We have done a lot of holidays. Disney cruises, beach resorts, extended family gatherings. We know how to do Christmas well.
This one was different. Not lesser. Different in a way that turned out to matter more than we expected.
Christmas Eve at RIU Jambo, Zanzibar
We spent Christmas Eve at the RIU Jambo in Zanzibar, and the resort handled the holiday with more grace than I would have predicted.
Zanzibar is a majority Muslim island. The fact that the staff leaned into Christmas at all was a choice, and they made it a good one. Subtle decorations throughout the property. Santa hats on the staff. At one point, Santa himself showed up on the beach, which felt equal parts surreal and completely perfect.
That evening the resort hosted a special Christmas Eve buffet. Extra dishes, decorated dessert tables, Christmas-themed sweets, and staff lined up at the entrance to welcome guests in. It was festive without crossing into kitsch. Palm trees, warm air, the sound of the Indian Ocean nearby, and a dessert table that somehow made total sense in the tropics.
It shouldn’t have worked as well as it did. It worked.
We had brought small presents for the kids, which we gave out that evening. Everyone knew ahead of time that this would be a lighter Christmas than usual. We had talked about it openly. Christmas on vacation would look different, and that was part of the adventure, not a compromise.
💡 Pro Tip: If you’re doing Christmas abroad with kids, the conversation ahead of time matters more than the gifts. Set the expectation early: smaller exchange, different traditions, and a shared experience that stands in for the usual routine. Ours were bought in.
1:30 a.m. on Christmas Day
Our flight from Zanzibar to Nairobi departed at 4:40 a.m.
Pickup was at 1:30 a.m.
If you want a traditional Christmas morning, this is not the move. If you want a story you’ll tell for the rest of your life, it might be exactly the move.
The airport was calm. The lounge was open, which felt like a small win at that hour. Everyone was tired but quietly wired. That particular kind of travel energy where exhaustion and anticipation cancel each other out and leave something else in their place.
We didn’t spend much time thinking about it being Christmas. We were focused on what was coming.
There is something about flying at dawn on Christmas Day that makes it feel less like you are missing something and more like you are stepping into something rare.
Christmas Afternoon in the Masai Mara
By mid-afternoon we were on the ground at Governors Camp in the Masai Mara.
We went straight out on a game drive, because when you are in the Mara, you do not sit still.
At the end of the drive, the camp had set up a bar and appetizers between two watering holes filled with hippos. Wide open plains. Wildlife in every direction. Drinks in hand. One of those moments that arrives without announcement and stays with you anyway.
Then it started raining.
We ran back to the vehicles laughing, which felt right for Christmas. Africa does not wait for your plans, and that is part of its appeal.
Dinner that night was something we didn’t see coming. The dining tent was decorated, the mood was celebratory, and at some point the staff came through singing and dancing in Masai. They brought out a special Christmas cake. It didn’t feel commercial. It felt generous, like something they wanted to do, not something they were required to.
We went to bed that night in canvas tents in Kenya. On our pillows: a small carved stone warthog left by the staff.
We kept looking at each other and saying the same thing. It’s Christmas. And we’re in Kenya.
Did It Feel Like Christmas?
Yes. And no.
It didn’t feel like snow, or extended family, or wrapping paper on the floor. It felt intentional. Chosen. Like a version of Christmas we had built ourselves rather than inherited.
Jordan mentioned that she missed family back home and wished they could have been there with us. That felt honest and healthy. You can love where you are and still miss where you usually are. Those two things don’t compete.
All of the kids were in awe of the wildlife. So were the adults.
It was not a better Christmas. It was a different one.
And sometimes different becomes the one you remember longest.
Would I Recommend Christmas in Africa?
If you need tradition, no. If you’re open to redefining it, absolutely.
The key is managing expectations early and honestly:
- Have the conversation with the kids before you go, not on Christmas morning
- Plan a smaller, more intentional gift exchange
- Acknowledge what you’re skipping and name what you’re gaining instead
- Build margin into travel days. Africa does not pause for holidays
We traded snow for savanna. Extended family gatherings for a tent in the Mara and a warthog carved in stone on our pillow.
I would do it again without hesitation.
Thinking about Africa for the holidays? The logistics of a trip like this take real time to untangle. As a Fora Travel advisor, I help families plan complex international itineraries — including the ones that fall over Christmas. Let’s talk.
