August 19, 2025 • 26 mins
In this episode of the Family Holiday Destinations podcast, we’re covering everything from practical gear to wild African adventures. First up in travel news: the brand-new Ergobaby travel stroller, a handy booking resource for finding Europe’s best waterparks, and the exciting opening of the Monarto Safari Park Resort.
Then we dive into the big feature: an inspiring chat with Deon De Villiers from Safari Guru, where we unpack how to plan your first family African safari - from choosing the right country to safety tips, budgeting, and why booking with a specialist can make all the difference.
Considering a family African Safari adventure? Check out this article over on the website: https://familyholidaydestinations.com/family-african-safari-first-timers-guide/
We wrap up with ways to choose your next holiday destination, from following your favourite movies, to checking out Lonely Planet’s new Where to Go When with Kids book, to exploring the rising trend of astrocartography.
Thanks for tuning in to the Family Holiday Destinations podcast! For more travel tips, destination guides, and family-friendly inspiration, visit our website at familyholidaydestinations.com. Until next time, happy travels and safe adventures!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 01 (00:00):
Welcome to the Family Holiday Destinations
podcast, where we inspire yournext family adventure.
I'm Jessica Palmer, mother oftwo and founder of Family
Holiday Destinations, and todaywe're diving into a whole range
of exciting travel goodness.
We'll start with a look at somefresh family travel news,
(00:21):
including a compact strollerthat might just change the game
for parents on the go, and a newEuropean website that helps you
find the best water park acrossthe continent.
We'll also take a quick peek atSouth Australia's brand new
Monarto Safari Resort, and it'severy bit as wild as it sounds.
Then, while we're on the topicof safaris, we're jumping into
(00:44):
the big topic for today,planning your very first African
safari with kids.
If you've always dreamed aboutdoing something a little
different, something that's notjust beaches and buffets, this
episode is for you.
I'll be joined by Dion fromSafari Guru to answer all the
questions you probably have butdidn't know who to ask.
(01:05):
We'll then wrap up with a quicktravel tip on how I choose
destinations.
Hint, I'm very, very easilyinfluenced by movies.
Plus a peek at Lonely Planet'snew Where to Go When with Kids
book and a bizarre new trendthat involves planning your
holidays based on yourastrological birth chart.
Yes, that's apparently now athing.
(01:30):
Let's kick off with a fewupdates in the family travel
world that caught my attentionthis month.
Ergo Baby launched a new luxetravel stroller.
Ergo Baby's popular Metro 3compact stroller just got an
upgrade.
The new Metro 3 Deluxe istravel light approved, carry-on
compatible, and packed withparent-friendly features like a
(01:52):
magnetic buckle, cup holders,and a shoulder strap for easy
carrying.
It's also got what they callthe roomiest seat in its class
and all-terrain suspension, soyour baby or toddler gets a
smooth ride, even if you'rebouncing down cobblestones in
Italy.
As a side note, I've alwaysbeen a huge fan of Ergo Baby.
(02:14):
I was blessed with two babiesthat had an aversion to
sleeping, so my Ergo Babycarrier went with me everywhere,
even on hikes.
In fact, I wrote about it thismonth in our Hiking with
Toddlers article on the FamilyHoliday Destinations website.
Splashfan.com launches a handywaterpark search tool for
(02:38):
Europe.
A new site called Splashfan.comhas launched and as the parent
of a now 10 and 12 year old, Ithink it's simply genius.
It's basically a website thathelps families discover and
compare over 170 waterparksacross Europe.
You can filter by country, ridetypes, kids areas,
(02:59):
accessibility and more.
Think of it like Booking.combut for water slides.
Hopefully they will expand intoother continents soon.
Monarto Safari Resort opens inSouth Australia.
Australia's largest safari parkjust got an upgrade.
(03:21):
The new Monarto Safari Resortnear Adelaide lets you stay
overnight with views ofgiraffes, rhinos and cheetahs.
There are hotel rooms, luxurysafari tents and even dawn and
dusk tours exclusive to resortguests.
It's the closest you'll get toAfrica without leaving
Australia.
If you'd like more informationon any of these news items,
(03:45):
you'll find them in the newssection of the Family Holiday
Destinations website.
Speaking of safaris, afterwatching the Adam Sandler movie
'Blended' a few years back, theidea of a family African safari
made its way onto my bucketlist.
(04:05):
But truth be told, most of mytravel experience is in Asia,
Australia, the South Pacific andthe US.
And so, well, I have a lot ofquestions.
So I called in an expert.
You're about to hear from Deonde Villiers, the founder of
Safari Guru, who answers some ofthe biggest questions families
(04:27):
have when thinking about anAfrican safari.
Thank you so much for taking thetime to talk with me.
And can you tell me a bit aboutyourself and how Safari Guru
came about?
Speaker 00 (04:45):
Absolutely.
So it's a pleasure and thankyou for inviting me.
I was once in the corporateworld here in Australia.
And after eight years of doingthat and sitting on airplanes, I
decided to go back to Africaand live Africa as I suppose
started off as a tourist.
I went back with my partner andwe bought a vehicle and we just
(05:05):
drove.
And we just drove and wevisited different parts,
Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe,Mozambique.
South Africa, obviously my homecountry, living out of the back
of the vehicle and a tent.
And after a while of doingthat, we landed up in a safari
camp.
We were going there for lunchand a chat with the owners and
we never left.
Needless to say, that's whereour safari career started,
(05:28):
eventually becoming part ownersin the camp.
After an eight or nine yeartenure at that lodge, we went up
to Botswana.
and started working for alarger safari organization where
I ran the operations for anumber of safari camps in the
Okavango Delta, which is whenour little family came along.
Little children get to thepoint where they need schooling,
(05:51):
proper schooling, you know.
Speaker 01 (05:53):
Yeah, I know all about that.
Yep.
Speaker 00 (05:58):
So we decided, look, it's time to get real and come
back to Australia and also letour children experience more
time with grandparents and dothe normal family thing.
