Are we there yet?

Travel with the family can be hit or miss. Getting the transport and accommodation just right, and pleasing everyone in the family, can be difficult. Kumuka has taken the stress out of holiday planning, with our new Family Adventure Tours. We recognised that our kind of travel doesn’t just appeal to adults – kids love adventurous holidays too! Now you can go together, secure in the knowledge that all practicalities have been sorted by some of our most experienced travel professionals.

Helen Dwyer, Family Adventure Tours operations manager, talked to Venture about what makes Kumuka’s family tours so successful.

Q Let’s start at the beginning... What are your top tips for a great family holiday?
A Firstly, I’d say, read the brochure and read up on the destinations that interest you very carefully. Make sure you’re really comfortable with the climate, or the activities such as hiking or four-wheel drive journeys. What’s most important is not that it’s going to be great for the kids, because they’re usually happy, but that the adults, who tend to be more set in their ways, are completely happy too. That’s what makes a great family holiday: happy mums and dads.

Q It doesn’t have to be mums and dads of course...
A Indeed not, we take single parents or grandparents or other guardians. There just have to be children of five years or over in the party.

Q And how many in the group for each tour?
A It can vary, anything from one family – and people sometimes love that, as it’s like a private tour – to a maximum of 16 people, which would normally be about four families.

Q Kumuka goes to some very remote parts of the world. How safe are they for families?
A Everywhere we cover is fully checked out and constantly appraised and reappraised by our adult tour groups, so the leaders and guides will be feeding back to Kumuka about any issues they’ve had. As will our passengers of course. Obviously for parents it’s essential that they feel secure with us when booking, so we go out of our way to make sure every aspect of the trip is safe and easy, with clean accommodation and well-maintained vehicles.

Q I was going to ask you about the vehicles. How do you cope with the stress of kids on long journeys. Don’t they all wind each other up and get very bored?
A Well, for a start we deliberately keep travelling time down to a minimum. As for getting bored, they usually end up teaming up with other kids in the group and have a brilliant time. And we also vary the means of transport as much as possible – four-wheel-drive, minibus, light planes, train, boat, tuk-tuk... Parents should bring some activities along for the kids, though. In fact, it’s best for each child to have their own day bag, with books, maybe binoculars for wildlife, and possibly a camera.

Q Presumably the accommodation on these trips is fairly basic?
A No, not at all. We always stay in nice places – not the sort of establishment where children aren’t welcome, of course, but not scruffy travellers’ lodgings. We always aim to include places with swimming pools, good kids’ facilities and nice food. We do use some teahouses on Nepal treks, and we do some camping on African safaris. We don’t find children complain about that! And we usually stay for a couple of nights, which is more relaxing than moving on every day. Also, quite a lot of the time is free, which gives families the chance to do their own thing and explore entirely on their own. Most of them have a fantastic time doing that, either on their own or teaming up with another family for the day.

Q Okay, so I’ve got the brochure, the kids are all arguing about where they’re going to go... How do I decide the best destination?
A You do need to do some background reading. I think most people will have some inkling in one direction or another... maybe wildlife, great cultures and civilisations, or maybe it’s a place your friends have been or you’ve been wowed by a TV documentary. But everywhere has its particular merits. The key thing is that all our family tours are to places that Kumuka knows really well and has great products in, and that our experience tells us will be appreciated by children as well as adults because of what they offer.

Q What about what’s included in the price? How much should people budget for all the extras?
A Actually, they don’t usually need that much. Unless you’re going to do lots of shopping, or your taste in drinks is expensive. We include all the main excursions and other extras in the main brochure price. Consult your local Kumuka representative or the brochure for details.

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