- Best overall: Tswalu Tarkuni. Five bedrooms under one roof, children of every age welcome, malaria-free, and the Kalahari's meerkats are an easy win with small children.
- Best with young children (under 6): Morukuru Farm House in Madikwe or Kwandwe Melton Manor in the Eastern Cape. Both malaria-free, both with a private vehicle and guide.
- Best for leopards with the family: Londolozi Pioneer Camp, booked as a whole camp for 6 to 12 people.
- Best in East Africa: Cottar's Bush Villa on the Mara border (five bedrooms, 25 m pool, nanny included on request) and Singita Serengeti House in Grumeti (tennis court, 25 m pool).
- Best for a bigger group: Book two houses side by side. Morukuru's River House and Owner's House connect by a walkway, and Cheetah Plains has three four-suite villas.
- Book 12 to 18 months ahead for July, August and December. Each of these houses takes one family at a time, so there is no squeezing in.
Most safari lodges are built for couples. Eight or ten tents spread along a riverbank, a shared vehicle with six seats, dinner at one long table at eight o'clock and a minimum age of six or twelve on game drives. That works beautifully for two people on honeymoon. It falls apart when the party is a grandmother with a new hip, two sets of parents, a teenager who wants to photograph lions and a four-year-old who needs to be in bed by seven.
The trips that work for three generations nearly always come down to the same few things: a house or a cluster of rooms you have to yourselves, a vehicle and guide that belong to your family for the whole stay, a chef who cooks to your timetable, a reserve where small children are allowed out on drives, and short distances between bedroom, pool and dinner. Malaria-free country helps a great deal when the youngest is under five or a grandparent is on medication that clashes with antimalarials.
We ranked the 15 places below on exactly those points, then on the quality of the wildlife and the guiding. Each one is a real property we book. For the wider planning questions (when to go, how long, how to split costs between households), read our guide to taking three generations to Africa and our multi-generational safari planning guide. If you are a family of four rather than a family of twelve, the best luxury family safari lodges in Africa list is the better fit.
What makes a lodge work for three generations
Before the list, the checklist we use when a family of eight or ten asks us where to go. If a property misses more than one of these, it does not make the cut.
- Sole use. A private house, or a small camp you can take over. No strangers at breakfast, no other guests to annoy with a crying baby.
- A private vehicle and guide. The single biggest difference. Drives can be 90 minutes for the little ones and four hours for the keen photographers, and nobody has to apologise.
- Children of all ages accepted. Many top camps set a minimum age of 6, 8 or 12. Every house on this list takes all ages, though some activities (walks, mokoro, gorilla treks) carry their own limits.
- Bedrooms close together. Parents want to hear the children at night. Grandparents want a short, level walk and a proper bathroom with a shower they can step into.
- A pool, and something to do at midday. Between the morning and afternoon drives there are four or five hot hours. A pool, a kids' programme, a games room or a bit of fishing keeps the peace.
- Easy access. A scheduled flight or a short road transfer. Three light-aircraft hops in a day is a lot to ask of an 80-year-old.
1. Tswalu Tarkuni — Kalahari, South Africa
Best for: families who want every generation under one roof, in malaria-free country, with something new for the children every day.
Tarkuni is a homestead in a quiet valley below the Korannaberg hills, inside Tswalu, South Africa's largest private reserve at more than 114,000 hectares of Kalahari. It sleeps up to ten in five en-suite bedrooms, and the thing families mention first is that all five are under a single thatched roof. Nobody walks through a dark garden to check on a toddler. There is a library, a games room, a spa room, a wine cellar, a pool and a fire pit looking over a waterhole, and the house comes with its own manager, chef, guide, tracker and 4x4.
The wildlife suits mixed ages surprisingly well. The habituated meerkats are the best thing in Africa for a five-year-old: you sit on the sand at sunrise and they climb onto your shoes. The older children can go looking for pangolin and aardvark, or ride with the reserve's horses, and grandparents get desert light, black-maned lions and very few other vehicles. Tswalu is reached by a scheduled flight to Kimberley or Upington plus a road transfer, or by a direct charter from Johannesburg or Cape Town to the reserve's own airstrip.
Sleeps: 10 in 5 bedrooms. Children: all ages. Malaria: free. Private vehicle: included. Our full review: Tswalu Kalahari Reserve.
2. Londolozi Pioneer Camp — Sabi Sand, South Africa
Best for: a family of 6 to 12 who want the best leopard viewing in Africa without sharing the camp.
