Africa: Don’t Save This Trip for Someday!
What a two-week safari with my father and six-year-old son taught me about the value of traveling across generations.
By Kris Nosworthy
There are trips we take to see somewhere new, and there are trips that quietly become part of a family’s story. This past June, I traveled through South Africa and Botswana with my father, Stephen, and my six-year-old son, Lachie. Three generations on safari. Over two weeks, we moved from the restored wilderness of Phinda Private Game Reserve to the banks of the Chobe River and deep into the flooded channels of Botswana’s Okavango Delta.
We saw lions, leopards, cheetahs, elephants and more wildlife than Lachie could fit into a single retelling. We traveled by safari vehicle, boat, mokoro and helicopter. We stayed in beautiful lodges, ate far too many desserts and returned home with thousands of photographs. But the more time that passes, the more I realize that the wildlife was only part of the story. The real gift was time.
Why Families Are Traveling Together
Multigenerational travel is no longer a small corner of the travel industry. Virtuoso’s 2026 Luxe Report ranks immediate family travel as the year’s leading travel trend, followed closely by multigenerational family travel. “Spending time with loved ones” is also one of the leading motivations behind why affluent travelers are traveling at all. Virtuoso’s 2026 Luxe Report.
The numbers tell a similar story. The 2025 U.S. Family Travel Survey found that 71 percent of grandparents had recently taken a trip involving three or more generations, while 57 percent of parents were planning to travel with both their children and grandparents. Perhaps most tellingly, 85 percent of parents said family travel brings their family closer together. NYU and Family Travel Association’s 2025 U.S. Family Travel Survey.
The industry often explains this growth through changing family dynamics, milestone celebrations and a greater willingness to invest in experiences rather than possessions. All of that is true. But I think there is another, more human reason.
Families are becoming increasingly aware that time together is not unlimited.
Children grow. Parents age. Calendars fill. The trip everyone talks about taking “someday” becomes surprisingly easy to postpone for another year. Multigenerational travel asks us to stop waiting for the perfect time and recognize the time we have right now.
Seeing Africa Through Three Sets of Eyes
Our journey began at &Beyond Phinda Mountain Lodge in South Africa. Phinda is both a Big Five reserve and one of Africa’s great conservation success stories. Land that was once divided into farmland has been carefully restored into nearly 74,000 acres of protected wilderness.
For me, that story added depth to every sighting. I understood the work, foresight and conservation effort required to allow these animals to thrive again. Lachie saw things differently… His list of favorite moments captured the trip better than any polished travel description could:
“My favorite part of Africa was the baboons, elephants, lions, watching the cheetahs eat and seeing leopards. I got to see a giraffe skull and an elephant skeleton, and I got to read the bird books. Swimming in the pools was fun, and I could have dessert whenever I wanted.”
My father experienced Africa through yet another lens. He was experiencing Africa for the first time himself, while also watching his grandson experience it for the first time.
“A safari across Southern Africa is special, but even more so when you experience it alongside your son and six-year-old grandson. It all takes on a different sense of wonder through the eyes of a young explorer. This was a superb time not to be missed.”
That may be the most powerful part of multigenerational travel. Everyone experiences the same journey, but no one experiences it in quite the same way. A child reminds adults how to be amazed. A grandparent brings perspective, patience and family history. The generation in the middle has the rare privilege of watching both.
A Safari Creates Space for Connection
From Phinda, we continued through Johannesburg to Sanctuary Chobe Chilwero in Botswana, set above the Chobe River near one of Africa’s largest concentrations of elephants. Our afternoon river safari gave us a completely different perspective from a traditional game drive. Elephants gathered at the water’s edge, hippos surfaced nearby and crocodiles rested along the riverbanks. As the light softened over the floodplains, we watched animals moving between Botswana and the river islands stretching toward Namibia.
