What is a family-friendly Game Drive in South Africa? Among other things, South Africa is known for the wildlife you can view in all sorts of beautiful national parks. Here, of course, everyone immediately thinks of the Kruger National Park in northeastern South Africa. But there are so many more parks worth mentioning. So we visited with our family two small, but very special and different, parks with beautiful animals and nature that we were able to see well through “gamedriven”. Because that’s what viewing animals and nature via car is called. Safe, but also ideal with kids. In this blog, we list the best national parks in South Africa where you can book a family-friendly game drive.
Best travel time game drive South Africa with kids
The best travel time to do a family-friendly game drive in South Africa is from May through October. This period is the dry season in South Africa and especially since you will be outside a lot, this is a good period. At this time, the vegetation is also a lot less, which also makes spotting animals a lot easier. Also, animals are more likely to come to places where there is water and thus animals in these places are easier to spot.
We visited several game parks in South Africa during the month of May and found that to be a very nice time to visit South Africa with our family. In this month it was not extremely hot, but neither was it very cold. Just a pleasant temperature around 25 degrees.
Transportation South Africa and in the parks
During our trip, we visited two national parks; Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve and Ithala Game Reserve. Both parks are located in eastern South Africa. First, decide on the itinerary through South Africa that you want to take with your family and then also add one or more national parks to this itinerary. Game parks are located throughout the country, so there is always a park nearby.
The easiest way to explore South Africa with kids is with a rental car. With a rental car, you can do your own game drives in the various parks, so you don’t have to join organized transportation. That can save a lot of money. Most families with kids rent a car at the Cape Town airport or rent a car at the Johannesburg airport.
Keep in mind that cars in South Africa drive on the left side of the road.
Game Drive South Africa with kids
A game drive through South Africa with kids is fun. A game drive amounts to viewing animals from the car. You can do this organized, where a guide drives you to the different spots and explains the different animals, or you do it yourself, as we did with a rental car. When doing so, be sure to adhere to the rules of the particular park, which are usually clearly indicated upon entering the park.
For example, you may only get out of the car in places where it is expressly marked. Respect these rules, as a wild animal could be encountered in an instant. And do not drive faster than the speed limit because of crossing wildlife. Every year, many animals die from collisions with cars. Also check the opening hours of wildlife parks carefully in advance.
This is different in winter time than in summer time, as they base it on sunset. After all, you are not supposed to venture into the park after dark. If you stick to the rules then you can enjoy yourself in these various game parks in South Africa.
The parks are beautiful and we saw a lot of animals in the parks we visited. Our daughters loved it. In advance we had bought a booklet for our daughters with the animals that are here and every time we saw an animal they were allowed to tick it. They also took a lot of pictures with their own little camera. A delightful experience for our animal friends.
#1 Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve
Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve is located in the east of South Africa and can be easily accessed from St. Petersburg. Lucia visits. From St. Lucia it is about an hour’s drive to the park and from here you can also book a game drive for 1 day if you don’t have a lot of time. Of course, it is also possible to stay overnight in this wildlife park with kids and thus visit the park for several days.
At the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve you can spot the famous Big 5 (elephant, rhino, buffalo, lion, leopard) and the park has several accommodations to stay overnight with kids. This can be done in lodges, cottages or safari tents at the various camps in the park. Of course, camping is also an option. This can be done inside and just outside the park.
Since we visited this park by car with a loose tent, we chose a cottage at Mpila Camp. This cottage was about a half-hour drive from Nyalazi Gate. Mpila Camp was very open and quiet. We stayed in a cottage that was fully equipped. At Mpila Camp there is also a small store where (besides souvenirs, of course) you can buy all kinds of basic necessities and even ice cream for our girls.
Still, we recommend being well prepared in any African park in terms of food and drink, as such stores are not the norm, and are often limited in their offerings.
In Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve, we could enter the park from Mpila Camp right through a gate by car. Although this was not necessarily necessary, as a lot of animals were already visiting Mpila Camp. These included impalas, nyalas and warthogs walking around the cottages. Also, the camp was frequented by vervet monkeys so we had to keep our windows and doors closed.
Despite having to watch out for the monkeys, we could quietly watch all the animals from our porch during our breakfast, lunch, coffee and drinks. We even saw a spotted genet (type of cat) and a curious bushpig in the evening. So our girls looked their eyes out!
There is no restaurant at Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve Mpila Camp, so you will need to bring your own supplies to make all meals. By the way, the cottage does have the necessary attributes for this, so we had lovely cozy meals all the time.
Most organized game drives take place in the early morning or toward the end of the afternoon. This is when many of the animals become active, because it is a lot less warm, and so the animals are easy to spot. You can also book several game drives in the park. Be sure to bring binoculars for the kids and a photo camera with zoom lens so you can properly capture the animals that are far away on camera.
#2 Ithala Game Reserve
Ithala Game Reserve is completely different again from Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve in terms of landscape. It is a lot hillier and the rolling vistas make for a spectacular picture. Especially because of the many wildlife you can see from these hills, such as zebras and giraffes, for example. Although you cannot spot the entire Big 5 in Ithala Game Reserve, the park is still very diverse. The location to spend the night was also beautiful.
