Welcome to the new style family holiday that has it all. Climb aboard for close encounters with the African wilderness, meet the Masai, snap a crocodile, ogle an oryx, whizz down a waterslide, windsurf a wave, embrace an elephant, and google through the coral.
Let us take you on an adventure ride through the wildest show on Earth, from tree houses and nature trails to chimp reserves and elephant sanctuaries. And from ostrich farms and coral reefs to dhow trips and camel treks.
There is nothing quite like a shared experience to bond the generations, no time so quality as that spent discovering nature. No memories are so magical as those made on happy holidays.
These are just some of the things you and your children can share.
- Visit a crocodile farm, an ostrich farm, and a snake park.
- Take a trek on a donkey or camel.
- Go horse riding, mountain biking, or white-water rafting.
- Spend a day at the famous Nairobi Giraffe Center.
- Stop over at the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary.
- Climb a volcano or go up in a hot air balloon
- Sail away on a dhow or watch the sun go down on a beach barbeque.
- Take a dolphin tour or learn more about turtles.
- Try out coral reef diving, snorkeling, or a glass-bottomed bot ride.
- Join a butterfly hunt in one of the last great tropical forests.
- Tour the haunted ruins of ancient Gedi and meet the ghostly sheep that lurks there.
- Branch out on a bird walk in the bush and see how many species you can count.
- Visit a Masai village; spruce up your spear throwing, and make a bow and arrow.
- Visit a Kenyan school and plant a tree for Africa.
- Learn more about the insects, ecosystems, predator-prey, and elephants.
- Take up tracking, take some paw, pug, and print castings.
- Peep into the cradle of humanity – at one of Africa’s many famous prehistoric sites.
- Brush up your ‘bush craft’ and learn the basic bush survival skills.
However, no authentic safari is complete without a good book. So, to ensure the perfection of your traveling, here is an illuminating, informative, and enchanting selection that will be as enthralling by hurricane lamp as it will under coconut palm-fronted shade or … feet-up on the veranda.
The Essential Safari reading list ….
White Hunters:
The Golden Age of Safaris by Brian Herne, published by Owl Books.
Seventy years of high adventure, hard-drinking, hectic danger, hot romance, and hard-to-believe tales with the legendary great white hunters.
A field guide to the tracks and signs:
Of Southern and East African Wildlife. By Chris and Tilde Stuart, published by Struik Publishers (Pty) Ltd
Every animal leaves a trace of its passing, a track, a dropping or a feeding sign, perhaps just a depression in the grass. Here is how to tell a pug from a pad, from a paw with claws.
Swahili:
A complete course for beginners, by John Russell, published by Hodder & Stoughton.
This Swahili course will not only allow you to say “Hello” (Jambo), “How Much” (Bei Gani), and “How are You” (Habari Yako) with verve, confidence, and panache but it will also provide a fascinating into East Africa urban life, customer and culture.
Warriors Warthog and Wisdom:
Growing up In Africa by Lyall Watson, published by Kingfisher.
A liltingly, lovely tale of an African childhood, full of curious creatures, whimsical folklore, and deftly drawn characters. A gentle bedtime read to lull children and adults alike.
Pyramids of Life:
Pattern of Life and Death in the Ecosystem by Harvey Croze and John Reader, published by the Harvill Press.
An illuminating, sometimes red-raw but insightful window onto nature and Africa that explains precisely how the law of ecology works.
Cooking from Cape to Cairo:
A Taste of Africa by Dorah Sitole and True Love Magazine, published by Tefelberg Publishers.
A bright Melange of Traditional African tastes, cooking traditions, and exotic recipes drawn from hotels, lodges, and rural homemakers alike, this book also tells you how to make Ugali cake and Sukuma wiki, two of Kenya’s most famous dishes—but served with quite a difference, with a zebra and tomato concasse.
Africa’s Great Rift Valley.
By Nigel Pavitt, published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
Travel a vividly evocative photographic and factual journey through Africa’s Great Rift Valley, the most extensive, longest, and most conspicuous feature on Earth.
Hosts to both the birthplace of Mankind and Countless indigenous peoples, with a landscape that ranges from searing salt flats to snow-capped mountains, the Rift is an epic of Soul-Stirling vistas.
