If you dig out an English dictionary you will see that the definition of the word “Safari" is a trip to watch, photograph, or hunt wild animals in their natural environment. Hunting is definitely not on our agenda, but watching and photographing animals very much is, as well as the wilderness where children can explore, learn and discover by immersing themselves 100 per cent in the bush.
On arrival, Morukuru Kids backpacks are handed out to eager little eco-warriors - these lightweight knapsacks are filled with bush essentials like an interactive safari guide and a handbook covering animal tracks.
One of our Morukuru mottos is Learn, Observe and Play and a great place to start this journey is in our “safe area” which is a fenced-off zone allowing children to get close to plains animals like antelope, warthogs, giraffe and zebra. Here, under the supervision of our highly experienced guides and trackers children get to grips with the art of tracking - understanding ecological intelligence including spoor identification, recognising animal droppings; listening to mammal and bird calls and even tracking some wild animals. Don’t kid yourself; little people have a huge capacity for knowledge and our informal approach encourages enquiring minds … and there are definitely no dumb questions...just lots and lots of interesting answers.
Some families choose to elevate their safari holiday by booking our Safari with a Purpose signature package which gives guests the opportunity to work closely with Morukuru Goodwill Foundation (MGWF). The main focus of MGWF is supporting Rhino protection, but we also assist with various other conservation efforts such as elephant collaring, cheetah collaring, lion collaring or contraception and rhino notching/chipping. By participating in Safari with a Purpose guests enjoy a luxury family safari holiday together with making a contribution to important conservation efforts in the Madikwe. This is a unique opportunity to join the front-line efforts of the conservation teams and create your own family memories.
Another thing our little guests love is maps, maps and more maps. We found this quote from The Canadian Geographic “Maps encourage boldness. They’re like cryptic love letters. They make anything seem possible.” And this seems particularly true for children. We are not sure why our junior whizz kids like maps but they do - maybe its because maps give perspective and encourage discovery - or maybe its because maps are featured in famous adventure books and movies. For whatever reason, maps are cool.
With the use of maps, we see kids enthusiastically planning family game drives. These take place in a dedicated vehicle with a ranger and guide. Kids love the one-on-one experiences with the ranger and they can explain what they would like to see. Taking maps to the next level, each house comes equipped with a giant, interactive wall map where kids can mark which animals they saw and the actual drawing-pins are created in the shape of animals. This is a fun way of keeping a record of sightings.
With all this outdoor activity, children work up healthy appetites. But adventurous eating is not always on our mini-guests’ menus. We understand personal preferences, dietary requirements and general food whims of small people and our chefs will whip up delicious family-friendly food to everyone’s liking. No kidding!
Zoe 10 years ( 2019): I had an amazing time at Morukuru. My favourite part of my holiday was spending time in the open game-vehicle - with Ranger Johan and tracker Gummy. I learnt so much!
Emma 12 years ( 2019): Our family trip to Morukuru was one of my best holidays ever. It was like being in our own house - just better. I loved the fact that we could ask so many questions, spend as long as we wanted game viewing and ticking off so many exciting sightings such as wild dog, rhino and cheetah.