After that long of runningsafari camps and safari camp
operations, and I used tospecialize in walking safaris
and photographic safaris.
Anyway, and that's all I knew.
(06:19):
And so many of our clients thatI'd engaged with over the many
years were still in contact.
And then my contacts, they werelooking at me to give them
advice on where to go and what'sthe safest things to do and
where's exciting, where's offthe beaten track, what's
untouched.
So that's where Safari Guru wasborn.
Speaker 01 (06:39):
So you've lived through it.
I've read some of your articleson the website and I can see
you have baboons stealing dolls,lions outside the tent.
As Australians, we're notusually too concerned about
that, but that does sound a bitconcerning.
Is safari actually safe forkids?
Speaker 00 (06:57):
Safari is incredibly safe for kids.
When you go on safari and whenyou live safari, it's two very
different things.
I'm certainly not going to saythat I took chances with my
children, but we did a lot ofthings together that we wouldn't
necessarily do with ourclients.
Like my son and I, he was onlya few years old, and we'd jump
(07:23):
on the boat and disappear intothe Okavango Delta for a few
days and sleep in a littletwo-man tent on an island, you
know, quite often with, like,elephants coming through and
feeding around the tent.
So I think when you live thesafari life, you probably become
more complacent.
And, you know, the things thathappen behind the scenes are
often with the people that livein the bush.
(07:45):
It's very seldom with guests,you know, your travellers.
We'll put it this way.
We vet all of the companiesthat that we send people to,
either operators, right?
We know them, we've stayed withthem, we've traveled with them.
We make sure we only use thebest operators in Africa to get
the results we want.
When we book our trips forfamilies, for our families, we
(08:08):
make sure we use properreputable camps and we put
together the best safarisoffering the best experiences in
a safe environment.
Speaker 01 (08:16):
So how do lodgers cater for families with young
kids?
Speaker 00 (08:21):
There's various ways of catering and it depends on
what young is, you know,definition of young really.
The first thing then is wewould be saying, okay, then
perhaps let's focus on a campthat's in a location that, first
of all, doesn't have malaria.
You actually get geographiclocations that are malaria-free
due to winter temperatures orother conditions.
(08:44):
So we would actually then focuson those type properties.
And then within those areas,furthermore, you can also get
certain safari camps that arefenced.
And that's done in a very niceway.
It's not like you're sittingthere like with, big massive
fences around you.
They're just discreet, youknow.
So it's a safe environment.
(09:04):
You're not going to get anelephant coming in or a lion
coming in or whatever the casemay be.
But, you know, then withfamilies with six- and
seven-year-olds, moreadventurous families, we would
send them to places likeBotswana or Zimbabwe where there
wouldn't be fences.
And it's a truly wildenvironment.
But once again, there we wouldknow the operators we're sending
(09:25):
them to.
And, you know, my rule of thumbis, and very much for all of
our safaris gurus our rule is ifwe wouldn't feel comfortable
taking our families to thatlocation
Speaker 01 (09:34):
Yes
Speaker 00 (09:36):
we would not send you there.
We have clients saying Dion isit safe you know um and whenever
they say that that is what Ithink to myself would I go there
tomorrow with my two littlechildren yes or no yeah. If I
have to hesitate and even thinkabout it I don't send you there
yeah
Speaker 01 (09:52):
So obviously, teenagers are a different
ballgame than toddlers most ofthe time.
In some ways, they're the same.
But what activities might weexpect to see a family, like of
all ages, do on a safari?
Speaker 00 (10:07):
Look, a good safari guide can keep the whole family
engaged.
Teenagers...
In today's world, yes, lovetheir phones.
They love to be connected.
I think when you go out on athree-hour safari drive,
generally your safari drive isthree to three-and-a-half hours
in the morning and in theafternoon.
I think when you go out, it's asuitable amount of time to keep
(10:30):
the engagement.
So your younger children, Imean, they would get engaged
with just about anything, right?
Speaker 01 (10:37):
Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 00 (10:39):
A good safari guide, though, would know– when to get
mid-aged children off avehicle.
Let's go have a look at thesetracks.
Let's interpret what'shappening around us.
And they can do that.
They can very much do that bylooking at tracks, listening to
birds, listening to alarm calls,and getting their family
involved.
That it's not just the safariguide making decisions on do we
(11:02):
turn left at the next corner ordo we turn right?
What's going to find us theselions that are busy following,
you know, or leopard or whateverthe case may be.
It's getting everybody on thevehicle engaged and involved
with the process of your safariresult.
And you'll find when you dothat, your three hours actually
goes quite quickly.
We don't lose anybody.
(11:24):
Of course, on some days, maybedue to weather or whatever the
case may be, your wildlifeviewing might be not as good as
other days.
And then the guide is to work alittle bit harder.
Find different ways to engagethe family.
Look, I can probably count onone hand where I've actually
seen even teenage children say,look, I'm just so bored here,
(11:45):
you know.
And I kind of got the feelingthat those ones were not going
to be happy with anythinganyway.
Speaker 01 (11:52):
You weren't going to be able to please them.
Yes.
So you've said a smart safaristarts with a smart budget.
But for families that are on atighter budget, is an African
safari still possible?
Speaker 00 (12:04):
It is possible.
Look.
Safaris are expensive.
And even your modest-typesafari, it's a lot of dollars.
But there are certainly somesafaris that are more
accessible.
One popular option as anexample would be a mobile
safari.
We've got a family actuallyleaving in just a few weeks, two
weeks, a lovely family who havegot two teenage sons.
(12:26):
And they've got a privatevehicle, and it's the four of
them going for two weeks throughsome of the really...
more wild destinations in Kenyaand then on to Tanzania.
Speaker 01 (12:36):
So when you say mobile safari, do you mean
camping at a different spot eachnight as opposed to going back
to like a luxury lodge kind ofthing?
Speaker 00 (12:45):
There's two ways to do it.
So actually the ones in Kenyaare actually staying at lodges.
But the one that I made mentionof in Botswana, yes,
absolutely.
It's camping, but it's campingwith a difference.
