An African safari is about experiencing the best that Africa’s wilderness has to reveal, still, on a family safari holiday, where you’ll be staying is just as important and what you’ll see and do along the way. The best family safari lodges in Africa provide not only a superb safari experience, but a home away from home for your family to disconnect from modern distractions, and to reconnect. Here, in no particular order, is our collection of the best family safari lodges in Africa
Saruni Samburu Family Villa | Samburu |Kenya
Perched upon a hill with jaw-dropping panoramas, a Saruni family villa offers incredible views over the untouched wilderness of Kalama Conservancy in northern Kenya. Villas include two separate bedrooms, sleeping four, with private verandahs, and access to two infinity pools and a spa. Enjoy flexible mealtimes and family-friendly activities that include game drives and warrior-guided bush walks, on which you can challenge the kids to spot the Samburu Special Five. Continue exploring…
Somalia Acacia| Hwange | Zimbabwe
Set on an acacia island in the heart of Hwange National Park, and boasting a natural waterhole for wildlife and splash pool for humans, adults and kids have plenty to entertain them. Somalisa Acacia has two family tents, sleeping four each, set on an acacia island with sweeping views over the savannah and ancient floodplains. The adjacent waterhole offers spectacular game viewing from camp, particularly of elephants, making this undoubtedly one of the best family safari lodges in Africa. Continue exploring…
Tanda Tula Field Camp | Timbavati | South Africa
Tanda Tula Field Camp, with its emphasis on family safaris and guided walking safaris, makes a big impact on all its guests – but not on its pristine setting in South Africa’s Timbavati Private Nature Reserve. The exclusive-use camp is erected anew for each booking for a maximum of eight guests. Exclusive use offers flexible schedules, private meals, and activities which include game drives, night drives, walking safaris, wildlife tracking on foot, interactive cooking, sundowners and stargazing—certainly one of the best family safari lodges for families with kids aged ten and over. Continue exploring…
Linyanti Ebony | Chobe |Botswana
It’s beneath a stand of soaring trees in the Chobe Enclave that you’ll find Linyanti Ebony, one of Botswana’s best safari lodges. The private two-bedroomed family tent, sleeping four, is set on a raised wooden deck overlooking the Linyanti marsh. The cleverly-designed layout of Linyanti Ebony means that the family tent becomes in effect a private lodge within a lodge. It offers private dining, flexible schedules, private vehicles and the entire camp can be booked for exclusive use. Continue exploring…
Morukuru Ocean House | Garden Route | South Africa
Morukuru Ocean House is unquestionably one of South Africa’s best safari houses. It is a private ocean-facing house set in the heart of the malaria-free De Hoop Nature Reserve. It includes four spacious en-suite bedrooms with fireplaces and glass doors overlooking the ocean, plus a study/kids’ bedroom. The house has a swimming pool, an upstairs bar and living room and an outdoor sun deck with 360-degree views of the De Hoop Nature Reserve, where the ocean views might even include southern right whales. Continue exploring…
Melton Manor | Garden Route | South Africa
Melton Manor – one of South Africa’s best safari lodges, is a contemporary take on frontier farmhouse style in Kwandwe Private Game Reserve along the renowned garden route, designed around a central swimming pool and courtyard, with an interactive farmhouse-style kitchen and views of wooded hills. This private safari house is ideally designed for family time, with lots of communal spaces – plus more private retreat areas, and a vast game reserve to explore. Continue exploring…
Mkombe’s House | Serengeti | Tanzania
Mkombe’s House, is a private house, halfway up a koppie with beautiful views out over the plains of the northern Serengeti, and close to two major Great Wildebeest Migration river crossings. Each room has a verandah, and there’s a plunge pool and larger pool as well as outdoor chill-out areas. The clever layout of the adult and children’s rooms and the complete flexibility over mealtimes and activities make it ideal for multi-generational travel. Continue exploring…
Sirikoi House | Lewa Conservancy | Kenya
Nestled in a shady acacia forest overlooking a waterhole in northern Kenya, Sirikoi House is a private Kenya safari house with its own chef, guide and safari vehicle. It is an intimate family-oriented house with a one-bedroomed master cottage, a two-bedroomed second cottage and a spacious dining and lounge cottage. Each bedroom is en-suite and can be made into a double or twin, sleeping a total of six. The lodge has both adult and child swimming pools. Families can enjoy all the exciting activities together but have enough space and privacy to unwind without crowding each other. Continue exploring…
Wolwedans Private Camp | NamibRand | Namibia
Wolwedans Private Camp is a private tented villa set in an idyllic valley in Namibia’s NamibRand Nature Reserve, with sweeping desert views encompassing golden yellow plains and rugged hills. The vast desert landscapes surrounding the private Namibia safari camp invite moments of quiet reflection, while having your own exclusive-use tented villa means that your kids can run wild – in the best possible sense. Continue exploring…
Phinda Mountain Lodge | Maputaland | South Africa
The family suite perched high above Phinda Private Game Reserve offers the ideal place for kids and parents to discover nature – and rediscover each other. Private & spacious with two adult bedrooms, each with en-suite bathroom, and two interleading children’s rooms, it comfortably sleeps eight. A private verandah leads off the shared lounge, and a nearby path leads down to the lodge swimming pool. The suite offers private safari vehicle and activities, butler service, private meals and flexible schedules. Continue exploring…
