24 Jan 2014
&Beyond’s fun-filled new children’s programme, WILDchild, is available at the company’s lodges and camps throughout Southern Africa and will also be offered at its East African properties from the end of August. WILDchild is designed to create opportunities for families to engage not only with each other but with their environment, in a new and stimulating way that will change the way they see the world. With a growing trend for multi-generational travel, &Beyond believes in giving adventurous families the unique privilege to see the world through different eyes, encouraging them to grow and learn through unforgettable experiences.
Carefully thought out and presented by rangers trained to share their knowledge in a way that sparks the enthusiasm of even the youngest guests, WILDchild is designed to do more than just keep children occupied while their parents enjoy their safari. While it is essential that the programme remains entertaining enough to capture youngsters’ imaginations, it also has a strong conservation message at heart.
“The WILDchild programme is just another way that &Beyond is encouraging family travel. We have also provided additional family suites at select &Beyond lodges in South Africa, as well as in Tanzania. Whether at our own lodges and camps or throughout the African countries where we operate, &Beyond has the ability to put together specialised family itineraries designed to help travellers create life-enriching experiences for themselves and their children,” says Jacky Humphries, &Beyond Chief Marketing Officer.
&Beyond’s safari experiences offer the luxury of a leisurely pace, ideal to reconnect and renew relationships among families, as well as to form new connections between the children and the land, animals and people of Africa. Through the relationship created between younger guests and their ranger or guide, the WILDchild programme is filled with fun, interactive activities that offer opportunities to learn and discover new experiences and cultures. Deeply rooted in the love for the African bush, it not only creates a series of unforgettable moments for the whole family, but forges strong bonds between the children, our planet and its people.
As part of the WILDchild programme, each young traveller receives a WILDchild backpack with a scrapbook and a gift, such as a solar torch, a magnifying glass or a compass. Throughout the safari, the family’s ranger helps the child to fill up the scrapbook with notes, drawings, stickers, dog tags and badges that the youngsters earn for completing a series of bush-related activities that are selected for them according to their interests and age. The activities attempt to tie in with the lodge’s environment, as well as the local heritage of the region. For example, children staying at
&Beyond Klein’s Camp in Tanzania might be taught how to shoot with a bow and arrow or how to build a fire in the Maasai way. Meanwhile, at &Beyond Phinda Private Game Reserve in South Africa, they may be taught tracking skills by a local Zulu tracker or set out on a fishing expedition on the Mzinene River.
&Beyond lodges that specialise in children’s programmes, creative menus and have child-minding facilities are: &Beyond Phinda Mountain Lodge, Ngala Safari Lodge and Kirkman’s Kamp in South Africa; Sossusvlei Desert Lodge in Namibia; Kichwa Tembo Tented Camp in Kenya; Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, Serengeti Under Canvas and Mnemba Island Lodge in Tanzania; and Xaranna Okavango Delta Camp, Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge and Nxabega Okavango Tented Camp in Botswana.
ISSUED BY: media@andBeyond.com
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ABOUT &BEYOND
&Beyond is one of the world’s leading luxury experiential travel companies, designing personalised luxury safaris in 16 African countries, as well as India, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. The company also owns and operates 33 extraordinary lodges and camps in Africa and India’s wildlife high spots. Established in 1991, &Beyond takes exceptional care of its guests in order to make a difference; its commitment to sustainable responsible travel and community empowerment is world renowned.
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