You're not getting out of yourvehicle and setting up a tent.
The operator would still havethree or four people personnel
on site and they would set upyour tent for you and you'd stay
(13:06):
in that tent for three nights
Speaker 01 (13:08):
oh yes yeah
Speaker 00 (13:09):
then, you would go out on morning drive and go a
slightly longer drive andmagically come back to a
different destination.
And your tent is all set up inthat destination.
Speaker 01 (13:19):
Oh that sounds like my type of camping,
Speaker 00 (13:22):
Right?
Exactly right.
And not only that, but you'vegot a chef, a mobile camping
chef, and he's got bread for youon the fire and your soup made
over the fire and everything'sready for you and you've got hot
meals.
So, yeah, it's camping with adifference.
But that is probably your mostcost-effective way of camping.
Speaker 01 (13:42):
So you've got some great stories from the bush.
Do your own kids have afavourite safari moment or a
funny moment?
Speaker 00 (13:50):
We've got so many.
Strangely enough, we've beenout of the bush now for six
years.
But these African stories comeup at dinner every single night.
But certainly when the baboonsstole the doll, that is a big
day at Mambo camp.
Don't leave your doll lyingaround in the camp.
We did get the doll backthough.
(14:11):
But yeah, you know, frombaboons, from monkeys coming
through and stealing lunch.
You know, there's so many, butjust moments that we've sat as a
family and, well, actuallyquite a cool day as well was the
day we actually weaned mylittle girl, my daughter, off
her bottle.
We were sitting on a smalllittle, like a weir, like a
little dam, like it was part ofthe Okavango Delta.
(14:33):
Anyway, I pretended to throwher bottle into the hippos.
It was about 89 hippos and thebottle quickly slipped behind
the seat of my vehicle and mydaughter watched as these hippos
apparently consumed a bottleand she never touched the bottle
from that day on.
She was like, what?
Okay, well, that's that.
But we also used to have a lotof fun in the central Kalahari
(14:53):
of Botswana, where in one of thesafari camps, there was about
seven or eight Khoisan people,commonly referred to as Bushmen.
Some people don't like the termBushmen, but they call
themselves Bushmen themselves.
So it's quite a common term.
And these Bushmen...
And my children became quiteclose over time because we'd go
there quite regularly.
(15:14):
And they'd get the childreninvolved and go and pick flowers
and learn the medicinal uses ofthe flowers.
And of course, for me, it madewonderful photographic moments.
So those were probably sometreasured moments we had in the
bush.
Those are very good memoriesfor us.
Speaker 01 (15:30):
So there's a lot of different safari styles, tented
camps, luxury lodges, the mobilesafaris you talked about.
Do you recommend a particularone for first-time families or
will it just depend on thefamily?
Speaker 00 (15:44):
It depends on the family.
We do have people sometimessaying we want to go to Namibia
and that's our first-time tripand I talk them out of that.
I don't think that destinationfits the first-time safari.
But certainly if it's youngchildren, we would steer them to
malaria-free areas.
I don't want to send a familyto Africa that they have to sit
there and panic the whole timebecause then you defeat the
(16:05):
purpose of being on holiday,right?
Speaker 01 (16:07):
Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 00 (16:08):
First timers, Zimbabwe, even Kenya, Tanzania,
all of them offer– like withinthose destinations, it's more
about choosing the camp that'sbetter for the first-time safari
goer.
You know, I'll often stay awayfrom– You know, you get flies
and other biting creatures.
I tend to avoid those areas forfirst-time safari goers because
(16:32):
they probably wouldn't want togo back if they get bitten a
hundred times.
Unknown (16:35):
Yes.
Speaker 01 (16:35):
Don't want to scare them up on their first trip,
do you?
Speaker 00 (16:38):
We had a family that went with one little boy
recently and they wanted to seeas much of other areas as
safari.
So in that instance, we keptlooking at South Africa and we
tacked on other excitingopportunities.
Ended up at Cape Town for awhile and had been to the
Winelands for a while where weset up some activities and they
actually went out and did somedaytime activities with a
(17:00):
private guide.
You know, if a family onlywants to do three or four days
of safari, You're not going tosend them somewhere that's going
to waste time on logistics.
We always try and reducelogistics.
You know, every time you gothrough a border, there's visa
fees.
And Africa's a tipping cultureas well.
And the tips can add up to alot of money as well.
So we try and reduce all ofthose handshakes to keep it
(17:22):
stress-free and to achievemaximum on-the-ground result.
Speaker 01 (17:26):
So do you have a favourite destination or
national park in Africa that youthink is underrated for
families?
Speaker 00 (17:33):
Look, I spent a lot of time in Madikwe Game Reserve,
which is really cool.
You know, that's one of theareas that I spoke about as
being malaria-free.
And in Madikwe, just like otherareas of the Kruger, you know,
the private game reservesadjacent to the Kruger, like the
Sabi and the Timbavati, we knowyou're going to get really good
wildlife viewing results inonly a few days, right?
(17:56):
You don't have to go there fora week and a half to see all of
the major species.
Unless you tell me, well,there's a particular species I
want to see or a particulargroup of animals I want to see,
then we'll choose maybesomething a bit different.
For me, though, my all-timefavorite is, of course, the
swan.
I mean, that's where I spent alot of my time.
So the Okabanga Delta and doinga safari, there's something
(18:19):
really rewarding to me aboutseeing animals from a boat.
It just feels like a much morepeaceful approach.
And when you've got familiesand you can break time up
between a vehicle and a boat and
Speaker 01 (18:29):
Yes.
Speaker 00 (18:30):
I think it really, really helps to keep those
children more involved.
Speaker 01 (18:34):
So what are some non-wildlife spotting
experiences that families canexpect to do if they go on an
African safari style holiday?
So
Speaker 00 (18:45):
look, fishing is certainly one.
I mean, if you go to Zimbabweor even Botswana and you catch
tiger fish, It's probably themost exciting fishing you can
ever do, you know.
And of course, we promote catchand release.
It's all catch and release,right?
