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Choose the correct meaning for ‘Family holiday.’
1. (n.) A time to remember why your family never spends time together.
2. (n.) The defining experience of a lifetime with memories shared across generations.
Your answer may depend on which safari operator you choose to plan your family-friendly safari.
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We say you will #safariyourway with us, and on a successful family safari, every single member of the group gets to enjoy the safari in their own individual way.
1. Our Travel Designers plan family safari holidays in destinations and locations they have visited.
Austin Knight advises all designers to travel more If they want to be better at their jobs. We know that there is no better way for a Travel Design to improve their prowess than going to the places that clients dream of visiting.
This is why Rothschild Safaris invest very heavily in sending staff on fact-finding missions. So committed are we to this principle, some of our Travel Designers actually go to the countries where we operate. And they live there for months on end. There is a difference in the quality of relationships that have been built face to face.
From the operators we use, to the properties we visit and the guides we spend time with:
When you travel with Rothschild Safaris, your expectations will be based on our first-hand experience.
2. We believe the secret to a great African family safari is always an incredible guide.
All guides were not created equal. A truly effective leader of any wildlife adventure will have, not only the passion and the knowledge but also the people skills to navigate different interests and personalities.
We work with the legends, the very best in the business.
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3. There is no time limit on getting to know you.
The moment you schedule a time for us to call you, we commit to finding the expert in the type of African family safari trip you are interested in, to work with you. As you are guided through making decisions, we spend time really getting to know your likes and dislikes. It is not unusual for our Travel Designers to ask you questions you did not expect about aspects of your journey you may not have been aware of.
In a world where everything is rushed, planning with Rothschild Safaris will never be a dash.
We want the curtain to draw back on your journey with delicious anticipation and joy.
4. You have guidance and assistance on the ground from the plane door when you first land to the plane door closing on the final departure.
Travel should be exciting and exhilarating. But we don’t believe this part of your experience should begin in the customs and immigration hall of a very distant country on a faraway continent.
Our representatives will be there when you touch down, and from that moment, every detail and facet of your safari is taken care of until you take off for home after your final goodbyes.
Your job on safari is to forget about minutiae and let every moment settle in your soul.
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5. We are not affiliated with any camps.
Travel with us, they say. We own a bajillion camps throughout *insert country or all of Africa* and your safari life will be cheap and easy, they assure you.
If this formula worked, it would have been very much in our interest to form business partnerships with particular camps. Our safari designing life would have been easy!
Unfortunately, the areas we operate in are subject to immense changes at short notice. Camp management transition. Guides move on. Weather patterns vary. Animal behavior is impossible to predict, and even governments can switch as quickly as a hiccup.
We are in the business of finding the best destinations for YOU to go on safari, not the business of taking short cuts and betting on your satisfaction.
6. Long-standing relationships with our in-country partners always work in your favor.
You know we believe in face to face, long term relationships with the people we work with. You know we have decades of experience in the African family safari world. And you understand that nothing can be absolutely guaranteed when you work with wildlife in developing countries.
How do we achieve our astonishing record of happy travelers? We prepare for the improbable every step of the way. And when the unexpected does occur, our in-country partners will step in and ensure that your safari is not affected or make alternate arrangements that will improve the experience.
The airplane is delayed from your bush airstrip? No problem, as your driver has already arranged for you to enjoy lunch with an extraordinary view at a beautiful lodge near the airstrip!
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7. Ensuring everyone who comes along on your African family safari is engaged in adventures that suit their tastes is our superpower.
‘Nitty-gritty’ is our middle name. We live for the details. But there is another aspect of every safari that might be even more important and is less mathematics and more art.
When you travel as a family, there is a range of ages that come with a variety of experiences, interests, and physical abilities.
Sitting in a game drive vehicle being told to be quiet for hours is not a well-known love of young children. Grandpa and Grandma may be thrilled to be afforded the time and space to simply take in the comings and goings of a waterhole from a hidden hide for an entire afternoon. Similarly, the energy and passion of the kids will differ significantly from the needs of teenagers.
Every family will benefit from a Travel Designer who has conducted a symphony of disposition and interests before. No earplugs required.
8. We are the family politics whisperers.
A symphony is one thing. An opera is quite another. Divining the drama that is part of the glue that holds every family together takes a special knack.
As far as everyone knows, you are a perfectly lovely, average family and we won’t ask for your family secrets…
but when it comes to ensuring the golf lovers play just enough to forgive the spa lovers for spending hours having a massage and vice versa, we have form.
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9. As we have traveled with small children on a safari holiday ourselves, we are intimately acquainted with the practicalities.
We do not view any part of your journey in isolation. We have traveled long haul for African safaris with children, with family, and with groups. We understand that the flight will have an impact on sleeping patterns and energy levels. We know that different parts of a family may move and recover at different rates.
We are always aware of making the absolute most of your time and allowing everyone the opportunity to have fun from the start.
10. Rothschild support is available along every second of your family safari… and after.
Our job isn’t done until after you get your favorite images back from the printer or put them in an online gallery. Unlike your friends, we will never get tired of discussing your trip! (Often, our job is never done, as many of our guests return again and again.)
Whether you go on safari once in your lifetime or every year, the Rothschild Safaris ethos of forming real connections in a world of pseudo friendships remains firm.
Before, during, and after, while you are on family safari, your Rothschild Safaris family will always be only a call away.
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There are safari operators, there are family safari operators, and then there is Rothschild Safaris.
If you think the answer to our Family holiday question at the top of this blog should always be (2.)… do let us know.