Pioneer is the smallest of Londolozi's camps, just three suites on the Sand River, and it is often booked whole by families and groups of friends. Each suite has its own plunge pool, and there is a larger pool on the main deck. Suites 2 and 3 are linked by glass walkways and each has a small separate children's bedroom with its own bathroom, so a couple with two children and the grandparents next door all sit inside one connected block. Children from six are welcome.
Londolozi does not run a set kids' club. It works to each child: tracking, archery, baking, pizza nights, fishing, football and film nights in the lounge, with the Cubs Den for crafts. Book a private Land Rover and the guide will stop for dung beetles with the six-year-old and wait an hour at a leopard for the photographer in the family. The Varty family have run Londolozi since 1926, and the leopards here have been followed and named for generations, which teenagers tend to love.
Sleeps: 6 to 12 (3 suites, children's rooms in 2). Children: 6 and over. Malaria: low-risk area, take advice. Private vehicle: recommended for families. Our full review: Londolozi Game Reserve.
3. Morukuru Family Madikwe — Madikwe, South Africa
Best for: families with very young children, and big groups who want to take two or three houses together.
Morukuru has three private houses on the Marico River in Madikwe, a malaria-free Big Five reserve about four hours' drive from Johannesburg or a short charter. The Farm House has five bedrooms off a covered walkway and sleeps ten. The River House has three double en-suite rooms plus a kids' room for two under-16s and sleeps six adults and four children. The Owner's House has two bedrooms and is joined to the River House by a wooden walkway, so a party of up to 14 can share a deck and still have their own corners.
Every house comes with its own guide, tracker, chef and butler, and Morukuru calls its approach the Freedom Concept: you choose when to drive, when to eat and what to do. In practice that means a 5 pm bush supper for the small ones and a later boma dinner for the adults. Children of all ages are welcome on drives with the private vehicle. Madikwe's wild dog packs and the fact that it is malaria-free are the two reasons we send so many young families here.
Sleeps: 4 (Owner's), 10 (River, 6 adults + 4 children), 10 (Farm). Children: all ages. Malaria: free. Private vehicle: included. Our full review: Morukuru Family Madikwe.
4. &Beyond Phinda Homestead — KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Best for: a bush-and-beach holiday, with the Indian Ocean an easy day trip away.
Phinda Homestead was once a pineapple farmhouse and still feels like one, in a good way: big kitchen table, Nguni hides, a rim-flow pool, a gym, a library and a massage room. It has four en-suite bedrooms for eight, and a bunk room with two sets of bunks lifts it to twelve (this adds a second vehicle and a charge). The house comes with its own ranger, tracker, butler, chef and host, and there is no fixed timetable.
Children of every age are welcome, and &Beyond's WILDchild activities keep younger ones busy. Phinda covers seven habitats in 29,000 hectares, from sand forest to wetland, with cheetah, black rhino and the Big Five. The real draw for three generations is the coast: in summer you can take the family to watch leatherback and loggerhead turtles nest, or go snorkelling at Sodwana. Nannies can be arranged.
Sleeps: 8 in 4 bedrooms, up to 12 with the bunk room. Children: all ages. Malaria: low risk, seasonal. Private vehicle: included. Read more: every Phinda lodge reviewed.
5. Cheetah Plains Private Villas — Sabi Sand, South Africa
Best for: a large family that wants two or three identical houses next to each other.
Cheetah Plains is three villas (Karula, Mapogo and Mvula), each with four suites for eight guests, a lounge, a cinema-style entertainment room, a pool deck, a boma and a chef's kitchen. Each villa has interleading suites for families. Book two villas and you have 16 beds, two pools and two vehicles, which is a neat answer for siblings travelling with their own children and both sets of grandparents.
The game drives are done in electric Land Cruisers. They are silent, which children find thrilling the first time a herd of elephant walks past without hearing the engine. Children of all ages are welcome, child-minding is included in the infant and toddler rates during drives, and the activity list (scavenger hunts, tracking, baking, crafts) is designed for real children, not a brochure.
Sleeps: 8 per villa (4 suites), 3 villas. Children: all ages. Malaria: low-risk area, take advice. Private vehicle: included per villa. Our full review: Cheetah Plains.
6. Kwandwe Fort House & Melton Manor — Eastern Cape, South Africa
Best for: a malaria-free Big Five safari that pairs well with the Garden Route or Cape Town.