So the guides in safari campsknow that and they adhere to
those rules and you puteverything back.
You can also do walk-insafaris, but there are age
(19:06):
limits.
There's also age limits onmakora or let's call it canoe
types of luck, you know, on acanoe or kayak.
But that's also a very excitingway to explore the land.
It also allows you to focus onsome of the smaller species.
Once you go past the big, youknow, what we call the jaws,
claws and paws of the bush.
Yes.
Once you go past that andyou've ticked off lion and
(19:27):
you've ticked off leopard andyou've ticked off elephant and
giraffe, we start working on thesmaller species.
And once you start focusing onthe smaller species, a whole new
world opens up.
And once you get interested inthose smaller species, you can
never be bored.
And even having a guard gettingyour travelers off a vehicle
and interpreting what they'reseeing on the ground, you know,
there's a hyena track on the, onthe ground.
(19:48):
This is why it's a hyena track.
And he walked you at fouro'clock this morning, which
sounds a little bit like, youknow, like a crocodile
Dundee-ish, doesn't it?
But there's good reason for himsaying that, you know, he might
see an insect track that goesover the hyena track and the
insect is something that's onlyactive during the daytime.
Once you start to suffer in allof this, you can spend hours,
(20:10):
looking at the smaller thingsand actually working out what's
going on, which is a great wayto keep the family entertained.
And often it leads to actuallyfinding the animals anyway.
So there's that sense ofachievement.
Speaker 01 (20:21):
So you've helped hundreds of Aussies plan their
dream safari.
What makes Safari Gurudifferent from just like booking
a trip online or going througha general travel agent?
I mean, obviously the expertiseplays a huge part.
Speaker 00 (20:37):
Sure.
There's a very big differencein how we put a safari together.
I'm certainly not putting anytravel agents down because we've
all got our place in thisindustry, right?
But we design a safari basedupon our knowledge, your
specific needs.
A travel agent in general wouldbe selling the safari based
(20:58):
upon a brochured package.
And in our industry, I don'tthink one size fits all.
We have never done a singlesafari exactly the same.
The other fundamentaldifference, we get to know our
clients really well.
And it's first name basis.
So when our clients travel, weconnected the whole time via
WhatsApp or Messenger orwhatever it is that we choose,
(21:20):
whatever your preferred methodof connection is.
And we are there.
Some of our safari gurus sit inSouth Africa and one in London.
So we're within the Africantime zone.
And it's that hand-holding.
that makes our clients reallycomfortable.
When they reach out, whether itbe me or Ashley or Alan,
whichever one of our Safarigurus they've engaged with, that
(21:40):
person is there and it's firstname.
It's not, what's your referencenumber?
What's your package
Speaker 01 (21:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 00 (21:45):
Yes Hey Dion, it's Jessica here.
We're sitting in the airport.
We've heard the plane's goingto be late.
How's this going to affect ourSafari flight?
Speaker 01 (21:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 00 (21:45):
Yes Jessica here.
We're sitting in the airport.
We've heard the plane's goingto be late.
How's this going to affect ourSafari flight?
Don't worry, Jessica.
We're telling them, but theplane will wait for you and
we're just notifying them.
There'll be somebody to meetyou.
They're going to walk youthrough customs a little bit
faster.
That's us.
Speaker 01 (22:02):
Oh, that's great.
And so last question, for anyfamilies dreaming about Africa,
but they don't know where tostart, where should they begin?
Speaker 00 (22:11):
First, they've got to have a dream, right?
Speaker 01 (22:13):
Yep.
Speaker 00 (22:14):
Once they've got that dream, then we make the
magic happen.
I can't stress enough, speak toa specialist and share your
dream and then see what theycome back with.
And let them come back withthose thoughts and options
tailored around what you need.
In Africa, what a lot of peopledon't realize, in a
geographical space the size ofAustralia, in Africa, Botswana,
(22:39):
South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia,Zambia, Mozambique, Uganda,
Rwanda, they're all differentcountries.
The only handhold between thosecountries is the operator
that's making this happen foryou.
Yes.
And once you walk through thatborder, there's a different
currency, there's a differentlanguage, there's a different
custom.
And all of these items don'tnecessarily come together.
(23:01):
So our internet-based researchcan be destination-specific, but
it's very, very difficult tomarry multiple destinations.
So the process of safari mostlyrequires multiple countries.
Yeah.
And destination specialistslike us will actually know the
gaps and the best ways to dothat.
Speaker 01 (23:24):
Excellent.
Well, thank you so much foranswering all my questions
today, Dion.
Thank you.
I really do appreciate yourtime.
Okay.
How do you decide where to go onholiday?
For me, movies have been amajor influence.
I went to China after watchingthe remake of The Karate Kid,
(23:48):
the one with Jaden Smith, notthe latest one.
I haven't had a chance to watchthat yet, unfortunately.
I booked Bora Bora afterwatching Vin Diesel jump into
those sparkly aqua blues inTriple X, and I ended up in
Nevada after watching the aliencomedy, Paul.
Of course, there's also thematter of price and school
(24:09):
holiday timing.
Now, apparently this way ofchoosing your holiday
destination is called setjetting, and it's exploded in
popularity.
I, for one, am not surprised.
But I recently flipped throughLonely Planet's new book, Where
to Go When, with kids, and it'sbrilliant.
You can search destinations bymonth.
(24:29):
So if September is your onlytravel window, the book suggests
everything from NorthQueensland in Australia to
Hawaii, to through to the AtlasMountains in Morocco and Osaka
in Japan, and it explains why.
It's a great tool if you'restuck in planning limbo.
And hey, if that's still toostructured for you, according to
(24:50):
Travel Weekly, astrocartographyis trending.
What is astrocartography, youask?
It's when travelers choosetheir destination based on where
the stars say they should go.
Yep, your birth chart might bethe new TripAdvisor.
Royal Caribbean even got onboard with this trend partnering
(25:11):
with an astrologer to recommendcruises based on planetary
alignments wild right So thatwraps up our latest podcast
episode.
