Galapagos with kids

Nothing compares to the wonder of the close contact with wildlife that your children will experience on their Galapagos Family Safari holiday.

Unlike wildlife safaris in many other parts of the world, where animals must be watched in silence, and from afar, the animals in the Galapagos can be observed up close, and even by the most vocal of children!

No Fear (for animals or parents!)

Here aspiring Dr Dolittles can have a heart-to-heart with a marine iguana or a giant tortoise without parents having to worry about their safety. The animals of the Galapagos show no fear of humans, and providing children keep a reasonable distance (the Natural Park stipulates 6 feet / 2 meters, which can sometimes be challenging when the animals themselves can be as equally curious!), there is very little for parents to fear.

The Safari Experience

Each night at Galapagos Safari Camp, the canvas of our Safari Tents is all that stands between kids and the wild. As the camp’s founder (and parent of two), Stephanie Bonham-Carter describes it, “Sleeping under canvas is so very different to having four walls and a roof over you. You are sheltered, yet you are exposed. However you are comfortable, and you are protected.  And that’s Appropriate Luxury.”

Safari Activities for Kids

At the camp children also have the opportunity to pick oranges from the trees, dig yucca from the soil, milk a cow or harvest cacao in the plantation seeded by Stephanie and Michael, and their children. These hands-on, experiential encounters open children’s eyes to the idea that humans too belong to the natural world.

There’s little connectivity at Galapagos Safari Camp, or across the Galapagos Islands as a whole, which means that everyone, parents and kids alike, gets a necessary break from technology during their Galapagos family vacation. Rather than freaking out, children quickly adapt to their digital detox, learning that the world beyond their screens is infinitely more absorbing, thrilling and liberating. Away from their devices, children have the chance to be more mindful and present, each experience infinitely more valuable than any possession.

As Ann Abel observes in Forbes, “What used to be a liability has become the ultimate luxury: a chance to shut out all the endless digital noise and truly connect with our planet, our loved ones and ourselves.”

As tomorrow’s leaders, it’s essential that our children learn about the importance of conservation and to respect all living beings as equals.

In the Galapagos, the environment is so pristine and beautifully cared-for that any speck of litter stands out like a flashing light. Children automatically follow the example of guides picking up bits of plastic to leave landscapes spotless.

Surrounded by people who are passionate about protecting the environment, children develop the confidence to speak up for what they believe in, and to share their knowledge with their peers.

Away from the confines of the classroom, children will witness “cause and effect”. How, for example, the introduction of invasive species by humans can affect an eco-system; how climate change and rising sea temperatures is affecting the wildlife in the Galapagos; and how, if we’re not careful, we may end up observing more animals such as Lonesome George – the last Pinta Island tortoise to walk the planet – through glass cabinets.

Trying new things and facing fears is inevitable on a Galapagos Family Safari. Whether it’s boarding a boat for the first time, riding a bike downhill or plunging into the deep blue and catching the silhouette of a green turtle gliding past you, the realisation that apprehension and dread can quickly turn into exhilaration and joy makes children more comfortable with taking risks, and less fearful of the unknown – something that will help carry them through life.

…and there’s no such thing as a silly question! The experienced guides who work with Galapagos Safari Camp are brilliant at engaging with kids, delighted to discuss why blue-footed boobies have blue feet, why some birds can’t fly and for how long marine iguanas can hold their breath.

Our Family Safari is an odyssey of oddities where the curious are rewarded. After all, this is the place that inspired the Theory of Evolution. Anything that is a mystery leads to questions, and questions lead to discovery. Even Charles Darwin must have begun his investigations with a resounding, “but why?”.

Picture the scene: you’ve been out on the boat for hours and haven’t seen any wildlife in a while, despite the possibility of turtles, whale sharks, even orcas. Other travellers around you have cut their losses and have closed their eyes to doze.

But suddenly you see it: just below the surface, a manta ray, the width of a king-size bed skimming along, then summersaulting out of the water into the air, again and again as if performing a dance. The other travelers snooze on.

With eyes wide open and a splash of patience, the most astounding Galapagos experiences await. You’ll see!