SANParks.org Forums

We last year took our daughter to Addo when she was 7 months old and too Kruger just before her first birthday (end September 2007).
This year we will miss out on Kruger (actually she as SO and I were in Kruger in Feb for the birding weekend) and she will be there next April again.

She enjoyed both trips immensely and saw nearly all the animals we pointed out to her.
Will never forget her face in Addo when she saw her first elephant!

In Addo she was still small so took a lot of naps in the car.
We then drove a Tazz so folded down the back seat to make a large play/sleep area for her.

In Kruger we had mom sit in the back with her and tried to keep the drives to not more than 3 hours at a time.
Mom would provide in car entertainment when the animals were far between.
We also spent some time during late morning/early afternoon in camp so we could walk around, play on the lawn or visit the pool with her.
We tried to keep her sleeping and eating times as close to home schedule as possible.

We all had a great time even though she wanted me to stop at every impala she saw

Looking forward to our visit next year as at age 20 months now she recognizes most of the common animals by name in her mammal book and just love the Roberts PDA version

Walks and game drives are something we did not do a lot in the past and decided we will refrain from them for the time being.

So trying to steer clear of all day driving, having some fun things to do in the car and spending time in camp will ensure that you all enjoy the trip

Try any of the camps with swimming pools.
It is a winner especially in summer.
Sunblock is important for all.
Letaba has the museum, P/kop has the best pool, wildlifemovies are shown in the major camps at night.
Just enjoy it with your kids, they will force you to come back.

I have 2 small kids (3 and 6) - we've been going twice a year since the eldest was a year old, so I can give you all the inside info on do's and don'ts with kids.
We've found that the south of the park is better for kids, as there is generally more to see, thus avoiding boredom for the kids.
Having said that, Letaba is wonderful for kids.
It has the elephant hall which is fantastic, and the camp itself is lovely.
Satara has a kiddies pool, jungle gym equipment and great wildlife movies in the evenings.
Pretoriouskop is wonderful - as was previously mentioned on the forum - best pool in the park by far.
There are also wild impala and warthog inside the fence which is always a thrill for my kids.
Just keep in mind that they are wild and the kids should definitely NOT approach them.
Skukuza is always a hit with the kids too.
Great pools, bats nesting in the outdoor eating area (creepy, but my kids LOVE them), fantastic shop with dozens of goodies for them to beg you for .
Oh, and I nearly forgot the Selati Train restaurant!
If you would like a break from cooking and braaiing, the Selati Rest. will be a definite hit with your kids.
The only camp that we found to be quite non-kid friendly was Lower Sabie - you only have to look at the accommodation available to family's to realise that they don't encourage kids - sad, as it could be a lovely camp.

My kids are 3 and 6, so please feel free to ask any questions that you may have - we travel to Kruger approx. twice a year.
Things to remember -
Mosquitoes (although not plentiful at this time of year) - make sure your kids are protected with mosquito repellent througout the day.
Pack bathing suits for the kids.
Even though the water may be too cold for us adults, the kids don't seem to feel it.
The park is generally very warm during the day and my kids have always wanted to swim even in June which is mid winter.
Most of the camps you are visiting have a pool.
I make animal star charts for my kids.
One for each day in the park.
I print small photos of all of the more common animals on a page, then each time my kids see that animal they stick a star next to it (just don't include impalas, as you will run out of stickers )
I also offer my kids a small prize for spotting the rare animals - this keeps them interested.
Plan your routes that you have as many 'stops' as possible - either at picnic sights or at camps.

You may want to invent some games for the little one, and possibly make shorter drives, or hop from camp to picnicspot and such to keep him happy.

And already start with books with zebra, elephant and such pictures in them...

But otherwise... Well, I guess it mostly depends on the nature of him. Very active or not and such.

One Kruger addict in the making!

Im with BB and BH . Also make a HUGE fuss when they volunteer ANY sighting!! If you dont want to actually stop for everything , then token slowing down for the youngster is a fair compromise for the more jaded members of the vehicle. When that fails......a jelly tot or 5

We took our 2 year old (almost 3) and 4 year old to Kruger twice in the last year and they LOVED it!!