Kwandwe is a 22,000-hectare private reserve on the Great Fish River, about 40 minutes from Makhanda and under two hours from Gqeberha airport. It has two sole-use villas. Fort House has two master suites and two classic rooms around a courtyard pool, with a wine cellar, spa room and interactive kitchen, and sleeps eight plus an infant. Melton Manor is a U-shaped farmhouse with four bedrooms off a central courtyard and pool; children aged 3 to 16 sleep next to their parents behind interleading doors. Both come with a private guide and vehicle.
Children of all ages are welcome. Child-minding is complimentary and first-aid trained, and the Blue Crane Conservation Club runs "Bugs & Bones" walks, beading, baking and little fishing trips. Kwandwe is known for black rhino and for aardvark on night drives, and the Eastern Cape climate is kind to older travellers outside the heat of January and February.
Sleeps: 8 + infant in each villa. Children: all ages. Malaria: free. Private vehicle: included. Package: Malaria-free Eastern Cape family safari, 5 days.
7. Cottar's Bush Villa — Olderkesi, Masai Mara, Kenya
Best for: the classic Kenya safari with a private house, a big pool and the migration on your doorstep.
The Bush Villa was the first private house built in the Mara, and it sits in the 3,000-hectare Olderkesi Conservancy that the Cottar family lease from the local Maasai, on the border between the Mara and the Serengeti. It has five en-suite bedrooms for ten (twelve at a squeeze): a 65-square-metre master with two balconies, a ground-floor king, a twin with a carved stone bath and two upstairs rooms with balconies. Outside there is a 25-metre pool, a hot tub, a boules lawn and a fire pit.
The house has its own chefs, housekeepers, guides and vehicle, and nanny service is free if you ask in advance. Children can walk with Maasai warriors, learn to throw a rungu and track around the house. The Cottars have guided in Kenya since 1919, so ask for the stories at dinner. From July to October the migration herds are on the plains nearby, and the conservancy keeps vehicle numbers low.
Sleeps: 10 to 12 in 5 bedrooms. Children: all ages. Malaria: yes, take prophylaxis. Private vehicle: included. Package: Kenya family safari, Nairobi, Amboseli and the Mara, 8 days.
8. Segera — Laikipia, Kenya
Best for: families with older children who want riding, walking, art and a sleep-out in a treehouse nest.
Segera is a 20,000-hectare former cattle ranch on the Laikipia plateau, below Mount Kenya, run as a conservancy with an outdoor sculpture collection scattered across it. For families there are several layouts. The Family Garden Villa has four bedrooms on two floors and a suspended pool and sleeps four adults and four children. Segera House has three or four large en-suite rooms, a double-height lounge and its own pool, and the original Farmhouse has a private kitchen and pool. The whole retreat can also be booked for exclusive use.
Children of all ages are welcome, though the decks, pools and unfenced grounds mean we recommend it for families whose youngest is about eight. Days can include harvesting from the kitchen garden, pizza with the chefs, beadwork, football with the staff and game drives tuned to the children. Under-3s stay free and 3 to 12-year-olds pay child rates. Laikipia is a two-hour hop from the Mara, so it pairs neatly with Cottar's.
Sleeps: 8 in the Family Garden Villa; more across the retreat. Children: all ages (8+ suggested). Malaria: low at this altitude, take advice. Private vehicle: often included or bookable.
9. Lewa Wilderness — Lewa Conservancy, Kenya
Best for: a warm family-run lodge where grandparents get rhino and the children get ponies.
David and Delia Craig started Lewa Wilderness in 1972, and their family still run it inside the 25,000-hectare Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, one of Kenya's great rhino strongholds. It has nine units. The original Garden Cottages, closest to the main house, each have two en-suite bedrooms off a shared sitting room with a fire, which is exactly right for parents and two children. The Hillside Suite has two bedrooms and its own plunge pool for a family wanting more privacy.
There are no age limits. Children ride ponies, older ones ride out on horses with the family (weight limits apply, around 85 to 90 kg), and there are camel walks, farm visits and bush walks from 12. Grandparents who have done game drives before often say the scenic flight in the WACO biplane (10 and over) was the highlight. Meals use the lodge's own organic farm, and dinner can be served early at your cottage for small children.
Sleeps: 9 units, family cottages with 2 bedrooms. Children: all ages. Malaria: low at this altitude, take advice. Private vehicle: on request. Our full review: Lewa Wilderness.
10. Singita Serengeti House — Grumeti, Tanzania
Best for: the Serengeti with a tennis court, a 25-metre pool and a Mini Rangers course.