A big thanks to Dion from SafariGuru for sharing his expertise
and giving up his time to answerall those questions that
(25:31):
parents like us are probably tooembarrassed to ask.
I hope this chat has inspiredyou to dream big, whether it's
the Serengeti or SouthAustralia's own safari resort.
For more details, links, andfamily-friendly tips, head to
the Family Holiday Destinationswebsite at familyholiday.com.
And if you've ever taken yourkids on safari or you're
(25:55):
planning to, I would love tohear from you until next time,
happy travels and enjoy makingthose family memories.
Welcome to the Family Holiday Destinations
podcast, where we inspire yournext family adventure.
I'm Jessica Palmer, mother oftwo and founder of Family
Holiday Destinations, and todaywe're diving into a whole range
of exciting travel goodness.
We'll start with a look at somefresh family travel news,
(00:21):
including a compact strollerthat might just change the game
for parents on the go, and a newEuropean website that helps you
find the best water park acrossthe continent.
We'll also take a quick peek atSouth Australia's brand new
Monarto Safari Resort, and it'severy bit as wild as it sounds.
Then, while we're on the topicof safaris, we're jumping into
(00:44):
the big topic for today,planning your very first African
safari with kids.
If you've always dreamed aboutdoing something a little
different, something that's notjust beaches and buffets, this
episode is for you.
I'll be joined by Dion fromSafari Guru to answer all the
questions you probably have butdidn't know who to ask.
(01:05):
We'll then wrap up with a quicktravel tip on how I choose
destinations.
Hint, I'm very, very easilyinfluenced by movies.
Plus a peek at Lonely Planet'snew Where to Go When with Kids
book and a bizarre new trendthat involves planning your
holidays based on yourastrological birth chart.
Yes, that's apparently now athing.
(01:30):
Let's kick off with a fewupdates in the family travel
world that caught my attentionthis month.
Ergo Baby launched a new luxetravel stroller.
Ergo Baby's popular Metro 3compact stroller just got an
upgrade.
The new Metro 3 Deluxe istravel light approved, carry-on
compatible, and packed withparent-friendly features like a
(01:52):
magnetic buckle, cup holders,and a shoulder strap for easy
carrying.
It's also got what they callthe roomiest seat in its class
and all-terrain suspension, soyour baby or toddler gets a
smooth ride, even if you'rebouncing down cobblestones in
Italy.
As a side note, I've alwaysbeen a huge fan of Ergo Baby.
(02:14):
I was blessed with two babiesthat had an aversion to
sleeping, so my Ergo Babycarrier went with me everywhere,
even on hikes.
In fact, I wrote about it thismonth in our Hiking with
Toddlers article on the FamilyHoliday Destinations website.
Splashfan.com launches a handywaterpark search tool for
(02:38):
Europe.
A new site called Splashfan.comhas launched and as the parent
of a now 10 and 12 year old, Ithink it's simply genius.
It's basically a website thathelps families discover and
compare over 170 waterparksacross Europe.
You can filter by country, ridetypes, kids areas,
(02:59):
accessibility and more.
Think of it like Booking.combut for water slides.
Hopefully they will expand intoother continents soon.
Monarto Safari Resort opens inSouth Australia.
Australia's largest safari parkjust got an upgrade.
(03:21):
The new Monarto Safari Resortnear Adelaide lets you stay
overnight with views ofgiraffes, rhinos and cheetahs.
There are hotel rooms, luxurysafari tents and even dawn and
dusk tours exclusive to resortguests.
It's the closest you'll get toAfrica without leaving
Australia.
If you'd like more informationon any of these news items,
(03:45):
you'll find them in the newssection of the Family Holiday
Destinations website.
Speaking of safaris, afterwatching the Adam Sandler movie
'Blended' a few years back, theidea of a family African safari
made its way onto my bucketlist.
(04:05):
But truth be told, most of mytravel experience is in Asia,
Australia, the South Pacific andthe US.
And so, well, I have a lot ofquestions.
So I called in an expert.
You're about to hear from Deonde Villiers, the founder of
Safari Guru, who answers some ofthe biggest questions families
(04:27):
have when thinking about anAfrican safari.
Thank you so much for taking thetime to talk with me.
And can you tell me a bit aboutyourself and how Safari Guru
came about?
Speaker 00 (04:45):
Absolutely.
So it's a pleasure and thankyou for inviting me.
I was once in the corporateworld here in Australia.
And after eight years of doingthat and sitting on airplanes, I
decided to go back to Africaand live Africa as I suppose
started off as a tourist.
I went back with my partner andwe bought a vehicle and we just
(05:05):
drove.
And we just drove and wevisited different parts,
Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe,Mozambique.
South Africa, obviously my homecountry, living out of the back
of the vehicle and a tent.
And after a while of doingthat, we landed up in a safari
camp.
We were going there for lunchand a chat with the owners and
we never left.
Needless to say, that's whereour safari career started,
(05:28):
eventually becoming part ownersin the camp.
After an eight or nine yeartenure at that lodge, we went up
to Botswana.
and started working for alarger safari organization where
I ran the operations for anumber of safari camps in the
Okavango Delta, which is whenour little family came along.
Little children get to thepoint where they need schooling,
(05:51):
proper schooling, you know.
Speaker 01 (05:53):
Yeah, I know all about that.
Yep.
Speaker 00 (05:58):
So we decided, look, it's time to get real and come
back to Australia and also letour children experience more
time with grandparents and dothe normal family thing.
After that long of runningsafari camps and safari camp
operations, and I used tospecialize in walking safaris
and photographic safaris.
Anyway, and that's all I knew.
(06:19):
And so many of our clients thatI'd engaged with over the many
years were still in contact.
And then my contacts, they werelooking at me to give them
advice on where to go and what'sthe safest things to do and
where's exciting, where's offthe beaten track, what's
untouched.
So that's where Safari Guru wasborn.
Speaker 01 (06:39):
So you've lived through it.
I've read some of your articleson the website and I can see
you have baboons stealing dolls,lions outside the tent.