It was not so much a camp as it was more like a beautiful overgrown bungalow park with a lot of flowers and plants, and therefore again a lot of butterflies and birds. This so-called bungalow park was only about a twenty-minute drive from the gate and contained a whole bunch of cute typical African cottages with thatched roofs.
Our cottage was also snug and fully equipped. Still, we didn’t have to cook, because this park did have a restaurant. Like Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve, there was a souvenir shop here that also sold some candy. Of course to the delight of our daughters.
Also at Ithala Game Reserve, we went straight into the park by car which was closed off from our accommodation by a similar kind of fence to that in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve. There were several little roads we could take with the rental car where we kept coming face to face with all kinds of wildlife.
Mainly we loved the zebras. The girls couldn’t get enough. This Game Drive through South Africa with our daughters was super fun!
At Ithala Game Reserve, the girls were lucky because there was also a pool! This one looked beautifully natural as it had round shapes and was surrounded by tall trees, plants and many flowers. Therefore, there were also a lot of bees, but we quickly got used to that. There were also butterflies flying, monkeys heard in the trees and several frogs swimming in the pool. So it was actually a kind of “gameswim. Truly something for our animal-loving water rats.
Of course, it is also possible to book several game drives in the park.
From the cottage there was also a tiny hike to the top of a mountain. This was less than half a kilometer away, but still quite a challenge for our girls due to the steep trail. At the top, there was a beautiful view of the bungalow park and the rest of the park.
Since Ithala Game Reserve did have a restaurant, we ate breakfast and lunch here. The menu has a few dishes, but they wanted us to make reservations a few hours, and preferably a day, in advance. Probably to allow them to get the needed items. Consequently, there were very few people when we were there.
Of course, there are plenty of other game reserves you can visit in South Africa for a game drive with kids. Below we list some of the other game parks in South Africa that you can visit with the family.
#3 Gondwana Game Reserve
This national park is about a 5-hour drive from Cape Town and is located in southern South Africa. If you book accommodation in the park here it already includes several Game Drives. These Game Drives are suitable for kids ages 3 and up. These game drives are also early morning and late afternoon.
You can also spot the entire Big Five at this park. You also have game drives especially for kids at this national park. This involves the kids going out with a guide. This park also includes a swimming pool, so you can relax by the pool during the day between game drives. If you want to know more about this national park, read the blog Gondwana Game Reserve with kids.
#4 Addo Elephant Park
The city of Port Elisabeth is also a good city to visit several game parks, where you can take a game drive with kids in South Africa. For example, the Addo Elephant Park is a half-hour drive from the city. You can book an organized game drive to Addo Elephant Park from this town.
This park is known for its huge population of elephants, but the other animals of the Big 5 are also represented here. You can also stay near the Addo Elephant park. For example, a family with kids will have a great time staying at the ADDO wildlife resort. Here you sleep already in nature and can go straight from this accommodation into the park for a game drive with kids.
You can also go on a family-friendly game drive in South Africa near Port Elisabeth in the Kragga Kamma Game Reserve and the Shamwari Game reserve. In short around this city you can do several game drives with kids and in addition Port Elisabeth is also a nice city to stay. Also read the blog Port Elisabeth with kids for even more information about this city in South Africa.
#5 Pilanesberg National Park
If you are staying in Johannesburg during your tour of South Africa, then the biggest game park you have near this city is Pilanesberg National Park. Here you can also go on a game drive with kids and look for the Big 5 which you can all spot here. The advantage of this national park over the Kruger Park, for example, is that it is malaria-free.
You can also take your own game drive with kids through the park in this park. Again, you can easily take a game drive into the park with a guide. An advantage with this type of game drive is that you are in an open car, the guide knows the park like the back of his hand and can therefore spot more wildlife, and most guides are in contact with each other and thus pass on the spots where they have spotted certain animals.
This allows you to see many more animals than if you went out by car by yourself. Yet, of course, setting out on your own in a rental car is also very exciting. If you want to stay overnight in the park, the Black Rhino Game Lodge is a good option for families with kids. This accommodation also already includes 2 game drives in the price.
Don’t feel like staying overnight near the park or don’t have your own rental car at your disposal? Then it is also possible to take an organized day trip from Johannesburg to Pilanesberg National Park.
#6 iSimangaliso Wetland Park
This is a very different wildlife park from the ones we discussed above in this blog. The iSimangaliso Wetland Park is located in the eastern part of the country and borders the sea. Most tourists visiting the national park also come here for the animals associated with the water such as the crocodile, hippo, turtle and whale. Despite that, you can also spot other large land animals here such as the elephant, for example.
Here, of course, in addition to a game drive with kids, you can very easily take to the water. This can be done with a boat tour, where you try to spot animals from the boat. You can also take kids out on the water here in a kayak. That, of course, is also very adventurous. You can take this kind of boat ride in the park from St. Lucia organized doing with kids.
As you can see, you can do a game drive with kids in South Africa in many different game parks. In this blog we have left out the Kruger Park, but of course this national park is also perfect for a game drive. If you want more information about the Kruger Park, read the blog Kruger Park with kids.
About the Author: Michelle loves adventure travel off the beaten path and has seen quite a bit of the world with her family. This ranges from camping in Africa to scuba diving in Indonesia, and there is still a lot left on their list!
