Families on Safari

1/1/2010

Families of all ages are increasingly travelling together on safari. To accommodate this trend family rooms are being created at camps and lodges throughout southern Africa. Most are identical to the standard offerings except that they are more spacious - comprising two bedrooms with a shared living area and deck. In Zimbabwe, both Ruckomechi Camp in Mana Pools National Park and Little Makalolo Camp in Hwange National Park have converted one of their twin-bedded tented rooms into a family tented room. Little Makalolo's change is effective immediately, while Ruckomechi's family room will be ready when the camp` reopens for its new season - 15 May 2010.

In Botswana a family unit will be added to Selinda Camp in the Linyanti Reserve, which is expected to be completed in April 2010. This new unit will have two rooms joined on a common, raised deck area sharing a private swimming pool. Other camps in Botswana with family rooms include: Chitabe Lediba Camp, Vumbura Plains, Little Vumbura Camp, Seba Camp, and Jao Camp, in the Okavango Delta; Duma Tau and Savuti Camp in the Linyanti Reserve and Kalahari Plains Camp in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.

In Namibia Little Kulala Lodge in Sossusvlei, Serra Cafema in the Kunene Region, Ongava Lodge and Ongava Tented Camp adjoining Etosha National Park, Doro Nawas and Damaraland Camp in Damaraland, all have family units.

In Zambia family rooms have been created at Kalamu Lagoon Camp and Shumba Camp in the Kafue National Park, as well as at the River Club and Toka Leya Camp near Victoria Falls.

Facilities at the camps and lodges are also becoming more child-friendly without impacting guests who are not travelling as families. For example, a children's tree house is being built at Chitabe Lediba Camp (Okavango Delta, Botswana) in the style of Robinson Crusoe. The retreat will have a library full of African storybooks and volumes on the area's flora and fauna, along with comfortable cushions upon which to read. Amenities in the tree house include paints, puzzles, seed pods, a 'spoor' sandbox, clay for molding animals, plus a CD player for listening to animal and bird calls.

For active family members, The River Club in Zambia has completed its summer house/snooker room, colonnade connecting the summer house to the main area, and tennis pavilion. The tennis court is nearing completion; racquets and balls will be supplied at the Club.

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