Kiliwarrior Expeditions is the top outfitter on Kilimanjaro - we pay the best salaries, have better quality  camping equipment, more advanced safety equipment, better itineraries and we offer a deeper cultural experience!

On safari, we continue this tradition of excellence!

 On this  page you will get an idea of our superior services for families - offered at very competitive prices!

Families are very welcome in East Africa!

But designing safaris with children in mind takes careful consideration of their ages, maturity, interests and your budget!

Family safaris are a growing part of our business. We arrange safaris for parents and their children, seniors and their grand children and grandparents, parents and grand children!

In this section we will discuss families on safari and explain why the Kiliwarriors is the company of choice in East Africa for families!

1. Families should consider overnight stops in connecting cities. Coming from the USA, consider spending a night or two in Amsterdam or London for example before continuing to Nairobi or Entebbe or Kilimanjaro or Dar es Salaam! Some kids will arrive in Europe really tired and the prospect of another 10 hours on an airplane may upset them! 

A good night's rest will keep the kids happy  and help them adapt to the East Africa time zone which is almost the same as central Europe (give and take an hour or two!)

2. Connecting flights eat luggage! We estimate that 1 out of 6 clients arrive at Kilimanjaro airport without their luggage! The luggage is not lost - just delayed - and normally arrives on the next flight which is the following night! When you overnight in Europe for example, you give your luggage time to catch up with you - which is a good thing!

Kiliwarrior safari itineraries normally include 2 nights in your arrival city in East Africa. This gives you time to settle in, wait for your luggage if needed and buy items of personal items you may have left at home - before you travel to remote safari destinations.  Some kids get really upset when their suitcases don't arrive and our guides will help to make fun of the (mostly) temporary discomfort!

Some families book packaged" family" safaris with overseas agents thinking that it will save them money or that the kids will meet other kids on the tours and at the lodges.

Big mistake.

Families should avoid group travel.

Packaged tours use itineraries that's NOT designed to keep kids engaged. The term "family" is a buzz word used many outfitters and agents to increase their markets! Other buzz words are: "luxury" & "eco-friendly"! If you look carefully at their itineraries you will notice that these don't differ much much their standard itineraries.

Very bumpy roads, noisy vehicles, dust everywhere, hot sun, biting tsetse flies, soft-spoken guides with broken English, inconvenient bathroom stops and no air-conditioning! Tough conditions sometimes bring out the worst in people. On safari,  spending 10 days in a small vehicle with one or more unhappy strangers is not our idea of having fun and your kids will hate it.

The bathroom situation is particularly troublesome. In the African heat you must drink a lot of water to rehydrate - translating to frequent bathroom stops. The larger the group the more frequent the stops and when 7 people have to take turns behind a single bush on the Serengeti plains you are looking at 30-minute pit stops!  Kids will get frustrated with these frequent stops and smaller kids cannot go to the "bathroom" by themselves due to potential danger from animals.

We suggest private safaris in a mixture of tented and lodge accommodations. With your own vehicle and guide you are in complete control of your safari! Your guide will adapt the itinerary and pace to suit the interested of the kids.

 Read more about this in the "lodges" section below.

Safaris in East Africa are conducted in remote parks with very limited communication, rescue and support facilities. An injury can be fatal as medical assistance will often take hours to arrive.

Families must be aware that kids can suffer from gastrointestinal discomforts (diarrhea or constipation for example)  from the change in diet. Cuts and bruises are common too. Kids tend to trip a lot on the uneven ground when walking from the tent/bedrooms to the dining room areas! They get tangled in thorn bushes and bump their heads in the vehicles on the very bumpy roads!

The Kiliwarriors offer the most advanced safety package. As the top outfitter on Kilimanjaro, we know a thing or two about emergencies and rescues under tough conditions. This knowledge and experience are much appreciated by our safari clients: 

Client beware!

East Africa has vast distances, bad roads, unreliable air services, animal migrations, changing weather patterns, and plenty of accommodation choices for all tastes.

Families should avoid itineraries with long stretches in the vehicle. The heat, dust and bumping will get to you and your kids. If you think it is tough driving to Florida, you have no idea how uncomfortable things can get on the roads in East Africa! Sometimes your body will hurt from the shaking in the car! We include air transfers where it makes sense. Internal airfares are quite affordable and convenient and will go a long way to making your safari as comfortable and enriching as it can be.  If your budget allows this your kids will find the smaller airplanes fascinating.

Kids get bored with watching animals. The first zebra is exciting. The 100th zebra is a yawn. Our safari information package include ideas on how to keep the kids occupied. Disposable cameras, their own binoculars, etc. 

Kids get hungry! If you are spending 2 or more hours in the car it is good idea to have snacks ready! You don't have to bring these all the way from home - we stop at supermarkets on day one of our safaris!

Families prefer a slower pace with a minimum of 2 nights at every stop when there are activities to entertain the kids. Constant packing and unpacking is best left for backpackers who travel light!

Interaction with local families are very interesting. We are a Maasai company and most of the rural people you come across during your safaris in Kenya and Tanzania will be Maasai. It is easy for us to arrange visits to Maasai villages off the beaten track where your kids can interact naturally with local kids. Since our guides are Maasai, we can translate easier and provide more authentic cultural exchange experiences.

Be careful when visiting local villages, especially the Maasai. Younger kids will find the Maasai rather intimidating at first. We've seen many small kids frightened and crying after village visits. A Maasai warrior can be intimidating and the Maasai women can sometimes be overeager when meeting young Western kids! They love children and are very kind but the culture shock is sometimes too much for young visitors. The Maasai houses are dark inside with lots of smoke - children's eyes will burn and some kids are afraid of the dark.

Kiliwarrior guides are aware of this and we try to go easy with our cultural visits.

Large hotel chains are very popular with tour groups and families. They are comfortable and some are in excellent locations (Mara Serena for example).

Sopa, Serena, Sarova and others are household names in the world of African safaris. It is little wonder that these are the most requested accommodations when we first talk to potential families.

Sometimes it makes sense to book a chain lodge. But the modern day tented camps are certainly worth a consideration!

Just for a moment, close your eyes and imagine a half circle of chairs surrounding a large camp fire. As you sit down, you are presented with your favorite beverage by a friendly waiter. Suddenly, you hear a noise! Then a roar followed by a series of muffled grunts. Lion!

The rest of your family arrives to join you at the fire. Everyone is silent, waiting in anticipation. The grunts are now coming from a different direction. Or maybe not! A zebra calls the alarm and then - quiet! The Maasai camp askaris appear out of the dark with reassuring smiles and go stand behind the kids to make them feel safer. Your guide starts to tell an impromptu story about an zebra foul that once got separated from its mother and came into camp to hide in one of the tents. Two hyenas knew it was in camp and patrolled the perimeter for hours while the baby zebra was crying out for its mother. All of a sudden, there was a big commotion as the hyenas tried to get closer but were surprised by the mother zebra who trotted into camp determined to save her little one!  Then the mother zebra decided to do something incredible....

This is an African safari at its best and your kids will love every moment.

When you stay at lodges, swimming pools are very popular and many lodges arrange sitters to watch the kids while you take a nap or go on game drives.

Please be aware that differences lodges/camps have different policies depending on child ages, etc. Triple and family rooms are not always available; we know ALL the lodges/camps and can advise you accordingly.

The Kiliwarriors use the best available lodge or camp for your budget and family interests, the time of year and predicted proximity of wildlife.

You will spend many hours and long days in your safari vehicle! For kids, the vehicles must be especially comfortable!