There’s something profoundly moving about watching a grandmother or grandfather guide her six-year-old grandson eye’s to the fresh imprint of a leopard track in earth just below the vehicle. In that moment, decades collapse into dust, and what remains is pure wonder – shared, equal, and timeless. This is the magic that unfolds daily at Londolozi when three generations come together on safari.
When Age Becomes Irrelevant
After almost a century of welcoming families to the African bush, we’ve witnessed countless multigenerational gatherings. What strikes us most is how the wilderness acts as a great equalizer. Grandparents who might struggle with modern technology become the family storytellers around a boma fire. Teenagers who rarely look up from their devices find themselves captivated by a honey badger’s fearless antics. Parents discover they can actually have uninterrupted conversations with both their children and their own parents – often for the first time in years.
The bush has a way of stripping away the artificial barriers between generations. Here, curiosity knows no age limit, and wonder is a currency everyone carries equally.
The Londolozi Advantage for Three-Generation Travel
Being a family-run lodge where three generations of the Varty family currently live and work on-site, we understand the beautiful complexity of multigenerational dynamics. We’ve learned that the key isn’t creating one-size-fits-all experiences, but rather crafting moments where different generations can engage at their own level while still sharing the adventure together.
For the Grandparents: The comfortable seating in our Land Rovers, the unhurried pace of our game drives, and the option to enjoy a therapeutic massage at the Healing House while the younger ones explore. Many of our most cherished guests are grandparents returning for their fourth, fifth, or even twelfth visit – like Pop Barker, who celebrated his 80th birthday with us surrounded by three generations of his family.
For the Parents: The peace of mind that comes with knowing your children are in expert hands during Cubs Den activities, allowing you time for that couple’s massage you’ve been promising yourselves, or a quiet moment with your own parents on your private deck. It’s the rare opportunity to be both child and parent simultaneously.
For the Grandchildren: The Cubs Den becomes their headquarters – a place where they can meet children from around the world, learn to cast fishing lines, create plaster casts of animal tracks, and develop the kind of bush knowledge that will have them teaching their city friends back home.
The Stories That Bind Us
A while ago we received a letter from Lauren Tunstall, who brought her family to Londolozi during a particularly challenging time. Her words capture something essential about the multigenerational safari experience:
“When we travel we begin to shed the layers of who we once were and become a little bit closer to who we’re meant to be. This is what Londolozi has become for us as a family: a space to cut the engine of routine, shed layers of who we build ourselves up to be in the humdrum of life, be still and become a little bit closer to our wild self.”
Her story echoes what we see repeatedly: families arrive as separate individuals managing busy, disconnected lives, and leave as a unit with shared stories, inside jokes about dung-spitting contests, and a collective vocabulary filled with ranger names, leopard sightings, and the particular way the bushveld smells after rain.
Where Traditions Are Born
There’s something about the rhythm of safari life that naturally creates rituals. The morning coffee brought to your door before the sunrise game drive becomes a treasured routine. The afternoon tea on the deck while recounting the morning’s sightings transforms into sacred family time. The evening boma dinner under a canopy of stars becomes the setting for three generations to really listen to each other.
Many families tell us that their children still ask about “that time we saw the leopard mother carrying her cub” or “when Grandpa tracked the elephant footprints.” These aren’t just memories; they’re the foundation stones of family lore.
Creating Your Own Generational Bridge
If you’re considering bringing three generations together for a safari experience, here’s what we’ve learned from hosting hundreds of multigenerational families:
The logistics matter. Our inter-leading suites at Founders, Varty, and Pioneer Camps ensure proximity without sacrificing privacy. Grandparents can feel independent while parents have peace of mind knowing help is just a connecting door away. Please note that we do have two camps which only welcome children above 16 – Private Granite Suites and Tree Camp.
Flexibility is key. Some game drives might see Grandma documenting birds while Dad focuses on photography and eight-year-old Emma becomes fascinated by dung beetles. Our rangers are experts at weaving together these different interests into a cohesive experience.
Down time is golden. While the children are engaged in Cubs Den activities, grandparents and parents often find their most meaningful conversations happen on the deck chairs overlooking the Sand River, watching elephants drink in the distance.
The Ripple Effect
Perhaps the most beautiful aspect of multigenerational safari travel is its lasting impact. Children who experience the bush with their grandparents carry forward not just an appreciation for wildlife, but a deeper understanding of their family story. Grandparents gain fresh perspectives from young eyes seeing everything for the first time. Parents get to witness their own children forming memories with their grandparents – memories that will long outlive the safari itself.
These experiences create what we call the Londolozi Ripple Effect – positive change that extends far beyond the boundaries of the reserve, influencing how families interact, what they value, and how they see their place in the natural world.
Your Wild Family Awaits
In a world where different generations often struggle to find common ground, the African wilderness offers neutral territory where wonder speaks a universal language. Here, the gap between 8 and 80 disappears in the shared gasp at a leopard sighting, the collective laughter around a campfire, and the comfortable silence of a family watching the sun set over the endless African wilderness. Let us know in the comments section below if you’ve found this to be true when brining your family on safari?
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Hi Jemma, this happens every time you cut off technology and set free in nature. My mum was a teacher, she always took her students out in nature. My father was a great walker in nature. My grandma was the best of all. She took me outside, to search for the natural wonders, be them plants and trees, animals or minerals. As a small child I already opened my eyes, sharpened my ears and touch. Learned to listen in silence. This blog edition is a chance to remind my grandma, a renowned soprano and piano player, but, most of all, a nature defender and admirer, a protector of nature great and small. She taught me to pay respect to all living beings and take care of them. Thank you Jemma, thank you grandma….
Thank you for sharing that with us Francesca – it sounds as though you have some wonderful memories with your parents and grandparents.
This is such a beautifully articulated message. I would love to return to Londolozi with my dad and sister someday, and perhaps even my stepdaughters and their potential children.
That would be wonderful – hope to have you all with us one day.
In a way, our trip to Londolozi next year will be 4 generations. Our first visit with you was so profound that we vowed to return some day with our daughter and granddaughter. My father, who loved travel and adventures, passed away and I decided to dedicate some of what he left me to bring them all to the most important place my husband and I have ever been: Londolozi. We will toast his memory at the boma.
Wow what a dedication to your father – I hope you have the most wonderful time with your family next year.
A wonderful way for families to spend real quality time together. Certainly something the children will benefit from and remember all their lives long.
Hi Jemma, it sure is a privilege to share the bush with your children and grand children. The age does not matter there and then because everyone is enjoying the wild life and experience of seeing the wild animals. Children learn from grand parents because as they see them as knowing more or having more knowledge. Grand parents again learn social media and cell phone settings from the children as they are more clued up with technology.
Londolozi is the perfect setting for a multi-generational safari experience, given the number of family suites throughout the three camps. It’s not that easy today for families to get together since many parents with children have moved away from their respective parents, and family get togethers tend to focus on Christmas, Thanksgiving, birthdays. Vacations are usually spent separately so a safari experience including all family members is the perfect opportunity to form stronger bonds between one another whilst experiencing an unforgettable holiday. Terrific post Jemma.