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Kenya safari advice needed - traveling with 3 year old (1 Viewer)

tomjenner

Well-known member
I will be visiting Kenya for three weeks over Christmas with a friend, my wife and our 3 year old son. Although I hope to do a lot of birding, it will be a family trip with lots of general wildlife watching. We will probably want to do one or two safaris during our stay, each for several days.
I am finding it hard to sift through the many websites to find what I am after. I need to keep the costs down a bit, though I am aware that it will not be cheap. One concern I have is that long safari trips in a crowded vehicle will be too much for our son if we are not able to take breaks when required. For this reason we would be better off in a private vehicle for the 4 of us. For cost reasons we will probably avoid the expensive lodges, but I would welcome any information about how basic the alternative campsites are - again mainly with our son in mind.
Any advice or recommendations on places to visit, companies to use, etc, would be a big help to us.
Thanks

Tom
 
No experience of the campsites, but you may have a problem finding a company that's willing to take a 3-year-old out on game drives. And I think I can understand why. Having spoken to several guides over the years, they all have stories of how stupidly adults can behave with wild animals - sometimes with horrific consequences. I'm sure none of them would feel comfortable with a small child. The slightest lapse in concentration of the adults present could be disastrous.
 
Thanks Frank
I can see why some companies will be wary of young kids, especially in a large group. I have been looking into this and it seems that some will not accept children under a certain age. We have no worries of taking him; he was born in El Salvador, lived for two years in Mongolia and now lives in Sudan, so I think he can handle it. The problem might be in convincing the tour company.
There do seem to be some companies that run family safaris, but I wonder whether they will go out into the better areas or be a limp version. The other alternative is to go with a company that will send us out in a private vehicle, so we can stop when necessary and go back to the camp according to the whims of our son. I would still welcome any suggestions on these options.

Tom
 
Hi Tom,
It would be worthwhile contacting a company called Eastern & Southern Safaris - http://www.essafari.co.ke/
They will put together a package based on you wishes/specifications which is tempered by the pragmatism of local knowledge. They supply an air-con minibus + driver/guide & will book all your accommodation. They tackle 3 week mega-safaris on the one extreme to 1/2 day birding trips for birding businessmen briefly visiting Nairobi on the other extreme. I found them to be excellent and very willing to adjust the itinerary to one's needs/wishes/whims. I am sure they could organise something suitable for you at reasonable cost.

I would suggest being based on the edge of Nairobi for a few days allowing day trips to Nairobi National Park using your own hired vehicle/driver. A good guide will get you some reasonable birds whilst Nairobi NP will yield a good range of mammals including giraffe, various antelope, Black Rhino as well as lion, leopard and cheetah though I believe there are no elephants.

From Nairobi it is fairly straightforward to drive on up the rift valley with Nakuru NP offering good mammal watching (again no elephants) as well as the flamingo spectacle whilst further north Bogoria and Baringo are well worth visiting. Basing yourself at Baringo for a few days will offer spectacular birding and reasonably inexpensive accommodation with the prospect of boat-trips (would be best to take your own infant life-jacket) and day trips to Baringo (flamingo + geysers + Greater Kudu).

For elephants and good big cat viewing the best options are the Mara or Samburu although cheaper accommodation is a problem in both of these areas. Most of the Samburu lodges were "wiped out" by a tsunami-type flood that descended the Ewaso Nyiro river in march of this year leaving accommodation options rather limited (and at a premium) currently. In the Mara the problem is that the best game viewing areas are monopolised by the more expensive lodges -most of which won't take young kids anyway!

Amboseli is a great option for elephants and the massive Tsavo NP has everything -but all at low density so difficult to see.

Finally you may be tempted to spend some time on the coast. If so then have a serious look at the Turtle Bay Beach Club in Watamu (http://www.turtlebay.co.ke/) -it's very family friendly with a good kid's club, safe children's swimming pool and good amenities -including a dive centre (Whale Sharks & Manta Rays are regular seasonal visitors). The advantage of TBBC at Watamu is that the birding in the general Watamu area is superb (I've just written up a trip report on this- http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=182577 ) with many local endemics/specials and some excellent local guides.

Hope you can organise something suitable. If you have any queries feel free to get back to me.
 
