An accessible family safari

My wife Sarah and I went to Africa at the very end of 2023 on the advice of our neighbours, who raved about their trip. We took our 11-year-old daughter, Harper, and our twin boys, Ned and Oskar, who were 15. Ned has a disability, so that was something else to factor in: we wanted him to be able to experience everything before his muscular dystrophy progresses too much. So we packed a lightweight wheelchair and Encompass Africa designed a fantastic itinerary for us that featured accessible accommodation and activities.

 After spending three nights in Singapore we landed in landed in Johannesburg and flew straight to Maun in Botswana before being driven to Planet Baobab, about three hours away. It’s a lodge surrounded by baobab trees on the edge of the Makgadikgadi Salt Pan and it was great. We stayed in two rustic, traditional-style huts, did a tour of the local village, saw our first zebras in the wild and did a brilliant meerkat safari. It was magic.

At the end of our stay, instead of hopping straight on a plane we did a fantastic open-door helicopter ride over the Okavango Delta, landing at one point to have a spot of bubbly near some hippos. Sarah and the kids were really nervous before the flight, but they absolutely loved it and it was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me.

 We then flew out for three days of brilliant water and land safaris at Chobe National Park. The water safaris were particularly amazing. We set Ned up on some cushions with an SLR camera and zoom lens, and he had a fantastic time taking photos of crocodiles, monkeys and impalas, and loads of elephants and hippos that were right next to the boat. We were also thrilled to see our first lion in the wild.

From Chobe it was just a short drive over the border into Zambia and our home for the next four nights, Waterberry Zambezi Lodge. This was another real highlight of our trip. We just loved it. The Lodge has seven thatched cottages, but we stayed in the completely separate, totally private, five-bedroom River Farmhouse. It’s located right on the Zambezi River, with hippos in the background, an amazing swimming pool, a private chef and the amazing Patience, who was there to help us with food and drinks and anything we wanted.

While at Waterberry we visited the city of Livingstone and the incredible Victoria Falls. We really loved the Zambia side of the Falls. You can’t get to every viewing point with a wheelchair, but you can definitely get to some good ones. Sarah and I also did a helicopter tour over the Falls, which was spectacular. The kids didn’t want to do it so we left them at the Farmhouse. They just need a bit of downtime every now and then, especially Ned, who gets tired easily. That’s another good thing about them being a bit older: we could take off and do things, just the two of us.

We spent lovely family time by the Farmhouse swimming pool: it was so easily accessible for Ned, and the weather was perfect. We had sundowners on a private sunset cruise on the Zambezi River, which departed from our own jetty, and Oskar and I also did a fishing trip one afternoon, which was a nice bit of father/son time.

After the Waterberry we flew to Cape Town and were driven straight to Franschoek for three nights in South Africa’s famous wine country. To the kids this was basically just some mountains in the middle of a valley and wine that they couldn’t drink! But Sarah and I really enjoyed it. We had a personal driver to take us around for two days of great food, beautiful scenery, wine tasting in Stellenbosch, and fantastic accommodation again organised by Encompass Africa. They left us little welcome notes at each place, which was a really nice touch.

Back in Cape Town, we stayed at The Bay Hotel. It’s located in the Camps Bay Area, which is about seven kilometres from the city centre, really safe, very accessible, and reminded me of a bit of Manly in Sydney and Santa Monica in California. We loved it. On the Sunday morning Sarah and I went for a run. It was just beautiful; everyone was cycling and jogging and enjoying the outdoors, with Table Mountain behind us and the Atlantic Ocean in front. That water is icy cold! We had a day or two at the hotel without travelling anywhere, which was great, and just dined locally – the food in Cape Town is fantastic. We also did Seal Island, the V&A Waterfront shopping area and Table Mountain where the views were incredible, but as Oskar doesn’t like heights it was a pretty quick trip! Brilliant weather, beautiful sunsets, great restaurants… we had an incredible time in Cape Town.

 We then flew to the Kruger. Yep, this was an epic, once-in-a-lifetime kind of trip!

Here, we stayed at Simbavati Lodge where they set up a brilliant accessible bathroom for Ned. As well as a lodge we also had an adjacent tent, but these aren’t “tents” as we know them in Australia – they’re proper, permanent accommodation and they’re fantastic. We stayed for four nights and saw so much wildlife: the Big Five, monkeys, buffalo, and hyenas and vultures feeding on a dead elephant, which was absolutely amazing in a horrendous way. We had a couple of really magical experiences: finally seeing a leopard in a tree after searching for three days, and watching a pride of lions after all the other tourists had left. It was just us, sitting at the edge of a dry riverbed and watching a male, two mothers and three little cubs.

Then we flew back to Johannesburg and spent one night in an airport hotel before heading home. It’s never easy travelling with a wheelchair and you’re always going to have your struggles, but Encompass Africa were fantastic, absolutely fantastic. They created a really accessible itinerary for us and there were always plenty of people to help do things like lift Ned on and off boats. It was such smooth sailing and even with hindsight, there’s nothing we would have done differently. It was a brilliant trip and we absolutely loved it.