15 Best Travel Tips To Help You Enjoy Your Holiday
Posted on November 28, 2020
Your next trip shouldn’t be boring, here are the best travel tips to get you started. Equally exciting and daunting, a family holiday in Africa creates lasting memories and bonding experiences for any family.
However, traveling with a baby and children can be challenging, hence preparation and research are paramount to having a great holiday. We’ve put together 15 Africa travel tips for a family holiday with children for preparation purposes and a memorable impression.
Go for a Customized not group tailored itinerary
Traveling with children is exciting and challenging at the same time. Depending on their age, challenges and expectations differ hence the need to have a customized family holiday itinerary.
Unlike in tailored group itinerary, a customized itinerary is tailored with flexibility, specific interest to meet the specific expectation and experience. Ultimately, families with children must put children’s expectations into consideration when in the initial planning stage. This won’t be possible in a tailored group itinerary with a daily time-bound schedule and program.
Choose accommodation wisely
Choice of accommodation is as important as planning itself. Hence it’s important o do research on children-friendly established with children activities to keep them busy when not on game drives.
Most safari lodges and camps have family rooms that can accommodate a family of 4; Either in the same room or rooms with connecting doors. A family with one baby would be comfortable in a double room with an extra baby court for easy child care and monitoring.
Best Travel Tips: Traveling hours
If there is something interesting, exhausting, and sometimes boring to children is traveling time and distance. It’s important to consider hours spent traveling from one destination to another putting into the picture their comfort into consideration.
They are excited at the start of the journey but rather get tired as hour ticks. Besides that, spending more time in each destination helps them enjoy their stay rather than moving from one place to the other after a night or so.
Pick destination carefully
Choice of destination is another key to a great family holiday. Some destinations are not children friendly whereas some establishments have age limits. Consider having in the itinerary destination that has more children activities. This keeps them busy as you enjoy your holiday as parents.
Consider season and weather
Like the rest of the world, Africa has different seasons and weather patterns. For example, Kenya has 3 seasons that one should know of before planning a safari and a family holiday in Kenya (applies to most countries in Africa). January to the end of March is the dry season.
The weather is very favorable with hot sunny days and cool nights. April to June are cold months with a lot of rain where rain and cold weather both day time and night is the order of the day. July to October have a mixture of low rain and dry season, this is also a season of wildebeest migration between Serengeti in Tanzania and Masai Mara in Kenya. November and December are moderate months with rain here and there and the days and night not very hot not too cold.
Keep packing simple
You won’t have a lot of time packing and unpacking every day. Have the right bag, right clothes packed in the order of the need-come first. This will make it easy to spot what you need for a particular time rather than having to unpack everything looking for what is most appropriate for a particular time.
Sitting allowance and comfortability, purchase an extra plane ticket
With children, space and comfort are of the essence. Depending on their age, consider purchasing an extra seat in case of the plane and in the same row. This will create some privacy without disturbing the rest on the same plane. The airlines have a special price for the extra seat for children, something that it’s good to take advantage of. This gives parents time to relax too other than holding a baby for hours while flying from one continent to the other. Kenya Airways has a special price for children’s seats.
Meal timing
Planing with the restaurant management on the feeding time is important. Restaurants are a public area where all guests in the establishment used for dining, hence to avoid the usual children-parent run around when feeding, it’s good to have early meals before everyone else.
A family holiday is not a food-tasting mission
It’s understandable that children have sensitive stomachs. Don’t go around tasting and giving children everything that’s on the buffet but rather have familiar food and snacks. All hotels have children friendly menu and meals. Discuss with your waiter before mealtime what is available and good for your child. They are flexible, chef’s decisions on the menu are not cast on stones.
Sun creams
It’s hot in Africa and even in supposed cold months, it’s hotter than in the summer in Europe. Carry enough sun creams to protect the children from sun heat. This applies to parents too.
No fixed routine.
Having a relaxed and not rushed routine makes children enjoy their holiday. Relax normal and usual home routes, let them enjoy and feel they are on holiday.
Traveling timing
Select long traveling timing that usually children are at sleep when at home. Their bodies know their sleeping time, hence the need to book a flight ticket to travel during the night. This helps the children sleep and also have parents relax. Hence everyone will arrive at the destination relaxed and fresh.
Keep children entertained
This is an Africa Travel Tips that can’t be ignored. It can never be a holiday as usual with bored children. Carry with yourself simple games and toys that keep them busy at home. This will not only make parents have free time to enjoy their holiday but will also make them feel home away from home. They won’t miss home purely because they don’t have what they are used to.
Local experience
Children not only makes friends easily but are excited about meeting other children. Where possible have tailored cultural tours where they can see, learn, and interact with locals in their holiday destination. For instance, visiting a Masai village will make them appreciate their culture and feel of the Africa child kind of life and tradition. This is a lasting memory that will live with them for a lifetime more than seeing wildlife during game drives. in some instances, it’s good to bring some gifts like pens, pencils, rubbers, and books to give as presents to the children in the village.
Check-in and check-out
Time planning is important when traveling with children. A family with children needs more time to check-in and check-out hence observe above 14 points mentioned above will help and make a family holiday a memorable one. Following these Africa travel tips is key to having the best family holiday.
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