You children have watched The Lion King and all its sequels, like a gazillion times, and you think that maybe, just maybe, you should take them to Africa, to find the REAL Mufasa, Nala, Zazu and Co.
Let me tell you, Zimbabwe is a great choice if you are looking for a family-friendly safari destination.
It’s not all ellies and crocodiles, but they will also have a ball playing games, baking with chefs, learning bush skills and fostering a new love for the African wildlife.
And, in Zimbabwe, it’s easy to add on a couple of nights in Victoria Falls for a little bit of a different kind of adventure, before or after your safari.
Why Choose Zimbabwe for a Family Safari?
Zimbabwe is one of the best African countries a family can travel to!
Not only is the game incredibly good (not guaranteed though, Mother Nature runs by her own clock), but the lodges are gorgeous, the activities are engaging and unique, the people are so friendly.
In addition, Victoria Falls is a fun place to travel to with your family.
Best Family-Friendly Safari Destinations in Zimbabwe
Victoria Falls is a perfect starting point, or ending point, for any family vacation to Zimbabwe. If your children love to be outside, and want to keep active, there are loads of ways to get them to run their battieries flat!
Not only that, there are hotels and lodges that are completely equipped to look after families.
What Age Is Best for a Safari in Zimbabwe?
Families travelling on a safari into a national park, need to find out the age restrictions of the camps that they are going to. Some camps have a minimum age, basically down to safety factors, and some have age restrictions on game drives and other activities. Also for safety reasons.
Here are the minimum age limits at a couple of safari lodges in Hwange National Park, and Mana Pools National Park.
Hwange National Park – minimum age limit for children
| Davison’s Camp | No children under the age of 6. Have to book a private vehicle if children are 6 – 12 years. |
| Little Makalolo | No children under the age of …Have to book a private vehicle if children are 6 – 12 years. |
| Linkwasha Camp | No children under the age of …Have to book a private vehicle if children are 6 – 12 years. |
| Hwange Safari Lodge | Accepts children of all ages. |
| Toms Little Hide | Accepts children of all ages. |
Mana Pools National Park – minimum age limit for children
| Ruckomechi Camp | No children under 6 years. Have to book a private vehicle if children are 6 – 12 years. |
| Chikwenya Camp | No children under 6 years. Have to book a private vehicle if children are 6 – 12 years. |
| John’s Camp | No children under 12 years unless camp is booked exclusively. No child rates. |
| Ingwe Pan | No children under 6 years. No children under the age of 12 are allowed to participate in game walks |
| Nyamatusi Mahogany | Accepts children of all ages. 16 years age restriction applies for bush walks and canoeing. |
As you can see from the table above, every camp or lodge is different, so you need to check the rules, based on the ages of your children, before you book.
General rules (please check each camp for individual camp rules as this is a general guideline only):
> If you book out a camp exclusively, then the minimum age limit for children is often lowered or removed.
> Usually, the minimum age for children to join on a guided bush walk or to go canoeing, is 16 years.
> Many camps have a rule that if your children are under 12 years old, you have to book and pay for a private game vehicle for your whole stay at the camp.
> Children may not stay in a tent on their own. If there isn’t a family tent/ room available, parents have to split. One parent shares with one child, and the other parent shares with the other child. This is a good reason why you should try and book in advance.
Choosing the Right Family-Friendly Accommodation
On a safari, most of the time, the accommodation is tented.
Not like a tent you will pop up in your garden, no no, but gloriously spacious tents with en suite bathrooms and all the trimmings.
Some tents have a deck out front, some have a sunken lounge. It just depends on where you go, what you want, and what your budget allows.
One thing you need to know is that young children are never allowed to stay in a tent on their own. These camps and lodges are in national parks where the wildlife are safe from poachers and roams freely.
You need to find a camp that:
- Allows children of your kids’ ages
- Has dedicated activities for children
- Has a family tent or villa
Family-tented accommodation is usually two tents that are combined by an enclosed passage.
Or it could be a two-bedroom suite, or a villa.
A family of four will be comfortably accommodated – if you have more than two children, you need to request an allowance for your third child. This is because the camps have limits to the number of actual beds that they have, the number of seats in the game drive vehicles and some areas only allow a certain number of people per night (this helps towards conservation and sustainability of the area).
Otherwise you will have to book an additional tent, and the bed will be moved from the that extra tent, into your family tent.
Top Family-Friendly Activities in Zimbabwe for Young Children
First of all, know that if the camp does have wifi (most of them do these days but if its important to you, please check this before you book), it is usually only available in your room.
This is because nobody wants to sit in the lounge area, or under that gorgeous, giant baobab tree, quietly watching the animals come down to the waterhole, and then have Mr Dot sitting at the next table watching the latest football game, or calling his mom at home for his check-in. *Kick those people out*
1. Game Drives for Children
When children go on game drives, more precautions are taken and they generally don’t get taken close to predators for obvious safety reasons. Guides will take them to find plains game such as zebra, giraffe, elephants, wildebeest, buffalo and loads more. Back in the day, this used to be called a ‘bumble drive.’
Older children, depending on the parents and the guide, are SOMETIMES allowed to get a bit more adventurous in their sightings, Parents are always invited to go along with their children on game drives.
Children who are older and allowed to go and find lions for example, have to be well-behaved and they have to listen. Children who don’t listen will not be allowed near these types of sightings incase they start stressing, climbing around the vehicle, making a lot of noise, and attracting said lion.
2. Walks
Some lodges in Africa will take kids on short walks but around the lodge to see what they can find. Walks for children all depend on the lodge, if the lodge is fenced or unfenced, and again, the behaviour of the children.
