First time in Africa, with kids: where to go? (1 Viewer)

Hi

I think it's time to bring the kids (and myself) to Africa, to see mammals, birds, nature and people.

I've never been birding in Africa, and have not started reading and research yet. So I would be happy about some pointers and ideas, to get me started.

- Our kids are now 4 and 12, the trip would be earliest next year, so the small one will be 5 or 6. She's used to travelling.
- We prefer to travel independently. When people tell about driving through Namibia with a camper van, that sounds like our thing. Never done an organised tour, but if that would have lots of advantages (e.g. costs), I'd consider perhaps.
- Costs, well. I prefer 5 weeks with basic comfort in great wildlife sites to 1 week in luxury lodges...
- I think we would focus pretty much on wildlife watching. We don't care too much for dedicated cultural visits or sightseeing. More interested in everyday's life of local people, and in my experience from other regions, going birding to weird places usually offers plenty experience of local rural life. Not sure if that works the same in Africa.

Ok, let's see what you think!

Thanks, Florian

I think a campervan trip in Namibia would be an excellent choice and would offer everything you're looking for. It shouldn't be outrageously expensive. There are lots of cheap places to stay with a camper that would also be excellent for wildlife.

South Africa is cheaper than it's ever been and with a camper, you'll probably be limited to SA largely due to the state of the roads in many places unless you stick to main routes in e.g Namibia.


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andyadcock said:

... you'll probably be limited to SA largely due to the state of the roads in many places unless you stick to main routes in e.g Namibia.

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All the main areas in Namibia can be done with ease - many companies in Windhoek offer camper vans that come fully equipped and are suited to the country - gravel roads are generally in excellent condition. Standard saloon car also fine if you wished to carry camping equipment/stay in lodging.

Generally, I would also say Namibia is a very relaxing country for a first-time visitor and, arguably, has a greater variety of landscape types than South Africa within a 'gettable' area (without the dramatic likes of the Drakensburg though of course) - combining Etosha, the Skeleton coast, Walvis Bay and Sousessvlei makes a very enjoyable loop that can be done without too much rush in a standard two-week trip.

That said, for a first visit, you are going to have an amazing time, whether South Africa or Namibia.

I agree that South Africa or Namibia would be excellent choices. In both places there's one main self-driving game reserve, Kruger for the former and Etosha for the latter. I think the infra-structure is better in South Africa, if that's a concern. I think both could be really good with children who have some experience with wildlife-related travel.

One thing to bear in mind for both Etosha and Kruger is that it's illegal to leave the car anywhere other than a few designated sites, and that might be difficult to take for the kids. Maybe consider spending mid-day in camp and letting them burn off some energy. With South Africa, once you leave Kruger and maybe explore the Blyde canyon area I'm not sure there there are other interesting areas within easy travel distance. In Namibia you get the desert landscape, and I can think of various places one could stop that should be interesting.

Andrea

Take the kids on a boat to see GW Sharks......


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Hi All, many thanks for your suggestions! So Namibia and/or SA, the answer seems quite clear

Some follow-up questions:

South Africa is cheaper than it's ever been

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Does that mean that SA is generally cheaper to travel than Namibia?

One thing to bear in mind for both Etosha and Kruger is that it's illegal to leave the car anywhere other than a few designated sites, and that might be difficult to take for the kids. Maybe consider spending mid-day in camp and letting them burn off some energy.

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Thanks for that comment! Indeed, I already wondered how to deal with this confiment to cars... I assume that is limited to the big parks? How is that in other areas? Are there generally places for good hiking, and where you still can see birds and perhaps some not so dangerous mammels?

Thanks, Florian

Having to stay in the car is indeed limited to the big parks. In other areas hiking is a definite possibility.