As Australians, we're notusually too concerned about
that, but that does sound a bitconcerning.
Is safari actually safe forkids?
Speaker 00 (06:57):
Safari is incredibly safe for kids.
When you go on safari and whenyou live safari, it's two very
different things.
I'm certainly not going to saythat I took chances with my
children, but we did a lot ofthings together that we wouldn't
necessarily do with ourclients.
Like my son and I, he was onlya few years old, and we'd jump
(07:23):
on the boat and disappear intothe Okavango Delta for a few
days and sleep in a littletwo-man tent on an island, you
know, quite often with, like,elephants coming through and
feeding around the tent.
So I think when you live thesafari life, you probably become
more complacent.
And, you know, the things thathappen behind the scenes are
often with the people that livein the bush.
(07:45):
It's very seldom with guests,you know, your travellers.
We'll put it this way.
We vet all of the companiesthat that we send people to,
either operators, right?
We know them, we've stayed withthem, we've traveled with them.
We make sure we only use thebest operators in Africa to get
the results we want.
When we book our trips forfamilies, for our families, we
(08:08):
make sure we use properreputable camps and we put
together the best safarisoffering the best experiences in
a safe environment.
Speaker 01 (08:16):
So how do lodgers cater for families with young
kids?
Speaker 00 (08:21):
There's various ways of catering and it depends on
what young is, you know,definition of young really.
The first thing then is wewould be saying, okay, then
perhaps let's focus on a campthat's in a location that, first
of all, doesn't have malaria.
You actually get geographiclocations that are malaria-free
due to winter temperatures orother conditions.
(08:44):
So we would actually then focuson those type properties.
And then within those areas,furthermore, you can also get
certain safari camps that arefenced.
And that's done in a very niceway.
It's not like you're sittingthere like with, big massive
fences around you.
They're just discreet, youknow.
So it's a safe environment.
(09:04):
You're not going to get anelephant coming in or a lion
coming in or whatever the casemay be.
But, you know, then withfamilies with six- and
seven-year-olds, moreadventurous families, we would
send them to places likeBotswana or Zimbabwe where there
wouldn't be fences.
And it's a truly wildenvironment.
But once again, there we wouldknow the operators we're sending
(09:25):
them to.
And, you know, my rule of thumbis, and very much for all of
our safaris gurus our rule is ifwe wouldn't feel comfortable
taking our families to thatlocation
Speaker 01 (09:34):
Yes
Speaker 00 (09:36):
we would not send you there.
We have clients saying Dion isit safe you know um and whenever
they say that that is what Ithink to myself would I go there
tomorrow with my two littlechildren yes or no yeah. If I
have to hesitate and even thinkabout it I don't send you there
yeah
Speaker 01 (09:52):
So obviously, teenagers are a different
ballgame than toddlers most ofthe time.
In some ways, they're the same.
But what activities might weexpect to see a family, like of
all ages, do on a safari?
Speaker 00 (10:07):
Look, a good safari guide can keep the whole family
engaged.
Teenagers...
In today's world, yes, lovetheir phones.
They love to be connected.
I think when you go out on athree-hour safari drive,
generally your safari drive isthree to three-and-a-half hours
in the morning and in theafternoon.
I think when you go out, it's asuitable amount of time to keep
(10:30):
the engagement.
So your younger children, Imean, they would get engaged
with just about anything, right?
Speaker 01 (10:37):
Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 00 (10:39):
A good safari guide, though, would know– when to get
mid-aged children off avehicle.
Let's go have a look at thesetracks.
Let's interpret what'shappening around us.
And they can do that.
They can very much do that bylooking at tracks, listening to
birds, listening to alarm calls,and getting their family
involved.
That it's not just the safariguide making decisions on do we
(11:02):
turn left at the next corner ordo we turn right?
What's going to find us theselions that are busy following,
you know, or leopard or whateverthe case may be.
It's getting everybody on thevehicle engaged and involved
with the process of your safariresult.
And you'll find when you dothat, your three hours actually
goes quite quickly.
We don't lose anybody.
(11:24):
Of course, on some days, maybedue to weather or whatever the
case may be, your wildlifeviewing might be not as good as
other days.
And then the guide is to work alittle bit harder.
Find different ways to engagethe family.
Look, I can probably count onone hand where I've actually
seen even teenage children say,look, I'm just so bored here,
(11:45):
you know.
And I kind of got the feelingthat those ones were not going
to be happy with anythinganyway.
Speaker 01 (11:52):
You weren't going to be able to please them.
Yes.
So you've said a smart safaristarts with a smart budget.
But for families that are on atighter budget, is an African
safari still possible?
Speaker 00 (12:04):
It is possible.
Look.
Safaris are expensive.
And even your modest-typesafari, it's a lot of dollars.
But there are certainly somesafaris that are more
accessible.
One popular option as anexample would be a mobile
safari.
We've got a family actuallyleaving in just a few weeks, two
weeks, a lovely family who havegot two teenage sons.
(12:26):
And they've got a privatevehicle, and it's the four of
them going for two weeks throughsome of the really...
more wild destinations in Kenyaand then on to Tanzania.
Speaker 01 (12:36):
So when you say mobile safari, do you mean
camping at a different spot eachnight as opposed to going back
to like a luxury lodge kind ofthing?
Speaker 00 (12:45):
There's two ways to do it.
So actually the ones in Kenyaare actually staying at lodges.
But the one that I made mentionof in Botswana, yes,
absolutely.
It's camping, but it's campingwith a difference.
You're not getting out of yourvehicle and setting up a tent.
The operator would still havethree or four people personnel
on site and they would set upyour tent for you and you'd stay
(13:06):
in that tent for three nights
Speaker 01 (13:08):
oh yes yeah
Speaker 00 (13:09):
then, you would go out on morning drive and go a
slightly longer drive andmagically come back to a
different destination.
And your tent is all set up inthat destination.
Speaker 01 (13:19):
Oh that sounds like my type of camping,
Speaker 00 (13:22):
Right?
Exactly right.
