Family Holidays are Dull? Not any Longer!

By: John W. Spence
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:42:59
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In the early days of Aardvark we arranged only a handful of family itineraries. These were not only parents travelling exclusively with their young children but often with teenagers, grown up children and sometimes with grandparents and even grandchildren. Since then the trend for exciting long-haul family holidays has blossomed and as most of us at Aardvark have children ourselves, we are very familiar with the requirements for a successful family holiday. Since launching the family brochure, we have arranged a wide range of family trips and this is currently the fastest growing area of our business.

A few months ago I boarded a train to Waterloo to see two London based family clients. My morning appointment took me to Lambeth where I met a couple travelling with their three children aged thirteen, eleven and ten. They were unusual in that they had five weeks to play with over the summer holiday, their only criteria being that the trip had to start in Windhoek in Namibia. From here, the itinerary developed into one of the most challenging and interesting trips I have ever worked on.

Their final itinerary ran like this. After Windhoek they did the Skeleton Coast fly-in safari with the Schoeman family and then visited Botswana for a more traditional tented safari. They then moved onto Zambia, their first stop being Tangala House on the banks of the Zambezi, just upstream from Victoria Falls. From here they flew north to Kafue National Park for a safari that included fishing trips. Then on to Malawi in the heart of Africa, a visit to Mumbo Island on Lake Malawi, where they could sea kayak, snorkel and dive. For the next big game fix they headed onto Kenya, to Cottar’s Camp just in time to catch the Wildebeest Migration as it moved into the Masai Mara. From the Mara a flight east took them to Ol Donyo Wuas in the Chyulu Hills; a quarter of a million acres of wilderness with a snow-capped Mt Kilimanjaro in the distance. The finale was spent at the Peponi Hotel on Lamu Island, where while splashing in the Indian Ocean they could gently reflect on an extraordinary trip through southern, central and eastern Africa.

From Lambeth I then set off across London, my head buzzing with ideas, to Notting Hill for my next appointment. Here I met a charming mum who wanted to plan a fun trip for her grown up children aged twenty, eighteen and thirteen. She wanted a safari adventure that would not only keep her eldest children busy but would also give them all a little understanding about the people in the countries they were visiting. Not just a scenery and wildlife experience.

For them we put together a visit to the Lower Zambezi National Park in Zambia where they stayed for three nights at Chiawa Camp. This is a great camp surrounded by a high density of game, including a bull elephant known as Sergeant Bilko who insists on hanging around the bar at G&T time. Canoeing on the Zambezi, walking and drives in the park are all available here. They then head to the South Luangwa National Park where they will walk between small bush camps in the remote southern section of the park. From here, a drive to Kawaza village where you spend the night in a simple traditional African hut in a genuine Zambian village. Sitting in on classes at the local school, visiting clinics at the health centre or just chatting to the locals about life in general are all encouraged. The final part of their trip is in Malawi where they will spend time mucking around on the lake based at Mumbo Island.

I finally left Notting Hill with my mind brimming with safari ideas and reflecting on how rewarding it is to plan a trip face to face with clients. From a personal and business point of view it was a day extremely well spent.

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