Shorter drives, longer breakfasts, and a guide who's happy to answer every question
Most safari itineraries are written for adults and then sold to families. We built this one the other way round. The drives are shorter, the camps have pools, and the middle of the day is left free on purpose. That's when the kids recharge and the grown-ups finally get to read a book.
Having your own vehicle matters more with children than with anyone else. Need to turn round, stop, or head back to camp early? Just do it, no negotiating with strangers.
Families with children aged roughly five and up. Some camps have a minimum age, but don't worry, we'll tell you which ones before you choose. Grandparents often come along on this trip too, and it works really well for them.
This is a sample itinerary. You can change every part of it (the route, the pace, the camps, the length) and most people do! Customize this safari
After breakfast, you'll head south-west to Tarangire for a game drive and a picnic lunch in the park. Tarangire makes a great first park for children: there are lots of elephants, they're not bothered by vehicles, and they're close enough that nobody needs to be told where to look.
Dinner and overnight at a lodge or tented camp.
It's a short drive to Lake Manyara, which packs a lot into a small park: groundwater forest at the gate, then woodland, then the open lake shore. Manyara has the largest concentration of baboons anywhere, and the troops along the entrance road are always a reliable source of entertainment.
The birdlife on the lake, with pelicans, storks and flamingos, is exceptional, and the hippo pools in the north are a perfect place to end the afternoon.
This is the longest drive of the week, through the farmland around Karatu and across the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. So we break it up: a stop on the crater rim for the view, another at Olduvai Gorge, and lunch along the way.
You'll come down onto the plains in the early afternoon, and reach the Seronera area in time for a game drive before dark.
Two full days in the Serengeti, planned around your children, not against them. You'll head out early while it's cool and the cats are active, come back to camp for lunch and the hot middle of the day, then go out again from about four.
The Seronera valley has resident lion, leopard and cheetah all year round, so these two days don't depend on where the migration happens to be.
An early game drive, then east out of the park and up to the crater rim. It's a long drive but a beautiful one, and it ends with your first view down into the crater, about 600 metres below where you're standing.
The rim gets cold at night and is often in cloud. Bring a fleece. People are always surprised!
You'll head down onto the crater floor early, before the day trips arrive, and spend the morning there. Look out for lion, elephant, buffalo, flamingos on the soda lake, and maybe a black rhino in the distance.
After a picnic lunch on the crater floor, you'll climb out and drive back to Arusha, arriving in the late afternoon for your flight or an onward transfer to Zanzibar.
So, what does it cost? We price every safari individually, because it really depends on when you travel, which camps you pick and how many of you there are. The same route in February and in August won't cost the same.
Tell us your dates and roughly what you have in mind, and we'll send you a full, itemised quote. Not a vague range, a real quote.
Priced per person, for a private trip. International flights aren't included.
Tarangire · Lake Manyara · Ngorongoro · Serengeti
Eight days built around time with the animals: two full days in the Serengeti, a trip down into the crater, and Tarangire's big elephant herds.
Arusha NP · Tarangire · Lake Manyara · Ngorongoro · Serengeti
Ten days across every park on the northern circuit, with three nights in the Serengeti and not a single day that's just a transfer.
Lake Manyara · Serengeti · Ngorongoro
Six days across Lake Manyara, the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater. It's the shortest trip we're happy to recommend.