Why you should go on safari with your baby

So you thought that your travel days were over once you had a little baby taking up your every waking (and often sleeping) moment with its needy needs? You thought your life was reduced to short domestic trips or maybe a week in Fiji (or insert whatever close baby-friendly holiday destination applies)? THINK AGAIN. We are here to tell you why going on SAFARI IN AFRICA is actually a pretty awesome choice for a holiday with your baby. I realise you think we are crazy, but just give me a chance to explain…

One of the greatest concerns we had when deciding to embark on parenthood was the greater difficulty we would face travelling with kids. I was even frustrated about not being able to plan my holidays for the following year once we decided to start ‘trying’ because I’m used to always having at least one (and sometimes many more) trips planned at any one time. Luckily we fell pregnant quickly and I was able to resume planning, which included a trip to Hamilton Island (when bub would be two months) and – more importantly – a trip to South Africa when she would be five months.

Why did we want to take our five month old baby on safari in South Africa? I understand your apprehension. There were a few reasons that led to our decision – firstly Van’s family is over in South Africa so realistically we have to go there semi-frequently to visit anyway. Secondly we do have this business of selling wildlife safaris which stems from our absolute OBSESSION with going on safari ourselves. But thirdly – and most importantly – it dawned on me that it was actually a pretty damned good time to go. And here’s why…

Eight reasons to take your baby on safari…

1. Babies fly for free up until two years old. Maybe you have heaps of money or maybe you live close to safari destinations but in our case a return trip in economy to Joburg costs upwards of $1,200 per person. So I’m pretty keen to avoid having to pay this if I can. Better still, a five month old is almost guaranteed to get a bassinet seat on Qantas (they prioritise the youngest babies) so I was pretty confident we’d be able to stick little Isla in a bassinet and party all flight long.

2. I consulted parenting experts (aka my sister) and her advice was 4-6 months was optimal because baby can’t crawl or walk (basically still a potato), which makes life easier when travelling. Also they are likely to be better in the car (we were going to be doing a lot of driving) and still in a phase of sleeping whenever versus very rigid/strict (and fewer) nap schedules. Of course every baby is different but we were lucky with Isla as she is a very easy baby and all this advice turned out to be true. She was a dream on both flights, a dream in the car (slept most of the time) and really easy to lug around everywhere.

Also even if they are older (we are going back when Isla will be one year and again when she’s 20 months), you can at least stick them in front of an iPad on flights and in the car to help pass the time (judge me if you like, it only gets worse from here!)

3. Babies stay at safari lodges and camps for FREE – once again we weren’t having to pay money to have Isla with us! Nor did we have to pay any conservation fees for her either. So she was a totally free addition to our trip, which is pretty appealing because once you have older kids the costs for a safari go up CONSIDERABLY. I’m talking THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS. Loving the $$$$ savings here.

4. Private safari lodges offer babysitting services while you go out on game drive. YES PLEASE. Ok so this is where it wasn’t quite free anymore, but the babysitting cost about $15 an hour so we weren’t complaining. And I realise not everyone wants to leave their baby with a babysitter they don’t know, but we had total trust in all of the babysitters in all the lodges we stayed. Call us bad parents if you like, but it worked well for us! One of the ladies who looked after Isla even managed to get rid of a pesky rash she had developed… we still joke about how she was a better parent than us! These guys are really awesome – they will even give bub a bath and put them to bed if you want them to.

5. It requires a lot less lugging a baby around than most other holidays. If you take your bub to most places you will need to be getting out and about, having to train, plane, walk or drive to get to places from your base for sightseeing. This is part of the beauty of going on safari – you stay in the lodge during the day and the baby stays there 24/7 so you don’t even need a pram! You of course can use a pram to walk bub around the lodge but carrying them is also easy enough. Plus they are always within reach of their cot, so their nap schedule need not be interrupted – no cranky overtired babies or hassle trying to work sightseeing around nap times! Meanwhile you go out ‘sightseeing’ (aka game viewing on safari) every morning and evening on drive. So much less stress and hassle while everyone is getting an amazing holiday experience.

6. Babies LOVE BEING OUTDOORS. Yes, they are too young to understand the fact they are on safari or that they are looking at a lion – Isla even slept through a few amazing sightings and didn’t even bother looking at a lion as it walked past her window – BUT most babies enjoy being in new places and outdoors. Isla absolutely LOVED her holiday – she was way less fussy that at home because there were so many new and exciting things to look at (just not lions so much). So yes, they won’t realise or appreciate the fact they have seen lions about 30-50 years before the average person but they WILL appreciate all the fun time they got to spend with mummy and daddy hanging out in a plunge pool and looking at lots of trees and birds around the lodge. Oh and getting so much attention from babysitters whose sole focus is playing with them.

7. PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES GALORE. Approximately 135% of all parents enjoy taking cool photos of their kids. Well, taking your baby on safari gives you endless opportunities to take amazing photos that will totally get more likes than Susan’s baby at the beach. These are photos that you will cherish for the rest of YOUR LIFE and your baby will cherish for all of THEIR LIFE. Do you really want to deprive your baby of that sort of lifelong joy? Do you? Now who is the bad parent.

8. South Africa is really quite safe to travel with a baby despite what many think. There are quality medical facilities, the food and water are all safe and it’s more or less relatively ‘western’ from an infrastructure perspective. Two days after we arrived Isla woke up with severe conjunctivitis in one of her eyes (OF COURSE) and we had no issues seeing a doctor (who incidentally I liked more than my own GP) and then getting the right medication that saw her eye clear up within 24 hours. I think it all cost about $75 between the doctor and the medication. On top of that, game reserves are safer than most cities around the world given the security in place to stop poaching and the fact they are full of wealthy tourists.

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In conclusion….

Going on safari is one of the most amazing things you can ever do, full stop. You will love it. You simply HAVE TO DO IT BEFORE YOU DIE. So you have two choices: you can go now, when your baby is young enough such that you can take them basically for free and save in the region of $5k-$10k (not even joking here) OR you can wait another X years until you can either leave your kid/s at home or pay the additional thousands to bring them along… but half the wildlife will probably be extinct, or taken over by robots or GLOBAL WARMING etc etc.

Without being melodramatic here, I’m saying that if you don’t take your baby on safari you will probably regret it for the rest of your (rhino deprived) life. But you know, it’s your call.

OK OK maybe the above is a little over the top…. But the key point is that it’s much easier than people realise to take your baby on safari with you. Easier in fact than most other overseas holidays! It was honestly so much better than even I hoped it would be. If I have convinced you (or almost convinced you), feel free to get in touch with me to answer more questions or put together an awesome baby-friendly safari itinerary for you 🙂