Family
Safari at your children's pace
Start close to Nairobi, keep the drives short and leave time at camp. We will not book a camp until we have checked it against your children's ages. Then we plan the days around them, and around you.
Family safaris are built around Kenya: the country pairs shorter transfers between camps with an established bench of family-friendly lodges used to younger travellers, so days can flex around nap times and shorter game drives without losing the adults' interest. Guides here are practised at keeping young eyes on the horizon, from spotting the first elephant of the trip to timing a game drive around an attention span rather than a fixed schedule.
What the days feel like
Photo: Daniel Case / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 A lake to begin
Lake Naivasha is under two hours from Nairobi. Families can cycle and walk among wildlife in Hell's Gate, then take a boat to Crescent Island and walk with giraffe and zebra. At dusk the hippos come out of the shallows.
Photo: Joachim Huber / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 A fenced first park
Lake Nakuru is enclosed by a predator-proof fence, which is unusual in Kenya, and has been a rhino sanctuary since 1987. It is compact, so drives stay short. Black and white rhino, Rothschild's giraffe and, when the lake levels suit them, flamingos.
Photo: Lengai101 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 Chimpanzees and rare rhino
Ol Pejeta, 30 minutes from Nanyuki, is home to the last two northern white rhinos on earth. It is also the only place in Kenya to see chimpanzees, taken in when a rescue centre in Burundi closed in 1993.
Photo: Kengitau254 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 Turtles and monkeys
On the coast, Watamu's turtle conservation lets visitors join beach patrols and hatchery visits; nesting runs from October to March. At Diani, colobus monkeys cross the beach road on canopy bridges strung between the trees.
Who it suits
Parents planning a first safari with young children.
Grandparents travelling with children and grandchildren together.
Families who want a safari and a beach in one holiday.
Good to know
- Some camps set a minimum age for game drives; your consultant checks each one.
- Light aircraft from Wilson reach the Mara, Amboseli and Laikipia in about an hour.
- Trip Builder asks each child's age, so the estimate can use real child rates.
Suggested journeys
Real, priced sample itineraries: a starting point you can customise stop by stop.
Regions to pair
Short transfers first, a bigger park once everyone has found their feet.
Lake NaivashaUnder two hours from Nairobi, with boat trips and cycling in Hell's Gate.
Lake NakuruFenced, compact and a rhino sanctuary since 1987: an easy first park.
Nanyuki and Mount KenyaOl Pejeta's chimpanzees and the last two northern white rhinos.
Maasai MaraThe Migration from July to October, about an hour by air.
DianiA sheltered lagoon inside the reef, and colobus monkeys overhead.
WatamuTurtle patrols and hatchery visits, beside Kenya's first marine park.
Frequently asked questions
Anything not answered here, a consultant answers directly. More planning questions are on the FAQ page.
It depends on the camp. Some camps set a minimum age for game drives. Your consultant checks every camp against your children's ages before booking, so nobody arrives to find a rule they did not know about.
Trip Builder asks each child's age. Where a property publishes a child rate, your estimate uses it. Where it does not, children are counted as full travellers and your consultant confirms the exact figure for each property.
Start near Nairobi. Lake Naivasha is under two hours away, and Lake Nakuru is fenced, compact and a rhino sanctuary. For the Mara, a light aircraft from Wilson takes 45 to 60 minutes.
Plan your family safari
Add every traveller and each child's age in Trip Builder, or choose Family-friendly in Plan for me and see what fits.