Kids on Safari: Frequently Asked Questions
Lara Webster
April 18, 2024
Being able to experience a truly wild family holiday is a bucket list adventure for most but can require a little more forethought when planning
BIOMES
Temperate forest
Grassland
Savannah
Freshwater
Ocean
EXPERIENCES
Family
Honeymoon
Luxury
Wellness
Culinary
Photography
Birdwatching
Marine
Active
Cultural Conservation
SPECIES
Southern Right whales
Great White sharks
Penguins
Humpback whales
Black & white rhino
Lions
Cheetahs
Elephants
Buffalo
Leopard
Blue swallows
Cape Vultures
BEST TIME TO VISIT
Year round
June – November (whale watching)
May – September (game viewing)
VISIT SOUTH AFRICA
From the golden beaches of Durban to the vineyards of Stellenbosch and Kruger National Park’s sweeping plains, South Africa offers a holistic fusion of nature, history and adventure. Spend a week exploring the vibrant capital and venture to the top of Table Mountain for panoramic views, or head to the whale-watching capital of the world, Hermanus, for your chance to sight these beautiful mammals. A variety of exceptionally biodiverse private reserves and national parks offers brilliant game viewing and opportunities for off-beat discovery, where travellers can stay in everything from the most authentically rustic fly-camp to the highest echelon of exclusive luxury. Check camera traps, monitor wildlife, trim rhino horns and enjoy fireside chats with expert researchers and wildlife scientists under South Africa’s expansive star-studded sky.
Hosted journey:
The Great Karoo
Gain unprecedented access to the conservation pioneers rewilding South Africa’s Great Karoo. The journey sees you tracking lions, engaging firsthand with the cheetah reintroduction programme and learning from the greatest conservation pioneers of South Africa, while enjoying exceptional African cuisine and luxury lodgings.
Conservation
impact
Our Impact Pledge is our commitment to support the advancement of pioneering conservation projects through direct donations with every journey. In 2023, and our second calendar year, we raised and directed over $50,000 to grassroot conversation projects. We do this by created hosted and private conservation travel experiences in South Africa and around the world.
YOUR IMPACT
PEOPLE AND PROJECTS
WITH PURPOSE
PEOPLE WITH PURPOSE:
SARAH AND ISABELLE TOMPKINS
Mother-daughter team, Sarah and Isabelle Tompkins, are dedicated to protecting the Great Karoo, South Africa, and reintroducing species to their 67,000 acres of restored and protected land, with an aim to expand this protected area to 3 million acres in the near futurel.
Originally from Johannesburg, Sarah and husband Mark Tompkins had known the Great Karoo as a desolate place that had lost all its wild beauty and abundant wildlife. In 1997, the Tompkins visited Monkey Valley farm and fell in love with its green and lush landscape following the recent rains. The couple decided to buy it, removed fencing and livestock and let the land recover for a few years before turning it into their rewilding passion project.
Today, over a quarter of a century later, Sarah runs the reserve with daughter Isabelle, who has inherited her parents’ drive to expand and protect the beautiful, semi-arid lands of the Great Karoo, holding the belief that humans should be “a part of nature, not apart from it”.
PLACES WITH PURPOSE:
SAMARA
Once a thriving, biodiverse ecosystem of grasslands, South Africa’s Great Karoo sadly lost most of its wildlife to farming, fences and firearms. In 1997, Joburg-born Sarah and husband Mark Tompkins began their mission to restore the land to its former glory and founded a private game reserve, Samara Karoo. The Tompkins have since regenerated 67,000 acres of wilderness, and engaged in an ambitious programme of animal reintroduction, including the first wild cheetah back in the region in 125 years, the first elephants in over a century and, most recently, the first lions in 180 years.
PROJECTS WITH PURPOSE:
South African National Parks
Once a thriving, biodiverse ecosystem of grasslands, South Africa’s Great Karoo sadly lost most of its wildlife to farming, fences and firearms. In 1997, Joburg-born Sarah and husband Mark Tompkins began their mission to restore the land to its former glory and founded a private game reserve, Samara Karoo. The Tompkins have since regenerated 67,000 acres of wilderness, and engaged in an ambitious programme of animal reintroduction, including the first wild cheetah back in the region in 125 years, the first elephants in over a century and, most recently, the first lions in 180 years.
FROM OUR JOURNAL
LATEST FIELD NOTES FROM SOUTH AFRICA:
The flourishing wildlife of Samara Karoo Reserve
Lara Webster
June 19, 2023
Discover the vulnerable endangered and peculiarly desert adapted species of Samara Karoo Reserve
Rewilding the Great Karoo with Sarah and Isabelle Tompkins
Lara Webster
May 3, 2023
Discover our journey to the flourishing savannah of the Great Karoo South Africa
Spekboom: The Carbon-Sequestering Plant in Africa’s Great Karoo
Bella Eadie
June 9, 2022
Over the course of 25 years the Tompkins family have worked on a variety of successful restoration projects at Samara Karoo but this miracle plant