Safari with Kids: A Review of Etali Safari Lodge in South Africa’s Madikwe Game Reserve

Last Updated on January 18, 2026 by Adrienne

I recently had a milestone birthday and to celebrate I took a trip with my mom and 7 year old daughter to South Africa, including 4 nights on safari at the incredible Etali Safari Lodge in Madikwe Game Preserve. Going on safari has been near the top of my bucket list for years, and it was everything I’ve dreamed of and more. In this post, I’ve included a detail reviewed of the very family-friendly Etali, as well as tips for planning and packing for a safari and what you need to know about going on safari with kids.

Planning an African Safari with Kids

Safari is an incredible experience for school age kids and planning it was less daunting than I expected. I had thought I might need to use an in-country travel agent, but booking the lodge ended up not being any more complicated than booking a hotel in the US or Europe, and once we had arranged our stay, Etali took care of arranging all our transportation from Johannesburg.

We chose to go to on safari in Madikwe Game Reserve because we wanted to stay in South Africa and, unlike the more well known Kruger National Park and Sabi Sands, Madikwe has no malaria risk, so we wouldn’t have to deal with the potentially unpleasant side effects of taking malaria prophylaxis. Madikwe frequently came up when I searched for the best malaria-free safari locations in southern Africa and (spoiler alert!) it did not disappoint.

Once we knew what game reserve we were going to visit, I just used TripAdvisor reviews to pick a lodge. Some camps are adults only, and others have various age restrictions for kids, so if you’re traveling with kids, of course pay attention to what will be available to them at the lodge you’re booking. At Etali, children under the age of 6 can’t go on regular game drives, although you can arrange a private “bumble drive” with non-dangerous game for young children and they offer baby-sitting for an additional fee. Children 6 and up can fully participate in regular game drives, as well as other kid-friendly outings that are described in more detail below.

Location and Getting to Etali

As mentioned above, Etali is located in Madikwe Game Reserve, a malaria-free game reserve on the Botswana border near the Kalahari Desert. The closest major airport is actually in Gaborone, Botswana but it’s also very accessible from Johannesburg. From Jo’burg, it’s about a 4 hour drive (you can drive yourself or have them arrange a private transfer) or a quick 1 hour flight on Federal Airlines. We opted to fly and the staff at Etali made all our arrangements for our flight. Since we arrived in Johannesburg from the US in the evening, we stayed overnight at the airport Intercontinental (which is very nice) and then Federal Air picked us up the next morning for our flight to Etali. I’m a bit nervous on small planes after a bad experience in Alaska, but our Federal Air pilots were great and the flights were smooth and easy. The Madikwe “airport” is definitely the smallest and most rustic airport I’ve ever been to – it’s basically just a runway and a small hut.

As our plane landed on the airstrip, my daughter spotted our first African animals – some warthogs crowding the runway. The pilot told us they’re common visitors who often get in the way of the planes. As we disembarked the plane, our pilot let us know he would wait with us until our Etali guides arrived to pick us up, because a lion had been seen prowling in that exact spot earlier in the day. Toto, we’re not in Indiana anymore!

Our short ride to the lodge was essentially a mini-game drive as our patient guides OT and Kea stopped for us newbie safari travelers who were ooh-ing and ahh-ing over every single animal sighting. We were lucky enough to see a group of young giraffes playing and stopped to watch them for a while before continuing onto the lodge.

Safari Experience and Game Drives

The highlight of any safari is of course the twice-daily game drives where your guide and tracker take you out in the bush to look for animals. You typically have game drives the afternoon you arrive and the morning you depart as well, so if you’re staying 4 nights like we did you will have a total of 8 drives.

Here was our typical daily schedule (in the South African winter):

• 6:00 am: wakeup “call” (door knock)
• 6:30 am: meet for coffee and quick snacks
• 7 am-10 am: (approximately, timing varies based on sightings) morning game drive
• 10 am: hot breakfast on the terrace overlooking the watering hole
• 11 am – 3:30 pm: unscheduled time to relax or participate in activities like a walking safari; lunch is available in this window
• 3 pm: afternoon tea on the terrace
• 4 pm: head out on afternoon game drive
• 7:30 pm (approx): return from afternoon game drive, and eat dinner

The game in Madikwe is abundant and we saw more elephants, zebras, giraffes, warthogs, impalas, kudu and wildebeests than we could count, along with a number of white rhinos, hyenas (both the common spotted hyena and the more rare brown hyena), jackals, a pair of snoozing male lions, buffalo, mongooses, waterbucks and steenbok. With a nighttime sighting of the elusive leopard on our first full day, we officially spotted all of the famous “Big Five.”

One day after we had spotted most of the other animals on our list, our guides took us to the Marico River near Botswana where we were fortunate enough to spot a bloat of hippos (yep, “bloat” is the hilarious name for a group of hippos!) along with some vervet monkeys hanging out in the trees on the banks of the river.

Although I wouldn’t really have described myself as a “bird person” before our safari, we saw some truly incredible birds and I was surprised how much I enjoyed spotting them, from the kori bustard – the largest flying bird in Africa – and the gorgeous lilac-breasted roller.

