Family Travel and safaris In Uganda: No matter how well traveled one can be, traveling with young kids and as a family is a very different experience. You will have a lot of questions like: How do you get a passport for a baby? Do you need to get clearance from a doctor before we travel? What do you need to pack? Will we get any sleep if we share the hotel room with our little one? How do we keep her entertained? What if something happens to the young ones?

I want to share some of the most relevant travel tips so you can avoid mistakes and travel easier:

Book hotels or accommodation with separate sleeping areas

Choose accommodations that offer one- or two-bedroom suites instead of the standard hotel room with two beds. You’ll pay a little more for this, but a good night’s sleep is the key factor to a successful family trip.

Make reservations in Advance

Save yourself the burden of wandering on the streets with your family bargaining for accommodation, this can be a little frustrating especially when you can’t find the right accommodation or any other facility you need.

Rent out equipment

Don’t carry everything you need especially for the kids, look out for people that can hire out certain things like cribs, strollers, bikes etc.  This will be more convenient for you than you can imagine.

Get Proper insurance

This is kind of self-explanatory, look for the best insurance offers and protects you; most toddlers are accident prone and allergic to most foods so hospital visit on a safari cannot be ruled out.

Choose the Destination wisely

Look at the situation especially of the kids and look at the parks you can visit, for ample you may not need to visit dirty places like Buhoma section of Bwindi. You also have to look at the drive distances daily. Ensure that kids do not get bored by the long drives.

Keep the kids engaged

Regular surprises for the kids would be good and they need to be enticed to keep moving. Look out for some relaxing day for the kids to play and break off from the long drives during your family travel in Uganda

Best activities for family safaris in Uganda

Chimpanzee trekking and chimpanzee habituation– Chimpanzee trekking and chimpanzee habituation are perfect for families with children who are 15 years and above. Kibale National park is the best place to see habituated chimpanzees in the wild. The treks take place in the morning and in the after and habituation takes a full day or until a client decides they want to go back to the lodge. Seeing the chimpanzee- man’s closest cousin in the wild is so fascinating. You will see how chimpanzees live and communicate with each other

Bird watching. Uganda is home to about 1000 bird species making it a great bird watching destination. Families that love bird watching together can include a bird watching safari to their itinerary. All the national parks are home to different bird species which can be seen with our bird watching guides. Birds include African Green Broadbill, Africa fish eagle, the highly sought after shoebill stork, pied king fishers, malachite king fishers, African spoon bills, saddle billed stork, palm nut vultures, superb sterling, fox weaver, mountain orioles, Great blue Turaco, and the list goes on

Behind the scenes experience at Uganda wildlife education centre– Feed rhinos, giraffes, pet shoebill storks, feed chimpanzees

Sipi falls tour– Take a guided tour to the three beautiful Sipi falls in Eastern Uganda. The tour can also take you on a guided community and coffee tour to learn about how coffee is planted, harvested and made.

Safari game drives– Safari game drives are great for family safaris in Uganda. These take place in different national parks of the country like Kidepo Valley National park, Murchison Falls National park, Lake Mburo National park and Queen Elizabeth National park. You will see big and small game like elephants, buffalo, lions, leopard, giraffes, zebras, antelopes, warthog, among others

Rhino tracking– Tracking rhinos on foot with a ranger guide is one of the best activities for families on a Uganda safari. This only takes place at Ziwa Rhino sanctuary, on your way to Murchison Falls National park. Uganda has got white rhinos, one of the big five animals in Africa

Boat safaris– Boat safaris are a highlight in Uganda and are perfect for families on safaris to Uganda. The best boat safaris take place at the bottom of the Murchison Falls in Murchison Falls National park and Kazinga channel boat safari in Queen Elizabeth National park. Families will watch animals come to the water banks to drink water, and so many birds come here too. You will watch countless hippos, elephants swimming, buffalos, monitor lizards, Nile crocodiles, a variety of birds like the African fish eagle, different types of king fishers, etc

Whiter water rafting is among the best safari activities for family travel safaris in Uganda. White water rafting in Uganda takes place on River Nile, the world’s longest river. There are different white water rafting packages for different family groups and ages