Malaria-free safaris: where and when
The reserves with no malaria, the low-risk seasons elsewhere, and why it matters for families.
Malaria is present in most of Africa's safari areas, and prophylaxis is effective and widely used. But if you would rather avoid it, because you are travelling with young children, are pregnant, or simply prefer to, there are excellent options with no malaria at all.
Malaria-free reserves
All in South Africa, which is the only safari country with Big Five reserves outside the malaria zone:
- Madikwe Game Reserve (North West): Big Five, wild dog, private lodges only, about four hours from Johannesburg. The best malaria-free option for a classic lodge safari.
- Pilanesberg National Park: Big Five in an old volcanic crater, two and a half hours from Johannesburg, with self-driving and a range of lodges.
- Addo Elephant National Park and the Eastern Cape private reserves (Shamwari, Kwandwe, Amakhala): Big Five, close to Port Elizabeth and the Garden Route.
- The Waterberg (Limpopo), including Marakele and Welgevonden: Big Five, three hours from Johannesburg.
- Cape Town and the Western Cape, including the small Big Five reserves near Cape Town, and the whole Garden Route.
Lower-risk seasons elsewhere
In Kruger, Etosha and the dry parks of southern Africa the risk is seasonal and lowest in the dry winter, from roughly June to September, when mosquitoes are few. Risk is not zero, and most clinics still advise prophylaxis for Kruger. In East Africa and Zambia the risk is year-round.
What to do everywhere
Cover up at dusk, use a repellent with DEET, sleep under a net where provided, and see a travel clinic six weeks before you go for current advice on your route. Any fever within a year of returning from a malaria area needs a doctor and a mention of where you have been.
We are not medical professionals. This page is an overview, not advice; the travel clinic is.