They do get bored when nothing happens - but as soon as we spot something they're all up and watching... they get soooo excited when spotting warthogs, monkeys, baboons and off course any of the big 5. We took them to zoo's, small parks etc since they were very little - so they love wild animals (and they can distinguish between most species - it's not only a buck - it's a kudu, impala, nyala - they know them all)

Thats the way we grew up as well - since we were little we used to play this game in the car - spotting animals... since the 80's this game has evolved into a proper competition with almost as many rules as the IRB.... My wife doesn't particularly like this game - she says the rules are too complicated... so I won't bore you with it, but it is fun to play....

Should not be a problem. I took walkmans for my kids and bought animal stories and music for them to enjoy. At three years old, a child should have a long enough attention span.

I suppose the modern equivalent is an ipod. We also bought postcards of the animals they had seen, which they found great fun.

We took our daugther when she was 11 months and again this year at 2.5 years.
She enjoyed it a lot.
She did get bored when nothing happens but we had some stuff for her to do in the car and we tried to keep the drives short (if 3-4 hours is short).

She like walking around in the camps.
Satara also has a nice play area at the swimming pool with slides, swings and stuff to climb on and we had to go there every day.
She was greatly disappointed when she started looking and asking about play areas in Skukuza and Biyamiti and there were none!

At least Biyamiti is a small camp with lots of grass for her to play on.

Speak to your travel doctor about malaria prevention measures.
As said look at applying lots of mosquito lotions, try and cover up in evenings, get some electric mosquito killers that you plug into the wall socket of the chalet.

Next year will be my 3rd trip to kruger with my young sons and they just love it. A few recommendations on things to take that will fill the gaps when the sightings are a bit lean....

1) Buy some of those small plastic wild animals for the car
2) Buy one of those magnetic drawing boards (plenty of drawing fun without the mess)
3) Buy a sticker activity book of wild animals - priddy books publish some great ones. When you sitting at a water hole you can quietly work do this with your child.
4) Buy a toy camera and binoculars (otherwise they want a turn with yours all the time)

Hope you have a great visit next year. Only other recommendation is not to spot things too far away, they get very disappointed if they can't see what you are excited about!

We have been with our oldest, three times already (now 2 years and 3 months), first time when he was 1 year 2 months and at 7 different camps.
Been to Skukuza ( nice space at bunglows, guesthouses next to river), Lower Sabie ( best for children, lot’s of space in front of river facing bungalows), try nearer to the time to get place ? Satara (very nice pool area with huge jungle gym, enough space in front of most rondawels, bungalows) berg-en-dal (were also nice , try to get perimeter at fence).
Make sure to get the normal mosquito repellents etc (mike the mozzie)
Enjoy !

I chose accommodation like Bungalow with 3 single beds or 1 double bed.
But I think there is enough place for a crib.
I also have choosen this camps because there is enough place inside the camps that the little boy can run around.
We don´t want to drive the whole day through the park.
Only around the camps.
Essential we are in Kruger!!!

I am sure we will enjoy the trip and our boy has a lot of things to watch!!
I can imagine, that his first words will be lion or leopard or elephant - not mommy or daddy

I do not do cold well at all and I find the nights rarely need more than a warm jacket.
The bungalows are supplied with extra blankets if need be.
Its a lovely time of year for animal sigtings.

I would look to choose camps that are more "child friendly", that is place to play and explore.
My own experience has been that Skukuza, Satara, Berg n Dal and Pretorius Kop are probably the most child friendly of all camps.
Skukuza tops the list with facilities for little ones.

if you book a bungalow or cottage, you should have everything that you need.

Just my 5c's worth quickly, being a father of a 3 year old I know what it is to take those little monsters on Holiday and the rule of thumb is, wide open spaces, lots of animals and a playground.

For all this I would recommend Satara... it has the highest density of animals in KNP (especially cats), the camp has huge wide open lawns for the kids to play in and the swimming pool has a lovely playground where they can play to their harts content..

Skukuza and BnD also deserves a mention, but July is the best time around Satara as most of the bush is declining which means better sightings for yourself and the kids

You have a good point there DotDan.
Brett Hilton Barber wrote an article in a Getaway magazine after taking children in one of the less animal dense places.
He spoke about bored children as being a major problem.

We were lucky, as our children were small during the days of the Caravelle.
We could make the whole of the back area one big playground where they could amuse themselves.
I do remember the frustration of wanting to stay longer at waterholes and a child would start the midmorning whine..