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South African safari
Anna Selby takes her nine-year-old son Christian to the Madikwe Game Reserve in South Africa
A safari into the African wilderness is a trip of a lifetime for anyone, and for a child it has to be the ultimate adventure. But until recently, families on safari holidays have been something of a rarity. This has not been so much because of any dangers they might encounter in the form of wild animals, but due to a much smaller African creature. The female anopheles mosquito is the one whose bite can transmit malaria, which is still the worst disease hazard for travellers in hot climates. There are, of course, anti-malarial drugs but over the last decade there have been alarming news stories about their side effects on adults, let alone children.
It has emerged, however, that there are a few places in Africa where the conditions are so inhospitable for the anopheles mosquito that they remain malaria-free. The Madikwe, up in the high Transvaal close to the border with Botswana, with cold winter nights and hot summer days, is one of these. As a result, a number of lodges have opened up that combine great game viewing with comfort and family-friendly policies.
Safari style
Comfort - even luxury - may come as a surprise out in the bush but you are very well looked after on safari. At the Madikwe River Lodge where we stayed, you return at night to your comfortable, mosquito-netted bed to find a hot water bottle inside. As the sun goes down around six o'clock, the temperature drops with it, so you need to compensate with lots of layers. Having said that, August is a very good time to visit. At the end of winter, there are no high grasses to obscure your view and the lack of water elsewhere means that animals gravitate to the waterholes - so you know where to find them.
That, at least, is the theory, but seeing animals in their natural surroundings is very different from visiting a zoo or an English 'safari park'. In Africa, you are on their territory and they appear or not, as they choose. As an observer, your role is to be as unobtrusive as possible. 'When you see animals,' our guide, Neil, warned, 'you don't stand up, shout or even speak. This is for your own safety and because we respect their privacy. When we leave, we shouldn't have affected the animals or their surroundings - it is as if we were never there.'
That first morning, we were very lucky. We saw a family of elephants with two babies, a couple of giraffes, warthogs, a baboon and a pair of lions. It can be quite scary sitting in an open-sided, open-topped vehicle when you're just feet away from a creature that could comfortably eat you - or your nine-year-old - for breakfast. All of the rangers carry a shotgun on the dashboard but they also say they never use it and Neil reassured us that we were quite safe as long as no one made a sudden movement. The lions see the Land Rover and its inhabitants as one animal, he explains, and don't realise that individually we might be quite palatable.
Your ranger looks after you from the moment you arrive at a lodge. He - or occasionally she - will take your bags to your room, drive you through the park, and be a fund of information on everything from how termites provide their mounds with air-conditioning to why lions are really big sissies.
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