Serengeti House is a private villa in Singita's 140,000-hectare Grumeti concession on the western side of the Serengeti, reopened in 2025 after a full redesign. It sleeps eight in four suites, two in the main house and two in freestanding garden cottages, so grandparents can have a little distance if they want it. There is an 82-foot (25 m) infinity pool over a waterhole, a private tennis court and pavilion, a gym, a wellness tent, and a chef, house manager and guide of your own.
Children of all ages are welcome, with child-minding and a Mini Rangers course in tracking, bush skills, astronomy and bird-spotting. Drives and walks are at the guide's discretion for younger children. The western corridor herds usually pass through Grumeti between May and July, and the concession allows off-road driving and night drives that the national park does not. Flights land at Sasakwa airstrip a short drive away. If you want rooms rather than a house, Singita Sasakwa next door has cottages that can take a large family.
Sleeps: 8 in 4 suites. Children: all ages. Malaria: yes, take prophylaxis. Private vehicle: included.
11. Singita Malilangwe House — Malilangwe, Zimbabwe
Best for: families who want rhino, fishing and rock art, and a hilltop house with a rim-flow pool.
Malilangwe House sits on a hilltop in the 46,000-hectare Malilangwe Wildlife Reserve in south-east Zimbabwe, close to Singita Pamushana. It has five bedrooms, each with its own deck, opening into an interactive kitchen, a bar-deli and a main deck with a big rim-flow pool. Rates are set per night for the house in two bands, 1 to 6 guests and 7 to 10 guests, and include meals, drinks, private drives and most activities.
Children of all ages are welcome, and the Mini Rangers course runs here too, along with tennis, fishing for bream and tiger fish on the lake, cooking and stargazing. Walks are 16 and over. Singita charges under-2s nothing and 2 to 16-year-olds half the adult rate when sharing. Malilangwe holds one of the best black and white rhino populations in Zimbabwe, and the San rock-art sites are a good morning out for curious grandchildren.
Sleeps: 10 in 5 bedrooms. Children: all ages (walks 16+). Malaria: yes, take prophylaxis. Private vehicle: included. Our full review: Singita Pamushana.
12. Somalisa Acacia — Hwange, Zimbabwe
Best for: elephants at close quarters and a proper junior guide programme, at a gentler price.
Somalisa Acacia is the family camp beside Somalisa in Hwange National Park, built for small private groups up to 12. It has four units: two luxury tents and two family tents, each family tent made of two connected rooms (the children's side is smaller and closes with a privacy flap). Every tent has a king bed, a wood-burning fireplace, a copper bath and indoor and outdoor showers. Book all four and the camp is yours.
The reason families love it is the small pool at the front of camp, where elephants come to drink from the overflow a few metres from where you sit. African Bush Camps run the Ngwana Club for children: tracking, storytelling, crafts, pizza with the chef and a Junior Guide certificate at the end. There is no babysitting, so parents stay with the children, and walking safaris are 16 and over. Hwange is an easy pairing with Victoria Falls.
Sleeps: 12 in 4 units. Children: all ages. Malaria: yes, take prophylaxis. Private vehicle: bookable. Our full review: Somalisa Camp.
13. Time + Tide Chongwe House — Lower Zambezi, Zambia
Best for: a water safari, with canoeing, fishing and boat cruises alongside the game drives.
Chongwe House is a two-storey, sole-use house on the Chongwe River near where it meets the Zambezi, on the edge of Lower Zambezi National Park. It has four en-suite bedrooms (two downstairs, two up, double or twin) for eight adults, with extra beds for children. There is a large pool, a boma and fire pit, indoor and outdoor lounges and an outdoor kitchen with a pizza oven, which is where most families end up.
Children of all ages are welcome, with baking, crafts and tracking around the house, but wildlife walks through the grounds so adults need to keep watch. Walking safaris are 12 and over. The house has its own chef, waiter, bartender and guide. It opens from 1 April to 15 November, and published rates start from about US$900 per person per night with a minimum of four guests, plus park fees. Getting there is a 35-minute flight from Lusaka and a 20-minute drive, which is easy on grandparents.
Sleeps: 8 adults in 4 bedrooms, plus children. Children: all ages (walks 12+). Malaria: yes, take prophylaxis. Private vehicle: included. Our full review: Chongwe River Camp.
14. &Beyond Nxabega — Okavango Delta, Botswana
Best for: getting a family into the Delta without a minimum age stopping you at the door.