And not only that, but you'vegot a chef, a mobile camping
chef, and he's got bread for youon the fire and your soup made
over the fire and everything'sready for you and you've got hot
meals.
So, yeah, it's camping with adifference.
But that is probably your mostcost-effective way of camping.
Speaker 01 (13:42):
So you've got some great stories from the bush.
Do your own kids have afavourite safari moment or a
funny moment?
Speaker 00 (13:50):
We've got so many.
Strangely enough, we've beenout of the bush now for six
years.
But these African stories comeup at dinner every single night.
But certainly when the baboonsstole the doll, that is a big
day at Mambo camp.
Don't leave your doll lyingaround in the camp.
We did get the doll backthough.
(14:11):
But yeah, you know, frombaboons, from monkeys coming
through and stealing lunch.
You know, there's so many, butjust moments that we've sat as a
family and, well, actuallyquite a cool day as well was the
day we actually weaned mylittle girl, my daughter, off
her bottle.
We were sitting on a smalllittle, like a weir, like a
little dam, like it was part ofthe Okavango Delta.
(14:33):
Anyway, I pretended to throwher bottle into the hippos.
It was about 89 hippos and thebottle quickly slipped behind
the seat of my vehicle and mydaughter watched as these hippos
apparently consumed a bottleand she never touched the bottle
from that day on.
She was like, what?
Okay, well, that's that.
But we also used to have a lotof fun in the central Kalahari
(14:53):
of Botswana, where in one of thesafari camps, there was about
seven or eight Khoisan people,commonly referred to as Bushmen.
Some people don't like the termBushmen, but they call
themselves Bushmen themselves.
So it's quite a common term.
And these Bushmen...
And my children became quiteclose over time because we'd go
there quite regularly.
(15:14):
And they'd get the childreninvolved and go and pick flowers
and learn the medicinal uses ofthe flowers.
And of course, for me, it madewonderful photographic moments.
So those were probably sometreasured moments we had in the
bush.
Those are very good memoriesfor us.
Speaker 01 (15:30):
So there's a lot of different safari styles, tented
camps, luxury lodges, the mobilesafaris you talked about.
Do you recommend a particularone for first-time families or
will it just depend on thefamily?
Speaker 00 (15:44):
It depends on the family.
We do have people sometimessaying we want to go to Namibia
and that's our first-time tripand I talk them out of that.
I don't think that destinationfits the first-time safari.
But certainly if it's youngchildren, we would steer them to
malaria-free areas.
I don't want to send a familyto Africa that they have to sit
there and panic the whole timebecause then you defeat the
(16:05):
purpose of being on holiday,right?
Speaker 01 (16:07):
Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 00 (16:08):
First timers, Zimbabwe, even Kenya, Tanzania,
all of them offer– like withinthose destinations, it's more
about choosing the camp that'sbetter for the first-time safari
goer.
You know, I'll often stay awayfrom– You know, you get flies
and other biting creatures.
I tend to avoid those areas forfirst-time safari goers because
(16:32):
they probably wouldn't want togo back if they get bitten a
hundred times.
Unknown (16:35):
Yes.
Speaker 01 (16:35):
Don't want to scare them up on their first trip,
do you?
Speaker 00 (16:38):
We had a family that went with one little boy
recently and they wanted to seeas much of other areas as
safari.
So in that instance, we keptlooking at South Africa and we
tacked on other excitingopportunities.
Ended up at Cape Town for awhile and had been to the
Winelands for a while where weset up some activities and they
actually went out and did somedaytime activities with a
(17:00):
private guide.
You know, if a family onlywants to do three or four days
of safari, You're not going tosend them somewhere that's going
to waste time on logistics.
We always try and reducelogistics.
You know, every time you gothrough a border, there's visa
fees.
And Africa's a tipping cultureas well.
And the tips can add up to alot of money as well.
So we try and reduce all ofthose handshakes to keep it
(17:22):
stress-free and to achievemaximum on-the-ground result.
Speaker 01 (17:26):
So do you have a favourite destination or
national park in Africa that youthink is underrated for
families?
Speaker 00 (17:33):
Look, I spent a lot of time in Madikwe Game Reserve,
which is really cool.
You know, that's one of theareas that I spoke about as
being malaria-free.
And in Madikwe, just like otherareas of the Kruger, you know,
the private game reservesadjacent to the Kruger, like the
Sabi and the Timbavati, we knowyou're going to get really good
wildlife viewing results inonly a few days, right?
(17:56):
You don't have to go there fora week and a half to see all of
the major species.
Unless you tell me, well,there's a particular species I
want to see or a particulargroup of animals I want to see,
then we'll choose maybesomething a bit different.
For me, though, my all-timefavorite is, of course, the
swan.
I mean, that's where I spent alot of my time.
So the Okabanga Delta and doinga safari, there's something
(18:19):
really rewarding to me aboutseeing animals from a boat.
It just feels like a much morepeaceful approach.
And when you've got familiesand you can break time up
between a vehicle and a boat and
Speaker 01 (18:29):
Yes.
Speaker 00 (18:30):
I think it really, really helps to keep those
children more involved.
Speaker 01 (18:34):
So what are some non-wildlife spotting
experiences that families canexpect to do if they go on an
African safari style holiday?
So
Speaker 00 (18:45):
look, fishing is certainly one.
I mean, if you go to Zimbabweor even Botswana and you catch
tiger fish, It's probably themost exciting fishing you can
ever do, you know.
And of course, we promote catchand release.
It's all catch and release,right?
So the guides in safari campsknow that and they adhere to
those rules and you puteverything back.
You can also do walk-insafaris, but there are age
(19:06):
limits.
There's also age limits onmakora or let's call it canoe
types of luck, you know, on acanoe or kayak.
But that's also a very excitingway to explore the land.
It also allows you to focus onsome of the smaller species.
Once you go past the big, youknow, what we call the jaws,
claws and paws of the bush.
Yes.
Once you go past that andyou've ticked off lion and
(19:27):
you've ticked off leopard andyou've ticked off elephant and
giraffe, we start working on thesmaller species.