Our journey then took us by small aircraft into the Okavango Delta and Sanctuary Stanley’s Camp. The tents overlooked an active waterhole, and wildlife remained part of the experience even when we were back at camp. We encountered lions and a leopard, watched the extraordinary birdlife of the Delta and traded the safari vehicle for a mokoro. Moving silently through narrow channels and fields of water lilies at water level slowed everything down. There was no engine and no need to rush toward the next sighting. There was simply the gentle movement of the canoe, the sounds of the Delta and the three of us taking it all in.
There were games with Grandad, swims in the lodge pools and conversations over meals. There were ‘special drinks’ for all ages on the balcony and the wonderful discovery that safari lodges are incredibly generous with dessert, including banana splits for breakfast! These moments will never appear as itinerary highlights. Yet they are some of the ones I remember most clearly.
At home, time together is often interrupted. There are emails to answer, televisions in the background, activities to get to and a dozen other things competing for our attention. On safari, our days had a natural rhythm. We woke before sunrise, explored together, returned for meals and rested during the heat of the afternoon. Without our normal distractions, conversations had room to continue. Silence never needed to be filled.
The People Who Make a Place Memorable
We traveled by helicopter from Stanley’s Camp to Sanctuary Chief’s Camp, flying over the waterways and islands of the Okavango Delta. Lachie was invited to sit in the front seat, which immediately made it one of the greatest days of his young life. From above, the scale of the Delta became visible. Lagoons reflected the sky, animals moved across islands below us and the channels stretched far beyond what we could see from the ground.
Chief’s Camp became a wonderful final chapter to the safari. The camp was beautiful, but what stayed with us was its people. Ryno the camp manager and his entire team created an atmosphere of genuine warmth. Every staff member seemed personally invested in making our stay memorable. The hospitality never felt rehearsed. It felt as though people were truly happy we were there.
Fittingly, our guide who was named Chief, working at Chief’s Camp on Chief’s Island, understood immediately how to bring the safari to life for a six-year-old. He let Lachie sit beside him in the front of the vehicle, shared his bird books and took the time to explain the skulls, tracks and smaller details we encountered. A great guide does more than identify animals. They understand the people in their vehicle. They know when to teach, when to create excitement and when to sit quietly and allow a moment to unfold.
That relational side of safari is often what determines whether someone returns home simply satisfied or genuinely changed. Beautiful rooms and remarkable wildlife matter, but travelers remember how people made them feel.
Why a Safari Works Across Generations
Travel + Leisure recently included an African safari among the world’s best multigenerational experiences, highlighting how children and grandparents can sit side by side and share the same sense of awe. Travel + Leisure’s multigenerational travel recommendations.
I had previously taken my oldest son to Africa when he turned six. Returning with my middle son at the same age, and this time with my father, helped me understand that sentiment even more personally. Safari does not require every traveler to have the same physical ability or interests. Much of the experience is shared from the comfort of a vehicle or boat, while the days can be adapted to include walks, cultural experiences, time at the lodge or simply an afternoon by the pool.
More importantly, the experience is naturally communal. You search together. You wait together. When something finally emerges from the grass, everyone sees it at the same moment. There are not separate experiences for children, parents and grandparents. There is one experience, shared across generations.
The Luxury of Time
Travel is often described through what we see, where we stay and what we do. Yet I believe its greatest value is the space it creates between people. Some of my favorite experiences from our two-week safari were not just what we were fortunate enough to see and do. They were the quiet moments in between, spending uninterrupted time with my father and my son. Being away from televisions, computers and the usual distractions gave us the chance to slow down and truly connect. Watching Lachie experience Africa alongside his grandad made the journey feel even more meaningful. The wildlife was unforgettable, but the time we shared together is what I will remember most.
There will always be reasons to delay a meaningful trip. Work is busy. School calendars are complicated. The planning feels overwhelming. We tell ourselves there will be more time next year.
But perhaps the growing importance of multigenerational travel is reminding us of something we already know… The perfect time may never arrive.
The people we love are here now.
The relationships we want our children to remember are being formed now.
The stories that will one day become part of our family history are waiting to be lived now.
Some trips should not be saved for someday.
Comments