East Africa Safari - youngest age kids will enjoy it

I think your main problem will be having your baby vaccinated against a number of diseases (including Yellow Fever) and whilst Nairobi's altitude (1800 metres) often means its malarial free there have been increasing cases. You need to have a good talk with your family GP and a Public Health authority who specialise in tropical medicine. The other issue is the time the travel takes, although if you are in Ethiopia (?) this should not be too much of an issue. In general children under 5 usually get bored very quickly if there are long distances to travel between animal sightings and /or being able to get out of the van and walk around. Best of luck!

We took our 5 and 2 year olds on Safari in Kenya a couple years ago and had a fantastic time. That said, there were a great deal of immunizations before we left and the anti malaria options for us only included tablets to swallow (though I have heard malarone comes in liquid form for kids now). Both the boys were relatively patient while watching animals but they did want to move on to see something new sooner than we would have. My oldest remembers the trip well but my youngest members almost nothing. Like I said it was a fantastic time. If you can get the meds in order I wouldn't let anything else hinder your decision to go. Kids are very adaptable.

It depends on their interests I think. If they're happier with their ipad than playing in the garden then you may have a problem. Most parents I know who have taken kids on safari have had to compromise their own enjoyment to a degree to combat boredom. It may be wise to plan a private vehicle for example so you can control the timing and length of game drives.

Also be aware the age of your kids may restrict you in some places. Some camps won't take kids below 12. There are also sometimes age restrictions if they do game drives in open sided vehicles. This is down to a combination of consideration towards other guests (a crying child on a safari vehicle and it's game off) and safety concerns. You will find that unfenced camps located in the bush are not keen on having kids around for obvious reasons - it's not common but incidents do happen.

Whatever you do be absolutely fanatical about the anti-malarials/prevention of bites. I lived in remote locations in southern Africa for some years and seen first hand just how quickly malaria can kill. It is a personal decision but I would not want to bring a young child into a malarial area before they can be trusted to tell you if they feel ill and explain how they feel. Any indication of fever, stiffness, headache should be treated as potential malaria.

Many thanks for the advice, it seems that it can be done earlier than I had thought :) Especially good advice on being old enough to be able to tell you how they feel ill, itchyfeet38.

Glad your kids had fun klcinaz, and am impressed that your little one remembered any of it!
Thanks :)