Each game drive will also include a short break to enjoy snacks and drinks (coffee, tea and hot chocolate on the morning drive, soda and cocktails on the evening drive) and watch the sunrise or sunset. As amazing as the animals are, the landscapes are pretty impressive in their own right.

Rooms and Public Spaces at Etali

Etali is a boutique lodge with only 8 standard suites and one oversized family suite. The rooms are spacious and well-appointed with very comfortable beds, plunge pools, outdoor (and indoor) showers, and large decks with lounge chairs. A couple of rooms have views overlooking the watering hole where animals come to gather (especially during the dry season) and we were lucky enough to have one of those rooms.

The main dining area at Etali is on their outdoor deck directly overlooking the watering hole, and there are lounge chairs set up here as well, so even if you don’t have a room with watering hole views you will have plenty of opportunity to watch the animals that gather there. It was so special to eat our meals with the elephants.

There’s also a main pool, a fitness center and a spa to keep you busy during the downtime between game drives.

Dining at Etali Safari Lodge

All food & alcohol is included at Etali (and most safari lodges). The food was plentiful and tasty, but not outstanding. The menus aren’t overly complicated and will appeal to kids: think eggs, fruit and pastries for breakfast, burgers, pizza and pasta for lunch and meat and fish with side dishes for dinner. There are also separate kids menus available for picky eaters. They were really prompt with the meal service, especially at dinner, which we really appreciated since we always got home fairly late from the game drive and were in a hurry to get to bed.

Food-wise the highlight of our stay for me was the boma dinner, which they will do at least once during your stay. You eat outside around the fire and they serve traditional South African specialities, including meats grilled on the braai (barbecue). It was delicious and a really fun experience.

Kid-Friendly Activities

Six to seven hours of game drives a day can be a lot for a younger kid, so I really appreciated all the ways the staff at Etali went out of the way to make sure my daughter had a really great experience. They gave her a field guide to the animals in Madikwe, which provided hours of entertainment on the game drives as she learned facts about the animals we were seeing and checked them off as they were spotted. I also recommend bringing a point-and-shoot camera for kids, which helps them not feel left out while the adults are snapping away.

Etali also organizes some activities for children, and one day between game drives they took my daughter and a couple of other children staying at the lodge out on a mini-game drive and bush walk. The walk culminated in looking for lion tracks and making a plaster of paris cast out of the lion’s paw print, which was such a fun activity for her and a great souvenir to bring home.

Best Time of Year to Go on Safari in South Africa

South Africa is really a year-round safari destination and there’s no bad time to go. But the dryer winter months of June to September are considered especially good because the lack of rain encourages animals to seek out watering holes like the one at Etali, and you can observe them even when you’re not on game drives. The weather is also milder during this season, and although it can be chilly late at night and early in the morning, the day time temperatures are very pleasant. It worked out really well for us since this lines up with my daughter’s summer school break, which is really the only time of year we can take a long trip like this. However, there are advantages to the South African summer as well. Bird sightings tend to peak then, and December is an excellent time to see newborn baby animals.

What to Pack for Safari

Etali, like many lodges, does your laundry at no extra charge, so you don’t need to overpack and if you’re flying on a small charter plane you’ll have significant weight restrictions for your luggage. For clothing, layers are key because in the arid climates the temperature variation across a single day is significant. In July, it was usually in the low 40s when we headed out on our morning game drive and in the high 60s or even 70s when we left on the afternoon drive.

The need to wear only tan/khaki/olive colors on safari is apparently somewhat overstated, but it’s best to avoid very bright colors which can startle the animals and to avoid white because of all the red clay dust around. Comfort is key. Here are the essentials I recommend packing for a safari in South African winter:

• DSLR Camera (I have a Canon EOS 70D)
• Telephoto lens – I rented a Tamron 150-600mm lens from LensRentals.com. I think 400mm would have been sufficient but wouldn’t have wanted to go any shorter than that.
• A point-and-shoot camera for kids (we have this one) – it doesn’t need to be waterproof, but I like underwater cameras for the durability
• Extra batteries and memory cards for the camera (I didn’t end up needing them but was glad I had them – you don’t want to travel so far only to have your camera die or run out of space)
• Binoculars
• Adapters – Etali has both European (Type C) and South African (Type M) outlets, as well as USB sockets
• A wide-brimmed sun hat and sunglasses
• A couple of long-sleeved sunshirts as a base layer (kids version)
• A sweatshirt or fleece
• A raincoat (adult, kid) – it doesn’t normally rain in Madikwe during the South African winter, but we did have a freak rainstorm one night and even without rain you’ll appreciate the extra layer and protection against the wind
• Leggings
• Lightweight joggers to go over the leggings, or to wear alone on warmer days – I loved these
• Fleece ear warmers and gloves for the extra chilly mornings – they supply blankets and hot water bottles for game drives, but I appreciated having these too
• Comfortable sneakers
• Personal items (toiletries, underwear, pajamas, electronic devices, etc.)

I packed these items in this lightweight backpack and this duffel bag to take with me, since hardsided luggage is impractical with Federal Air’s weight limits.

What you don’t need to pack? Cash. Etali is a cashless resort and you can put your tips, curio shop purchases and incidental expenses on a credit card.

This was truly a dream trip, and I’m already itching to go back to Africa and explore more of this beautiful continent.

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