In Namibia a lot of land is either desert or sustains enough plant life that it's used for (very low intensity) lifestock farming (or in some cases the `farm' land is just given over the wildlife and money comes in through visitors). Walking there is fine, and there definitely are birds (but not in high density by either species or numbers, unless they're concentrated by a resource like water). Depending on how much driving you're happy to do, there's some spectacular desert landscape to the west and to the south of Windhoek, and there is quite a bit of interesting material on how any kind of wildlife survives in those conditions. I recall that mammals are mostly antelope and they were quite wary - I think we saw most of those from the car rather than on foot. Being able to experience this kind of landscape on foot is quite thrilling, I think, to most Europeans. When I went it was on a group tour where we stayed in places where we could go birding on the property, but I don't really know how this works for people who are camping and for that reason I don't think I can give recommendations for specific places.

Both countries are quite big and one has to plan which parts one wants to visit, and limit oneself in order to avoid too much transit time being spent. Travel is slower than we are used to in the Western world. For South Africa, I think you have to make a decision about whether you want to combine Kruger with a completely different part of the country (Andy suggested the southern coast), which requires either a longish (multi-day) drive or a flight, or whether you stick with the area around Kruger. If the latter then you have the Blyde River Canyon area (which is the northern part of the Drakensberg escarpment) which is a tourist area with good infrastructure and some spectacular landscapes, with good hiking opportunities. I haven't visited the area myself but I've seen some photos and read a bit about it, and would quite like to see it one day.

I think for both countries it would be easily possible to combine a large national park with areas where one can walk.

Andrea

dalat said:

Does that mean that SA is generally cheaper to travel than Namibia?

Thanks, Florian

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The Rand and Namibian Dollar are linked at 1= 1 so costs are comparable. Cost is due to the relative weakness of the Rand, when we first decided to go, it was about ten Rand to the UK Pound and had been for years, it's almost 17 now even with the fairly weak Pound.

Note that if you cross the border, you can spend Rand in Namibia but you can't spend Namibian Dollars in SA.

A couple of things the kids may like in Namibia are the Cape Gannet colony at Lamberts Bay and Cape Fur Seal Colony at Cape Cross.

This reminds me of an amusing moment during the planning of our trip. You'll note the regular occurrences of 'Cape' in Southern Africa and one day, my confused wife was reading my outline plan and checking things on the map. 'Where the heck is Cape Gannet' she said, 'it's nowhere on this map'! I just started to laugh which annoyed her even more.


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dalat said:

Indeed, I already wondered how to deal with this confiment to cars...

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Not actually too bad in reality - you will be driving slowly, stopping looking about and, though they do need to stay in the car, seat belts etc are unnecessary (and not legally required). Thus the kids can jump about on the back seat as much as they want, the windows will be open ...and, more critically, there will rarely be more than a short period when there isn't a walloping great Elephant, Kudu or something for them to be gawping at.

Lots of folk do spend days in the national parks and I have never seen children looking unhappy ...not that I have spent great time looking for

I think it's a tough choice, as both countries would be excellent. Time of year could maybe swing it where's best to go.

andyadcock said:

A couple of things the kids may like in Namibia are the Cape Gannet colony at Lamberts Bay and Cape Fur Seal Colony at Cape Cross.

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Lambert's Bay is in South Africa, not Namibia.

I would say the main issue with South Africa if travelling with kids is the big distances - if you do Kruger (an absolute must), the distances to other areas are often huge ... Simon's Town for the penguins is fantastic, Gansbaai for the Great White Sharks a definite maybe, Lambert's Bay if passing ...but these are effectively two days of long driving from Kruger, or moderately long journeys even if taking an internal Jo'burg-Cape Town flight.

If choosing South Africa with kids, personally I would think about Kruger with a loop down to KwaZulu - nice areas along the Indian Ocean: boat rides for Hippos in the St Lucia region, more good game parks (Mkuzi et al), a more lush green landscape with a 'traditional' African feel, maybe even time to squeeze ten minutes play time for the kids on the endless beaches.

