I had been to East Africa nearly 25 years ago and I had been surprised with how much I loved being on safari. That first magical experience stayed with me and I always wanted to go back and share that experience with my family.

My experience with Sarah was great – we went back and forth a few times about which countries to visit and our budget, but she was always very responsive. Nothing was too much trouble, and her personal knowledge of Africa meant she was able to present us with the pros and cons of each itinerary option. We have a 14-year-old son and a 12-year-old daughter and Sarah really took into account our specific needs as a family.

The highlight was definitely the game drives at the two camps in South Africa. All four of us loved the game drives – I think we did 14 in total and each time there was something new to see. We saw leopards, and a pride of 12 or 13 lions. We saw both black and white rhinos and the wild dog pups were a big hit with the kids. My favourite was the herds of elephants.

Ngala Safari Lodge and Kirkman’s Camp are both &Beyond properties and we just loved their environmental ethos. At Ngala there is a watering hole right near the lodge where animals regularly come and drink – you can’t appreciate how incredible that is until you are there. We didn’t want to leave Ngala, but then Kirkman’s was fabulous also.

We really had the best and most knowledgeable rangers and trackers, and having our own personal butler meant we always had everything we needed. One ranger played tennis with our children and taught them how to shoot an air rifle. Every interaction with staff was positive. The accommodation was fabulous, and all our meals were included. It was worth every cent.

For children going on safari is fantastic! It is quite something to see your teenage children bounding out of bed at 5.30am excited to see game and animals – no one was ever bored, and we did everything together. My kids would love to go back – my son wants to be a ranger. It far exceeded my husband’s and my children’s expectations – none of them anticipated loving it so much.

After our week on safari, we went to Victoria Falls and Cape Town. Sarah recommended we do a 15-minute helicopter flight over the falls and it was a real highlight.

She also booked us on a private tour down to the Cape of Good Hope where we saw seal colonies and penguins with a wonderful guide – it was a great family day out. It was good to mix up the itinerary with different experiences – for the time we had our itinerary worked really well.

Definitely! I can’t speak highly enough of the company. Everything was planned to suit our budget and really hit the mark. It was one of the best family trips we have ever had.

All images supplied by Fiona Freemantle.