Luxury family safaris in Kenya and Tanzania

A luxury family safari in Kenya with Ongeri Expeditions starts from USD 38,450 for a family of four. That is our Private Villa Family Safari, 7 days and 6 nights, with exclusive use of the Private Villa Suite at Ishara Mara in the Maasai Mara and two nights at Hemingways Nairobi. It is fully inclusive of accommodation, all meals and beverages, a private guide and Land Cruiser, internal flights, transfers and park fees. We quote per family rather than per person, because children aged 12 and under travel at a reduced rate, and a villa or tented family suite taken on exclusive use carries no child supplement at all.

Four ready to book private family safaris, and we tailor make others from scratch. The Private Villa Family Safari pairs Ishara Mara with Hemingways Nairobi, from USD 38,450 per family. The Private Amboseli and Maasai Mara Family Safari pairs the elephants beneath Kilimanjaro at Kitirua Plains with Angama Mara, from USD 48,500. The Private Kenya Bush and Beach Family Safari pairs Mara Plains with Alfajiri Villas on Diani Beach, from USD 63,950. The Private Rhino and Mara Family Safari adds the Solio rhino sanctuary and Mount Kenya, from USD 65,550. Every price is per family of four, and every journey is fully inclusive.

All accommodation, every meal, house beverages and laundry on safari. Twice daily game drives with a private guide and a private Land Cruiser. All internal flights, road transfers and airstrip connections. All park and conservancy fees. Rescue.co medical evacuation cover, airport meet and assist, departure lounge access and a gift hamper on arrival. International flights, visas, travel insurance, spa treatments, balloon safaris, gratuities and personal expenses sit outside the price.

Exclusive use means your family has the whole of your accommodation to yourselves, along with your own guide, your own Land Cruiser and, in most cases, your own pool. That accommodation may be a villa or a tented family suite, depending on the camp, and nothing is shared with other guests. At Ishara Mara the Private Villa Suite is 379 square metres, with two river facing suites, a shared lounge, a private dining area, a deck, a fireplace and a private infinity pool. Because exclusive use is sold as one unit, there is no per person child supplement.

Six to 12 is the best age for a child to go on safari. Children of that age can sit through a two hour game drive, remember what they saw, and are old enough for walking safaris, tracking and cultural visits. Four and five works well with a private vehicle, so drives can be cut short when attention fades. Under four is possible, but the safari must be built around naps rather than around wildlife, and many camps set a minimum age.

Yes, but the trip must be built differently. Choose one region rather than three, fly rather than drive, take a private vehicle, and book a villa or a tented family suite with a pool. Exclusive use solves most of the problem, because nobody else is affected by an early night or a missed drive. Be clear with yourself, though: a toddler safari is genuinely for the parents. Your child will enjoy it and will not remember it.

For a family with children under 12, yes. A private vehicle is the single most valuable thing you can buy on a family safari. You leave when your children are ready, return when they have had enough, stop for a snack, and never sit beside strangers who resent a restless six year old. Every Ongeri family journey includes a private Land Cruiser and a private guide.

Seven to 10 nights is the ideal length. Fewer than 5 nights and the long flights are hard to justify. More than 12 and younger children tire. Two regions across 8 nights beats four regions across 10 every time, because children want to unpack once.

July to October is the best time for a family safari in Kenya. The Great Migration is in the Maasai Mara, the grass is short, wildlife concentrates around water, and it aligns with the northern summer holidays. December and January are warm, dry and excellent, with the Christmas holidays built in. Late March to May, the green season, brings dramatic skies, newborn animals, far fewer vehicles and considerably better value, at the cost of some afternoon rain.

Most of Kenya safari regions, including the Maasai Mara and Amboseli, carry a malaria risk. East Africa has very few genuinely malaria free safari areas, unlike parts of southern Africa. Nairobi and the higher altitude areas of Laikipia are considered low risk. Children can take prophylaxis, and good camps provide mosquito nets and repellent. Speak to a travel doctor at least six weeks before you fly. We tell you the truth about this rather than glossing over it.

Yes, when it is planned properly. Reputable camps escort children to and from their rooms after dark and follow clear rules about standing and noise on game drives. Every Ongeri journey includes Rescue.co medical evacuation cover, and a doctor can be flown to a camp or a guest flown to Nairobi within hours. The real risks are practical rather than dramatic: sun, dehydration, long road transfers and malaria.

Yes, and for families we recommend it. Four or five nights on safari followed by four nights on the Indian Ocean gives children the wildlife and then the rest they need. Diani on the Kenyan coast is a short flight from the Maasai Mara, and our Private Kenya Bush and Beach Family Safari pairs Mara Plains with Alfajiri Villas on Diani. Zanzibar, Mauritius and the Seychelles all pair beautifully with a Kenyan safari too.

Yes. A family suite may be a villa, as at Ishara Mara, or a tented family suite, which is the more common arrangement in the classic camps of the Maasai Mara and Amboseli. Both give you two bedrooms under one roof, a shared lounge and a door between you and your children. What matters is not canvas or stone, it is that your family is under one roof rather than in two rooms forty metres apart across a lawn. We match the accommodation to the ages of your children.

Yes, and multigenerational safaris are among the most rewarding journeys we plan. The considerations are practical: shorter road transfers, accommodation reached easily rather than up a steep flight of steps, a gentler pace, and light aircraft rather than long drives. For a party of six or more, taking exclusive use of a small camp often costs little more than booking separate rooms and transforms the experience.

Neutral colours, long sleeves and long trousers for mornings and evenings, and a warm fleece, because a game drive at dawn in an open vehicle is genuinely cold. Closed shoes, a wide brimmed hat, high factor sunscreen and insect repellent. The one thing everybody forgets is their own pair of binoculars. It costs very little and it changes a child safari entirely, because they stop waiting for a turn and start finding things themselves. Light aircraft limit luggage to around 15 kilograms in a soft bag.

For the Maasai Mara we recommend Lorien Mara and Wild Hill, both whole houses with their own staff, guide and vehicle. In Laikipia, Arijiju suits teenagers, with riding, walking, tennis and rhino tracking on the Borana Conservancy, and Lengishu House takes six bedrooms with Mount Kenya on the horizon, which suits three generations travelling together. On the coast, Alfajiri Villas at Diani has a private chef, a butler and nannies around the clock. In Tanzania, Serengeti House above the Grumeti plains is the equivalent of taking a house in the Mara.

Ishara Mara, for the 379 square metre Private Villa Suite with its own infinity pool and childminding in the evenings. Angama Mara, for interconnecting tented suites on the rim of the Rift Valley. Mara Plains, where the Jahazi Suite takes one family on exclusive use in a conservancy that allows walking and night drives. Cottar's 1920s Camp and Naboisho Camp in the Mara conservancies, Kitirua Plains and Tortilis Camp beneath Kilimanjaro in Amboseli, and Hemingways Nairobi at either end of the journey.

Nine to 12 months ahead for travel between July and October, which is when the Great Migration crosses the Mara River and when most families can travel. Villas and family suites are few, and they sell out first. For the green season, between January and April, four to six months is usually enough.