I am not sure I would really lobby for a visit to Lambert's Bay. If you really want to see the Gannet colony could be interesting but otherwise I find it kind of underwhelming. Mediocre restaurants, and not a lot else on offer in the town. I find West Coast NP a bigger draw. But really, I think the advice to stick to the Kruger area (which I don't know) or to Namibia a better option. Just did three weeks from Windhoek - Etosha - Sossusvlei - Kgalagadi - Augrabies which was amazing. If you're going to rent in Windhoek all of the camper rentals will happily rent you a vehicle that can be taken to Botswana and ZA, you could do a loop, or a bunch of Namibia and then on to Gabarone, or see Namibia for a few weeks then to Kgalagadi NP then down to Cape Town, lots of flexibility with the vehicles, and the logistics, roads, etc are all quite easy.

pbjosh said:

I am not sure I would really lobby for a visit to Lambert's Bay. If you really want to see the Gannet colony could be interesting but otherwise I find it kind of underwhelming. Mediocre restaurants, and not a lot else on offer in the town. I find West Coast NP a bigger draw. But really, I think the advice to stick to the Kruger area (which I don't know) or to Namibia a better option. Just did three weeks from Windhoek - Etosha - Sossusvlei - Kgalagadi - Augrabies which was amazing. If you're going to rent in Windhoek all of the camper rentals will happily rent you a vehicle that can be taken to Botswana and ZA, you could do a loop, or a bunch of Namibia and then on to Gabarone, or see Namibia for a few weeks then to Kgalagadi NP then down to Cape Town, lots of flexibility with the vehicles, and the logistics, roads, etc are all quite easy.

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Agree with all.

Phantastic comments all over, thanks so much! Makes me really itching to go... Shame it will be earliest next year.

Jos Stratford said:

Lambert's Bay is in South Africa, not Namibia.

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Oooops, only 5 years since I did so no real excuse!

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pbjosh said:

I am not sure I would really lobby for a visit to Lambert's Bay. If you really want to see the Gannet colony could be interesting but otherwise I find it kind of underwhelming. Mediocre restaurants, and not a lot else on offer in the town. I find West Coast NP a bigger draw. But really, I think the advice to stick to the Kruger area (which I don't know) or to Namibia a better option. Just did three weeks from Windhoek - Etosha - Sossusvlei - Kgalagadi - Augrabies which was amazing. If you're going to rent in Windhoek all of the camper rentals will happily rent you a vehicle that can be taken to Botswana and ZA, you could do a loop, or a bunch of Namibia and then on to Gabarone, or see Namibia for a few weeks then to Kgalagadi NP then down to Cape Town, lots of flexibility with the vehicles, and the logistics, roads, etc are all quite easy.

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Here's what we did in a Chevrolet Spark, the tough road was the C13 in Namibia which I wouldn't advise for a caravan and Kunene Lodge would be out too but the rest is do'able.

http://www.surfbirds.com/trip_report.php?id=2139

How long have you got Florien?

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Thanks Andy, I will read your report!

How long have you got?

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Max tiem available next summer would be 5 weeks (school holidays). The other constraint is the budget. I hope we can do around 4 weeks at least. I prefer to do it slow...

Last year spent just over 3 weeks in Sth Africa and Zimbabwe with my then 10yr old son all done independently.

We flew into Joburg, spent roughly 1 week in and around around Kruger (incl. day trip to Blyde Canyon), flew joburg - Vic Falls then spent 4 days Hwange Natl Park and several days in Vic Falls before flying down to Cape Town where we spent a week (Cape area, West Coast Natl Park and Tankwa Karoo Natl Park).

The only complaints about time in the car was when driving to the different national parks from the airports - once there driving slowly with windows down and all the wildlife you should have no problem with the kids.

dalat said:

Thanks Andy, I will read your report!



Max tiem available next summer would be 5 weeks (school holidays). The other constraint is the budget. I hope we can do around 4 weeks at least. I prefer to do it slow...

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There are parts of my trip you couldn't do anyway with a camper and all the border crossings take time and money but West Coast SA and a good part of Namibia would easily be do'able in 4-5 weeks

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