Took grandkids on safari

I’ve read with interest the articles in ITN about traveling with grandchildren. One appeared in the November 2013 issue.

While planning the trip on which I would be taking my grandchildren in late 2010 (we left right after Christmas), I found that the most important consideration was not how old they should or should not be or how many children I should take at one time but whether the trip’s activities would be exciting enough to hold their interest.

I wanted the trip to be very special. I wanted to share with them my love of a place that was different from anything they had ever experienced, so I chose to take five of them to Africa on safari — just them and me!

They each had traveled with their parents enough for me to know that, regardless of their ages, taking them to see old relics, churches and museums was not going to be the type of special, fun trip that I envisioned for them.

We went to Tanzania on an 11-day safari, visiting national parks and staying in tent camps, lodges and hotels. We saw all of the “Big Five,” and my granddaughter even counted 22 cheetah sightings, as rare as they are!

I think we built memories to last a lifetime!

ARLENE HAMANN

Laguna Beach, CA