Wow your teenagers into wanting to holiday with you

0 Comments | Western Morning News, The, Jul 10, 2010 | by Robin Barker

I’d wanted to go to Africa for over five years, to witness the different culture and enjoy the “safari experience”, but combinations of job changes, children’s exams and other pressures had caused year-on-year postponement. But with Daniel, our oldest, now in sixth form, I felt that this was the year, and with recession at its peak maybe we’d benefit from better rates too.

The research took months. Our starting brief was to find a trip to central or southern Africa, offering a combination of wildlife and beach, as well as authentic destinations where we’d experience genuine Africa rather than package-holiday hotspots – and all at a price we could afford.

My wife June is a school teacher, so dates in school holidays were essential for ourselves and Daniel and his siblings Jamie, 14, and Joanna, 12.

We looked at loads of options. South Africa was tempting, but advice from friends was that it wasn’t the safest of countries with one regular visitor saying she wouldn’t take her own children there. Namibia was a popular choice, especially when the boys heard of the “dune skiing”, but flight costs ruled this out. Kenya seemed to be the obvious choice, but we had no desire to go near the mainstream destinations around Mombasa. And so we turned to Tanzania.

Serengeti Shall Not Die had been one of my favourite childhood books, and I well remembered the passion and energy that had gone into Serengeti’s creation as a National Park and the stories of the Ngorongoro Crater. So with these as “must-dos” we started our discussions with African Travel Resource (ATR), a specialist African tour operator recommended by two experienced friends. ATR must have invested hours in us! Starting with my broad brief, they came back with one itinerary after another, each homing in on our requirements and budget until itinerary number eight… a proposal that met the requirements and also matched the cheapest flight option I could find – a somewhat inconvenient but great-value option with KLM, flying via Amsterdam, Khartoum and Addis Ababa to Nairobi. This was all booked and, after several months of preparation, injections and online purchases of malaria tablets, binoculars, hats, mozzy nets and sun block, departure day finally arrived and thus started our sequence of 10 wows!

Wow Number One was the flights themselves. The children had travelled loads before in Europe, but never long-haul, so the choice of in-flight films and music was a revelation to them, as was the unscheduled leg in our journey from Addis Ababa to Djibouti (which I had to look up too!) Flight connections on to Tanzania were costly, so I had instead opted for the Riverside Shuttle, an overland daily minibus service to the “safari capital” of Arusha. This brought Wow Number Two, as we discovered just what six hours on dirt tracks in Africa meant, with dust, smells and poverty all in evidence, as well as a fabulous backdrop of mountains.

Arusha brought the start of Wow Number Three – a wonderful and altogether more comfortable experience as we were met by Chris, our guide and driver for the next five days, and his Toyota Landcruiser – along with comfy seats, fridge, electric sockets and picnic lunch. Chris proved to be superb, constantly sensing what we wanted and somehow managing to choreograph a blend of information, excitement and professionalism that kept us enthralled throughout. We had thought at one stage of doing a self-drive safari, but I’m so glad we didn’t – we would have missed so much.

Two hours’ driving along fabulous tarmacked roads brought us to our first camp – Crater Forest Camp on the outside rim of the Ngorongoro crater.

Arriving in the dark, we were met by a team of Masai hosts guiding us with lanterns to our two tents and to an outstanding and tasty three-course dinner of soup, marinated beef and fruit. Wow Number Four was literally that, as Jamie woke first, opening up the tent flaps to reveal a spectacular view of both mountains and plains, with a surprisingly green and fertile foreground. His audible “wow” was what woke the rest of us for our early start to the crater.

Ngorongoro offered constant amazement, as Chris took us from one high point to another, starting with a view of the crater, then our first zebra, and on to close encounters with hyenas, elephants, warthogs, wildebeest, lions, rhinos, hippos, baboons… the list is endless. What stunned us all was that these were all close by, often not needing binoculars at all, and that most of them were exclusive to us, with other trucks few and far between.

Rather than drive to the Serengeti plans, we had opted for the 25- mile climb to the top of Makarot mountain and then descent to the Serengeti plans below, along with two Masai warriors and an armed ranger. As regular dog walkers, we expected to be fully fit for this, but underestimated the effects of altitude which had June and I gasping for air after every exertion
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