In this case, however, it's the slender red-brown impala (a species of African antelope) rather than a burger 'n fries that they're eagerly seeking out. Our game ranger Jason has told them to keep their eyes peeled for “the McDonald's of the bush” and they all want to be first to spot the distinctive brown M that marks the impala's white rear end.
Taking children on holiday, especially to far-flung and wild places, presents its own special challenges. They have short attention spans, need frequent feeding and watering, are apt to wander off, and get sick more easily than grown-ups.
All this seems to count against taking youngsters for a walk on the wild-side in Africa, but tour operators and safari lodges are wising up to the needs of families with under-12s. While some are still picky about accommodating younger children, many now offer dedicated family lodges, child-friendly facilities, kids' programmes, and game-drives geared to those short attention spans.
In the process, they've become the vehicle for families to connect, to slow down from a frenetic pace, and to have an entirely different – but no less valuable – wilderness experience.
“This has been an opportunity to relax the pace and shift perspective. Where we might be chasing the next big game sighting, the children are fascinated with the small stuff – the insects, tortoises, paw-prints – and we've had a completely different African experience by taking it at their pace and getting down to their level, literally, of closeness to the ground. We've had the choice of hurrying them along but instead we've taken it at their pace and seen and learnt so much more,” said American tourist Jack Brown of his visit with daughter Sarah, 8, and son Thomas, 10, to Lalibela Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa.
The joy, said the Californian engineer, has been “in seeing things through our children's eyes”.
Game rangers are well-known for their story-telling skills and ability to bring the safari experience to life with small and often off-beat details. With their endless questions, children are their best audience, alternately listening enthralled and eagerly competing to be first to spot the animals they know from bedtime stories – and peppering the ranger with yet more questions.
The rangers happily rise to the occasion.
On our sunrise game drive, Lalibela ranger Jason van Loggerenberg kept a party of American, German and South African children – united across cultural and language differences by a love of toilet humour – in fits of giggles with his guide to recognising African animals. In addition to the impala with their McDonald's M, there's the waterbuck which aptly sports a white “toilet seat” ring on its rear, the red hartebeest with its “swimming costume tan”, and the zebra otherwise known as a “donkey in pyjamas”.
A herd of zebra that forced us to a halt while they ambled across the dirt road quickly became a “zebra crossing” while the ever-nodding blesbuck were pointed out as the “most agreeable animals in Africa – because they're always saying 'yes'”.
The real reason for the blesbuck's incessant nodding, Jason tells us, is to rid themselves of the larvae of a parasitic fly that likes to lay its eggs around their noses.
And that's the beauty of this experience – the fun is inter-woven with learning through interaction in a living classroom.
The lessons range from the environmental to language, as we compare names of animals in different languages, and Jason enlightens us on the lesser-known collective nouns for the animals we see – a dazzle of zebra, a tower of giraffe, a crash of rhino, a leap of leopards, a coalition of cheetah.
A“tok-tokkie” beetle – named for the sound made when it taps its abdomen on the ground as a mating serenade – prompts the South African children to break into the Xhosa “Click Song” made famous by South African singer Miriam Makeba, sparking a lesson in African languages and legends.
“We want to teach our children about the wild, in the wild and not through television. This has been fun and educational at the same time, and the bonus is being able to spend quality time with our children because we are away from home and all the usual distractions,” said Anja Schmidt of Bremen, Germany, mother of Stefan, 4, and Lili, 6.
For the Schmidts and the millions of other foreign visitors who take a break from the treadmill of daily life to experience the untamed wild places of Africa every year, family holidays are as much about fun and bonding time as they are about learning about the wider world, widening horizons, and experiencing a diversity of cultures. They are opportunities to gently teach children about their connectedness to the planet and to raise the responsible citizens of the future.
And as for the ever-present television in the life of this “screen generation”, Lalibela is TV-free, except for the concession of a set in the children's playroom to show DVDs on rainy days. There are also wi-fi spots at all the lodges for those who want to be ever-connected.
The reserve has three lodges, each different in style, and Mark's Camp is the destination for families with children. In addition to the standard open vehicle game-drive of around three hours, the lodge offers the “bokkie (small buck) drive” for children 6 and under – a shorter drive in which boredom isn't allowed a chance to settle in, in the safety of a closed-sided vehicle (which also helpfully protects from sudden rain-showers).
Safety in the bush is a key consideration and while Lalibela prides itself on being free of internal fences – which means you're quite likely to find the elephants using the swimming pool to cool their thirst – Mark's Camp is the only area of the reserve which is fenced. This helps keep the wildlife somewhat at bay, as well as offering a safe environment for children to roam about relatively unsupervised.
Mark's Camp manager Charmaine Taylor explains that their aim is to create a relaxed environment where families can spend quality time together, and parents can take some time-out in the knowledge that their children are entertained and safe.
Daily activities such as African drumming, mask painting, and frogging (where they tramp happily in the mud on the fringes of the nearest waterhole, with a ranger showing them how to identify different types of frogs) undoubtedly kept the children entertained. Especially when an evening of African song and story-telling around the fire under the stars gave them the opportunity to show off their newly-learned drumming skills.
Earlier dinners for the under-6's are offered, as well as complimentary baby-sitting during the grown-ups' morning and evening game drives and dinners.
The Eastern Cape, where Lalibela Game Reserve is located, is an ideal family safari destination as it is malaria-free and so requires no precautionary medication, which can have unpleasant side effects, especially for children.
More about Lalibela Game Reserve:
Lalibela is a Big 5 game reserve on the Eastern Cape coast of South Africa, 90km east of Port Elizabeth, the nearest airport. In addition to the Big 5 (lion, rhino, elephant, leopard & buffalo), the 7 500 ha (about 18 500 acres) reserve is home to other predators such as cheetah, hyena, jackal and lynx, as well as numerous plains animals including giraffe, zebra, warthog, impala, wildebeest, blesbok and various other antelope species. Overlooking indigenous bush and watering holes, accommodation is in a luxury tented camp and cosy safari lodges. The reserve is known for its relaxed informality and warm hospitality, with buffet meals enjoyed at communal tables or under the stars in an outside dining boma.Visit the website at: www.lalibela.net
Blog: lalibelablog.wordpress.com
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