Traveling on safari with children may seem, at first glance, like a major challenge. We understand. Many parents imagine risks, unexpected situations and uncertainties. But the truth is that the biggest risk of taking your kids to the African savannah is...
They will want to go back as soon as possible!
The magic of nature in its purest form transforms fear into fascination, and every moment spent will stay forever in everyone’s memory. Below, we share the heartfelt story of Rita, one of our clients, who describes how this journey changed not only their days but also the way her children now see the world:
It takes courage to take young children out of their comfort zone.
Our minds create fears and dramatize scenarios, so we prepared the trip down to the smallest detail, in an attempt to control everything and ensure we would be safe. We were about to spend three days on safari as a family of five, with three children aged 3,
6, and 11.
As soon as we arrived, we realized that fear has no place, because their excitement occupies all our senses. The days were spent in laughter and wonder along paths that felt almost enchanted, as if the world was being invented before our eyes.
Our first stop was Serengeti National Park, a dream.
There, in the heart of the Serengeti, I understood that words are fragile. No matter how beautiful, they cannot replace the moment. Seeing my children in front of the vast savannah was the highlight of the trip: seeing their eyes fill with awe at an elephant appearing in the distance, hearing them notice the silence being broken by a roar. Their admiration for giraffes, zebras, hyenas and hippos, which, almost as a gift, revealed themselves along our path, filled me with an emotion that was hard to contain.
In that instant, I felt a beautiful responsibility. I wanted to remind them that the real world continues out there, intact and pulsating, as far from social media as it is close to our humanity. I wanted to show them that the world exists beyond screens, made of light, wind, dust and a silence full of hidden life, a world that reminds us that we own nothing and are only visitors here.
Next, we headed to the Ngorongoro Crater. You can’t miss it!
The harmony of nature continued to surprise us. It was so striking to witness the majesty and freedom of the animals that it was common for one of us to have tears in our eyes. In those moments, my children grew up in ways that cannot be measured in centimeters.
Then comes the part that is less spoken about, the trip back home.
There is the shock of going back to a life that moves too fast, to mornings in traffic, to lists of tasks and commitments. There was a moment, perhaps only mine, perhaps it happened to everyone, when we realized that we had left a part of ourselves there, looking at endless horizons and reddish sunsets. Tanzania restored what is essential, and when that happens, it becomes hard to fit back into the molds that no longer serve us so
well.
Now I lay them in their comfortable beds, and we talk about the animals that are still
there. I tell them, “The world remains the same, even when we stop seeing it.” They fall asleep with Africa in their eyes…
As a mother, my advice is simple: prepare everything, and just go! Trust Soul of Tanzania. They turned a dream into a safe journey. And do not hesitate, because Tanzania stays within us, and within them, long after we return home.
(Pictures and text by Rita Pinto Ferreira @rita.pintoferreira)