Children find these walks fascinating as their guides teach them about animal tracks, as well as the little bugs and beetles that are scurrying around. At some lodges, more so in Namibia, fascinating scorpion night-walks are always popular!
3. In-Camp Activities
Being away from the camp is not the only place to have fun! Camps that are geared towards families have loads of interesting things planned for children, such as cooking or baking with the chef, rock painting, and various arts and crafts. Some even have lawn games.
Some lodges have bows and arrows (into targets of course) for older children that is of course strictly supervised. Kids love the scavenger hunts!
Bush skills is another great activity available at some lodges, where children learn how to identify animal tracks, as well as survival skills, such as learning how to make rope from parts of a tree!
Being on a family-friendly safari in Zimbabwe is the PERFECT way to get children away from their screens and let them enjoy the bush and get back to nature.
4. Swimming Pools!
Most camps have a swimming pool which kid love, rain or shine!
October is the hottest month of the year in Zim, so if you are travelling during the shoulder season (also known as the green season), definitely look for a camp with a pool.
5. Baby-Sitting & Child-Minding
This one is more for the parents. Child-minding is usually done during the day while your children are playing games and learning how to become a game ranger. This would be the time that you, as the parents, can go out on your own game drive and get to the sightings of the Big 5.
If you are wanting baby-sitting at night so you can have a quiet dinner, or your kids don’t want to sit around listening to the adults chattering, most camps to offer baby-sitting services in your tent or room.
Again, find this out when you are doing your research before booking as it isn’t a standard, and also chat to the camp manager once you get to camp. Sometimes it is an extra cost, and sometimes it isn’t.
Tips for Keeping Your Children Safe
You need to know that most of the camps are unfenced, meaning anything can be wandering around in the camp at any time of the day or night. And if you’ve paid attention to your precious kitty at home, you would have noticed as the sun goes down, they become the hunters of the night.
Domestic cats, lions. They all have the same natural instincts but they’re not in amp for you. They are looking for their natural prey; antelope, genets, warthog, wildebeest and so on.
But it’s not just lions. There might be impala, porcupines, kudu, even elephants having a stroll around and munching on the leaves around your tent.
You don’t need to worry, just listen to your guide and you will stay safe.
After dinner when you’re ready to turn in and just flop onto the luxuriously comfy bed, your guide will escort you back to your tent.
There’s no walking alone after dark.
Once you are safely inside your tent, that’s it until your guide fetches you again in the morning. There is no leaving your tent at night.
In your room you will have an emergency horn, a phone (depending if the camp is ‘on the grid’), or the manager’s WhatsApp number so if you do need someone during the night, no, not for your G&T, but if you do have an emergency, you do have a way to call for help.
IF you don’t like the idea of being in a tent, there are a handful of lodges that are brick-and-mortar, but to be honest, there aren’t many.
Thousands of families have travelled on safari and safely stayed in the tented camps, and all have left with the best memories!
Best Time of Year to Visit Zimbabwe with Kids
When looking at travelling to Zimbabwe, the best time to travel is during winter. That would be winter in the southern hemisphere.
>There is less vegetation, so it’s easier to spot the animals
>There is less water so animal gather around the waterholes
>There are fewer bugs
>The temperatures during the day are pleasant
Sample 10 Day Family-Friendly Safari Itinerary in Zimbabwe
The easiest way to create an exciting family-friendly safari in Zimbabwe is to include the main highlights. After all, if you’re travelling all this way, you can experience the highlights in 10 days. Doing this all in 8 or 9 days is possible, but you will feel more rushed.
You can book this type of safari in one of two directions:
Option 1:
Fly into Victoria Falls and fly out of Harare city
Option 2:
Fly into Harare city and fly out of Victoria Falls
Have a look here for flight connections —–
Basic Itinerary:
Day 1: Fly into Harare – fly to your first lodge in Mana Pools. Overnight at your lodge.
Day 2 & 3: Enjoy time at your lodge.
Day 4: Fly from Mana Pools to Lake Kariba. Enjoy two nights with your family at Lake Kariba.
Day 5: Spend time in Lake Kariba
Day 6: Fly from Lake Kariba to Hwange National Park. Overnight at your lodge.
Day 7 & 8: Explore and enjoy your safari in Hwange.
Day 9: Fly from Hwange National Park to Victoria Falls. Overnight at your hotel.
Day 10: Enjoy the activities available in Victoria Falls. Overnight at your hotel.
Day 11: Get transferred to Victoria Falls Airport and fly out home.
You can reverse that itinerary and start in Victoria Falls, and end in Harare if you’d prefer to experience Victoria Falls first and the safari portion afterwards.
You can tailor-make this to anything you like, unless you book onto a group trip. Leave out Lake Kariba if you want, add more nights in Mana Pools. The choice is yours how you would like to tailor make your safari.
It will mainly depend on flight availability, and if you prefer to start off in a hotel in a town with activities (Victoria Falls) and end your vacation on safari; or start your vacation on safari and end off at a hotel in a town with activities.
Whatever you choose, you will have an amazing family-friendly safari adventure with in Zimbabwe!
If this does interest you and you would like to find out more, I suggest you read the following articles I’ve written, just for the traveller like you who wants to travel with their children.
- The best time to visit Zimbabwe
- Are safaris safe for kids?
- Know the basic do’s and don’ts when going on a safari
- My personal review of the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge (great for families!)
- Best tips for a visit to Victoria Falls
PS: When you’re in Victoria Falls, I highly recommend booking a dinner at The Boma which isn’t just a traditional restaurant, but it includes drumming and a buzzing dance show too and everyone loves it here!