And once you start focusing onthe smaller species, a whole new
world opens up.
And once you get interested inthose smaller species, you can
never be bored.
And even having a guard gettingyour travelers off a vehicle
and interpreting what they'reseeing on the ground, you know,
there's a hyena track on the, onthe ground.
(19:48):
This is why it's a hyena track.
And he walked you at fouro'clock this morning, which
sounds a little bit like, youknow, like a crocodile
Dundee-ish, doesn't it?
But there's good reason for himsaying that, you know, he might
see an insect track that goesover the hyena track and the
insect is something that's onlyactive during the daytime.
Once you start to suffer in allof this, you can spend hours,
(20:10):
looking at the smaller thingsand actually working out what's
going on, which is a great wayto keep the family entertained.
And often it leads to actuallyfinding the animals anyway.
So there's that sense ofachievement.
Speaker 01 (20:21):
So you've helped hundreds of Aussies plan their
dream safari.
What makes Safari Gurudifferent from just like booking
a trip online or going througha general travel agent?
I mean, obviously the expertiseplays a huge part.
Speaker 00 (20:37):
Sure.
There's a very big differencein how we put a safari together.
I'm certainly not putting anytravel agents down because we've
all got our place in thisindustry, right?
But we design a safari basedupon our knowledge, your
specific needs.
A travel agent in general wouldbe selling the safari based
(20:58):
upon a brochured package.
And in our industry, I don'tthink one size fits all.
We have never done a singlesafari exactly the same.
The other fundamentaldifference, we get to know our
clients really well.
And it's first name basis.
So when our clients travel, weconnected the whole time via
WhatsApp or Messenger orwhatever it is that we choose,
(21:20):
whatever your preferred methodof connection is.
And we are there.
Some of our safari gurus sit inSouth Africa and one in London.
So we're within the Africantime zone.
And it's that hand-holding.
that makes our clients reallycomfortable.
When they reach out, whether itbe me or Ashley or Alan,
whichever one of our Safarigurus they've engaged with, that
(21:40):
person is there and it's firstname.
It's not, what's your referencenumber?
What's your package
Speaker 01 (21:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 00 (21:45):
Yes Hey Dion, it's Jessica here.
We're sitting in the airport.
We've heard the plane's goingto be late.
How's this going to affect ourSafari flight?
Speaker 01 (21:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 00 (21:45):
Yes Jessica here.
We're sitting in the airport.
We've heard the plane's goingto be late.
How's this going to affect ourSafari flight?
Don't worry, Jessica.
We're telling them, but theplane will wait for you and
we're just notifying them.
There'll be somebody to meetyou.
They're going to walk youthrough customs a little bit
faster.
That's us.
Speaker 01 (22:02):
Oh, that's great.
And so last question, for anyfamilies dreaming about Africa,
but they don't know where tostart, where should they begin?
Speaker 00 (22:11):
First, they've got to have a dream, right?
Speaker 01 (22:13):
Yep.
Speaker 00 (22:14):
Once they've got that dream, then we make the
magic happen.
I can't stress enough, speak toa specialist and share your
dream and then see what theycome back with.
And let them come back withthose thoughts and options
tailored around what you need.
In Africa, what a lot of peopledon't realize, in a
geographical space the size ofAustralia, in Africa, Botswana,
(22:39):
South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia,Zambia, Mozambique, Uganda,
Rwanda, they're all differentcountries.
The only handhold between thosecountries is the operator
that's making this happen foryou.
Yes.
And once you walk through thatborder, there's a different
currency, there's a differentlanguage, there's a different
custom.
And all of these items don'tnecessarily come together.
(23:01):
So our internet-based researchcan be destination-specific, but
it's very, very difficult tomarry multiple destinations.
So the process of safari mostlyrequires multiple countries.
Yeah.
And destination specialistslike us will actually know the
gaps and the best ways to dothat.
Speaker 01 (23:24):
Excellent.
Well, thank you so much foranswering all my questions
today, Dion.
Thank you.
I really do appreciate yourtime.
Okay.
How do you decide where to go onholiday?
For me, movies have been amajor influence.
I went to China after watchingthe remake of The Karate Kid,
(23:48):
the one with Jaden Smith, notthe latest one.
I haven't had a chance to watchthat yet, unfortunately.
I booked Bora Bora afterwatching Vin Diesel jump into
those sparkly aqua blues inTriple X, and I ended up in
Nevada after watching the aliencomedy, Paul.
Of course, there's also thematter of price and school
(24:09):
holiday timing.
Now, apparently this way ofchoosing your holiday
destination is called setjetting, and it's exploded in
popularity.
I, for one, am not surprised.
But I recently flipped throughLonely Planet's new book, Where
to Go When, with kids, and it'sbrilliant.
You can search destinations bymonth.
(24:29):
So if September is your onlytravel window, the book suggests
everything from NorthQueensland in Australia to
Hawaii, to through to the AtlasMountains in Morocco and Osaka
in Japan, and it explains why.
It's a great tool if you'restuck in planning limbo.
And hey, if that's still toostructured for you, according to
(24:50):
Travel Weekly, astrocartographyis trending.
What is astrocartography, youask?
It's when travelers choosetheir destination based on where
the stars say they should go.
Yep, your birth chart might bethe new TripAdvisor.
Royal Caribbean even got onboard with this trend partnering
(25:11):
with an astrologer to recommendcruises based on planetary
alignments wild right So thatwraps up our latest podcast
episode.
A big thanks to Dion from SafariGuru for sharing his expertise
and giving up his time to answerall those questions that
(25:31):
parents like us are probably tooembarrassed to ask.
I hope this chat has inspiredyou to dream big, whether it's
the Serengeti or SouthAustralia's own safari resort.
For more details, links, andfamily-friendly tips, head to
the Family Holiday Destinationswebsite at familyholiday.com.
And if you've ever taken yourkids on safari or you're
(25:55):
planning to, I would love tohear from you until next time,
happy travels and enjoy makingthose family memories.
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