If there's one thing I'll never forget about our adventure in Africa, it's the wonder in the eyes of Manina, our three-year-old boy, during the safari in Kenya at Tsavo East.
Luca and I had already tried the safari experience but I must admit that this time it was even more exciting, just because we had our son with us.
Safari in Kenya with children: the Tsavo East
Safari in Swahili means traveling, and it's a journey into wild nature that we did in Kenya at Tsavo East.
We organized the safari together with the person in charge of The Great Trips of the village that hosted us in Kenya: the Blue Bay. The possibilities were various, to reach the Masai Mara with an air vehicle, to sleep inside the Tsavo East or in the Galana Conservancy, a private reserve at the gates of the Tsavo East. We opted for this third choice.
We left early in the morning when darkness still surrounded everything. Together with us a group of five other people with whom we had a great time: a couple in their sixties who traveled a lot and from whom there was so much to learn and a group of three girls very nice and very handy.
We arrived at the camp that would host us for the night in the middle of the morning and we left immediately with Simone, the owner of Italian origin, for the first safari inside the Galana Conservancy.
We spotted giraffes, impalas, zebras and many other animals. Manina couldn't believe her eyes. "Mommy looks at that, Daddy looks at that," her enthusiasm was sky-high.
We went back to Shoroa Camp for lunch and after a pasta al sugo we rested in our beautiful tents. One morning, when we were still at home, Manina expressed her desire to sleep in a tent, what better occasion than this?
The tents of Shoroa Camp all overlook the river so you can see the animals that come to drink. They are equipped with every comfort, from beds to bathrooms with shower and what is very important to have a large veranda overlooking the river.
After a pennicchella after lunch, we changed jeeps (this time, unlike in the morning, it was completely open and had not only the sunroof that allows you to stay much more comfortable in taking pictures) and we left for the second safari that ended with an aperitif at sunset over the savannah. Seeing the sky tinged with red, sitting on a large high rock and admiring nature in its splendor was magnificent.
We returned to the camp at night, with Simone on the hood of the jeep holding a giant torch in his hand in search of animals.
After a chicken dinner, we got lost listening to the noises of Africa. Noises that reached their peak in the night: a group of lions roared for quite a while near our tents. I will never forget this.
The next morning we left for the safari to the Tsavo East mostly flat and with large areas of savannah crossed by the river Galana. The Tsavo is the largest park in the country opened in 1948 and is divided, for administrative reasons, into two parts: Tsavo East and Tsavo West.
Safari in Kenya with children: what to bring
Along the way to the Galana Conservancy we met many children who live in huts, we recommend that you bring with you pens, notebooks and clothing so that we can give them to them.
During the safari are essential sunglasses, a hat and sunscreen because the sun and heat can be very strong, if you travel with children try to protect them as much as possible.
The road that separated our resort from the camp that hosted us during the night is quite bumpy so arm yourself with holy patience and some games to entertain the little ones. To tell the truth, in our case there was no need because Manina slept most of the time both on the way back and on the way out and when she didn't sleep she sang, blissfully happy with the experience she had just had.
Safari in Kenya with children: vaccinations and malaria
Before leaving for a safari in Kenya with children we recommend that you consult the vaccine center of your Ausl reference.
We have chosen not to do any additional vaccinations (Manina is covered by the hexavalent).
The decision was dictated by the fact that we knew that we would never eat on the street but always and only in the resort and in the camp, both run by Italians so we did not consider it necessary to do vaccination against typhoid and hepatitis A.
As far as malaria is concerned, we traveled during the dry season where mosquitoes are less active also because of the great heat. The areas of the resort and the camp are both reclaimed and as soon as the evening fell we always used clothes in light and long colors that covered the whole body and on which we sprayed the repellent. These measures led us to the decision not to use malaria prophylaxis.
I would like to stress that these are very personal decisions that each of us as a parent must take in total autonomy and having listened to multiple sources. We report on our experience, which is subjective.