Many Okavango camps set a minimum age of six or twelve. Nxabega takes children of all ages and has a family unit made of two identical tented suites joined by an enclosed walkway, each with its own bathroom, indoor and outdoor showers and a veranda. It is a nine-tent camp, so for a big group you can take several tents or the whole place.
Shared drives are from 6 (6 to 11 at the manager's discretion), and with a private vehicle younger children can go out too. Mokoro trips and walks are 16 and over, and motorboat trips are from 12, so plan the water activities around the teenagers. Under-6s sharing with adults stay free, and childminders can be booked on the day. Take the grandparents out on the boat at sunset: it is gentle, quiet and full of birds.
Sleeps: 9 tents, one family unit. Children: all ages (mokoro and walks 16+). Malaria: yes, take prophylaxis. Private vehicle: bookable. Package: Okavango Delta luxury safari, 6 days.
15. Singita Kataza House — Volcanoes, Rwanda
Best for: a gorilla trip where the teenagers and adults trek and the younger children have plenty to do.
Kataza House is the private villa beside Singita Kwitonda Lodge on the edge of Volcanoes National Park, built in volcanic rock and river stone. It sleeps eight in four suites (a main suite, a junior main suite and two two-bedroom suites) and has a heated plunge pool, indoor and outdoor fires, a gym, a wine cellar, a cinema room and its own chef and host, with full use of the lodge next door.
Be clear about the rules before you book. Rwanda sets the gorilla trekking minimum age at 15, and golden monkey treks are from 12. Children of every age can stay, and while the trekkers are out, childminders run cooking, crafts, film mornings, cycling, birding and visits to the Akarabo nursery and garden. For a family with a 16-year-old, a 10-year-old and grandparents who would rather not climb, it works very well. Kigali is about two and a half hours by road.
Sleeps: 8 in 4 suites. Children: all ages (gorillas 15+, golden monkeys 12+). Malaria: low at this altitude, take advice. Our full review: Singita Kwitonda.
The 15 houses side by side
| Lodge | Country | Sleeps | Children | Malaria | Pool |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tswalu Tarkuni | South Africa | 10 / 5 bedrooms | All ages | Free | Yes |
| Londolozi Pioneer | South Africa | 6–12 / 3 suites | 6+ | Low risk | Main pool + plunge pools |
| Morukuru Family | South Africa | 4, 10 and 10 (3 houses) | All ages | Free | Yes |
| Phinda Homestead | South Africa | 8–12 / 4 bedrooms + bunks | All ages | Low, seasonal | Yes |
| Cheetah Plains | South Africa | 8 per villa (3 villas) | All ages | Low risk | Yes |
| Kwandwe villas | South Africa | 8 + infant each | All ages | Free | Yes |
| Cottar's Bush Villa | Kenya | 10–12 / 5 bedrooms | All ages | Yes | 25 m |
| Segera | Kenya | 8 (Family Villa), more retreat-wide | All ages, 8+ suggested | Low | Yes |
| Lewa Wilderness | Kenya | 9 units, 2-bed cottages | All ages | Low | Yes |
| Singita Serengeti House | Tanzania | 8 / 4 suites | All ages | Yes | 25 m + tennis |
| Singita Malilangwe House | Zimbabwe | 10 / 5 bedrooms | All ages (walks 16+) | Yes | Rim-flow |
| Somalisa Acacia | Zimbabwe | 12 / 4 units | All ages (walks 16+) | Yes | Elephant pool |
| Chongwe House | Zambia | 8 adults + children | All ages (walks 12+) | Yes | Yes |
| &Beyond Nxabega | Botswana | 9 tents, 1 family unit | All ages (mokoro 16+) | Yes | Yes |
| Singita Kataza House | Rwanda | 8 / 4 suites | All ages (gorillas 15+) | Low | Heated plunge pool |
Age rules and layouts as published by each lodge for 2026. Malaria notes are a general guide only; please speak to a travel clinic, particularly for children under five, pregnant travellers and anyone on long-term medication.
Multi-generational family safari packages and holidays
A list of houses is only half the job. Most families who ask us about a multi-generational safari want the whole trip put together: flights that do not start at 4 am, a first night in Cape Town or Nairobi to get over the long haul, one or two safari houses, and something gentle at the end. These are the four multi-generational safari holidays we build most often, with guide prices for 2026 and 2027.