Tom

this is Mike Davidson in Nairobi , a member of the bird comittee of Nature Kenya [also treasurer] and of course a keen birder .

There are several good local guides who could custom build a tour for you to fit your needs . I am trying to contact one Joseph Kariuki to see if he is free over the period. I have done lots of birding with him and can recommend him . His website is Nature's wonderland safaris .

Will get back to you as soon as I have been in contact with him

by the way , many places to visit !!

Mike



I will be visiting Kenya for three weeks over Christmas with a friend, my wife and our 3 year old son. Although I hope to do a lot of birding, it will be a family trip with lots of general wildlife watching. We will probably want to do one or two safaris during our stay, each for several days.
I am finding it hard to sift through the many websites to find what I am after. I need to keep the costs down a bit, though I am aware that it will not be cheap. One concern I have is that long safari trips in a crowded vehicle will be too much for our son if we are not able to take breaks when required. For this reason we would be better off in a private vehicle for the 4 of us. For cost reasons we will probably avoid the expensive lodges, but I would welcome any information about how basic the alternative campsites are - again mainly with our son in mind.
Any advice or recommendations on places to visit, companies to use, etc, would be a big help to us.
Thanks

Tom
 
Tom

just located Joseph on safari . He will be back here on Monday and will contact you . I am sure he can tailor make a package for you

Mike


I will be visiting Kenya for three weeks over Christmas with a friend, my wife and our 3 year old son. Although I hope to do a lot of birding, it will be a family trip with lots of general wildlife watching. We will probably want to do one or two safaris during our stay, each for several days.
I am finding it hard to sift through the many websites to find what I am after. I need to keep the costs down a bit, though I am aware that it will not be cheap. One concern I have is that long safari trips in a crowded vehicle will be too much for our son if we are not able to take breaks when required. For this reason we would be better off in a private vehicle for the 4 of us. For cost reasons we will probably avoid the expensive lodges, but I would welcome any information about how basic the alternative campsites are - again mainly with our son in mind.
Any advice or recommendations on places to visit, companies to use, etc, would be a big help to us.
Thanks

Tom
 
Dear Tom,
Am Joseph, perharps you have heard about me from Mike Davidson, I do run a birding and wildlife safari company by the name Nature's Wonderland Safaris you may wish to visit our site www.natureswonderlandsafaris.com. Although my primary interest always is birding, I have organised wildlife tours too. Having read much of what in on advice to you, I wish to assure you, if you wish to do this tour with your son, there is no cause for alarm!! I will help you to arrange a private tour 3 adults and 1 son 3 yrs with no problem. Kindly drop me a line at [email protected] and will help you to iron out what you need to do. We do take your 3 yrs childrens to the national parks with exemption of Aberdares National Park (tree top lodge) and Mountain Lodge. There rest I will give you what you wish. I will need to know how many days of safari you wish to take the tour as well parks and reserves you would opt to visit as part of your priority. Am sure parks like Masai Mara and Nakuru would be a must but would love to hear what is your mind first.

Rest assured that given the go ahead we will give you the tour you long to have.
Looking forward to hear from you.
Joseph k.Mwangi
 
In the end, we went with Joseph's company (Natures Wonderland Safaris) and we had a fantastic time. Traveling with a young child affects the trip and limits the birding, but it is certainly possible. Our son is very well traveled and has lived all of his life in developing countries, so he has no problems with the bumpy dusty roads and lengthy drives. Not every child would be equally amenable to this and you would have to judge for yourself whether a safari is suitable for your child.
We worked with Joseph to plan an itinerary that would not be too hectic, so we cut it to three sites, staying a couple of nights at each rather than visiting a different location each night. We were more interested in a general wildlife safari than a birding trip, as this was far more suited to what our son needed. This meant that most of it was from the truck and limited the forest birding. This also meant that we did not take Joseph with us, though the driver he gave us, Wilfred, knew most of the larger birds. After returning from the main safari and a day trip out to Nairobi National Park, I met up with Joseph to check out any difficult species that I had managed to photograph.
I would love to go back along and do a proper birding trip with Joseph, but this was still a great trip, we all had a fantastic time, including my son, and I saw a lot of good birds.

Tom
 
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