill the middle of the day, and the trip ends on a beach where everyone finally slows down.
Which places are malaria-free?
South Africa's Eastern Cape reserves, Madikwe, the Waterberg and Tswalu carry no malaria risk — and the first three hold the Big Five. Cape Town, the Winelands, southern Namibia, Mauritius, the Seychelles, Egypt and Morocco are risk-free too. Laikipia and the Ngorongoro highlands are very low risk but not zero, and the Serengeti, Mara, Kruger, Okavango, Zanzibar and Diani are malaria areas where tablets are normally advised. See the full breakdown above.
Can grandparents join?
Multigenerational safaris are among our favorite trips to plan. Exclusive-use villas let three generations travel at three speeds — game drives for some, pool and veranda for others, dinner together every night.
Give them the trip
they'll never outgrow.
Tell us who's traveling and their ages — Evance or Jenny replies personally within 24 hours with a route built around your crew.