1. Cape Town and malaria-free Big Five, 9 to 10 nights
Three nights in a Cape Town family suite or villa (Table Mountain, the penguins at Boulders, Cape Point), then a short flight to Gqeberha and four nights at Kwandwe's Melton Manor or Fort House, or a flight to Johannesburg and a road or air transfer to Morukuru in Madikwe. Finish with two nights on the Winelands for the grandparents and a beach day for the children. No malaria anywhere. Guide price: from about US$9,500 per adult sharing for a family of eight, with children's rates at most houses. Start with our Madikwe malaria-free family safari or Eastern Cape family safari.
2. Sabi Sand private villa and the Indian Ocean, 10 nights
Four nights in a Cheetah Plains villa or Londolozi Pioneer (taken whole), two nights at Phinda Homestead for cheetah, rhino and a day on the coast, then four nights on a Mozambique or Mauritius beach so everyone goes home rested. Guide price: from about US$14,000 per adult sharing, depending on the beach. Our Sabi Sands luxury safari and Phinda private safari are the building blocks.
3. Kenya, Laikipia and the Mara, 8 to 10 nights
A night in Nairobi (the Giraffe Centre and the elephant orphanage are perfect with children), three or four nights at Lewa Wilderness or Segera for rhino, riding and walking, then four nights at Cottar's Bush Villa for the Mara. Short scheduled flights link all three. Guide price: from about US$11,000 per adult sharing in July to October, less in the green season. See our Kenya family safari and the Kenya family safari packages guide.
4. Victoria Falls, Hwange and the Delta, 10 nights
Two nights at Victoria Falls (the Falls themselves, a sunset cruise on the Zambezi), three nights at Somalisa Acacia in Hwange, then four nights in the Okavango at Nxabega. Plan the mokoro day around anyone 16 and over and send the younger ones out on the motorboat. Guide price: from about US$10,500 per adult sharing. Our Okavango Delta luxury safari can be stretched to fit.
Guide prices are estimates per adult, sharing, for 2026, and include accommodation, meals, most drinks, activities and internal flights or transfers. International flights, visas and tips are extra. Children's rates, house-rate bands and seasons change the figure a good deal, so we always quote for your exact party. For a wider range of family trips, see our top 10 African safari family packages and luxury family safari packages.
Guide prices for the houses
| Tier | Houses | Per person, per night (guide) |
|---|---|---|
| Top tier | Tarkuni, Serengeti House, Malilangwe House, Kataza House | US$2,000 – $4,000+ |
| Luxury private house | Londolozi Pioneer, Cheetah Plains, Phinda Homestead, Cottar's Bush Villa, Kwandwe villas | US$1,200 – $2,500 |
| Family lodge or smaller house | Morukuru, Segera, Lewa Wilderness, Chongwe House, Nxabega | US$800 – $1,800 |
| Best value | Somalisa Acacia | US$600 – $1,100 |
Estimates for 2026 high season, per adult sharing, fully inclusive or close to it. Several houses are priced per night for the whole property, so the per-person figure falls as the group grows. Children usually pay 50% or less, and infants are often free.
How to choose: a quick guide by family
- Youngest under five: stay malaria-free. Morukuru, Kwandwe or Tarkuni.
- Grandparents with limited mobility: Tarkuni (everything under one roof), Phinda Homestead or Cheetah Plains (level paths, vehicles to the door). Avoid Rwanda unless they are happy to stay behind on trek days.
- Teenagers who want action: Lewa (riding, biplane), Segera (the nest), Kataza House (gorillas at 15+), or the Delta.
- The first safari for everyone: Londolozi Pioneer or Cheetah Plains. The Sabi Sand delivers leopards, lions and elephants on nearly every drive.
- The big birthday or anniversary: Cottar's Bush Villa or Singita Serengeti House. Both feel like an occasion.
- Twelve or more people: two Cheetah Plains villas, the Morukuru River and Owner's houses together, or Pioneer for up to 12.
A few things we have learned
Book a private vehicle even where it is optional. It is the single best money a multi-generational family spends on safari. Put the grandparents in the front row, where the ride is smoother. Plan one rest day without a morning drive in every four, and let the teenagers sleep while the early risers go out. Split costs by bedroom rather than by head, which is usually fairer between households. And travel in the school holidays only if you have to: May, June, September and early November give you the same houses for less, with more of the reserve to yourselves.
Tell us who is coming, from the oldest to the youngest, along with any mobility needs or medical notes, and we will match the family to the right house and build the trip around it. The best of these houses take one family at a time, and July, August and December go first.
