Africa Wild

Hi everyone

Forgive me if this topic has already been discussed somewhere else on the forum, but I searched and couldn't find anything,. so I thought I'd create it...

We have a 2 month baby and I'd like to know what everyone's experience is taking babies to Kruger (and other parks for that matter). Certain people believe you shouldn't take young children at all due to the malaria risk, but the thought of not going for "some time" (3...some say 5 years???) seems unbearable.

So I just wanted to hear from others who have taken young children / babies and in particular:
- what age is appropriate?
- is it advisable to take malaria medication, even during winter (considering the possible complications / side effects of the drugs themselves).
- is it true that Pretoriouskop doesn't have malaria due to it being at a higher altitude?

There is a great deal of information / fear-mongering out there, so was hoping to hear from people who have actually been with small kids. (I think I started going to the park from the age of about 4).

Hello, Bruce!

So that's why you have been scarce? Congrats!

A tricky topic, as you say...

I am a virgin in this regard, so will share

Although Kruger is relatively low risk, we decided not to take the chance.
So we went to Pilanesburg annually until my youngest got to 5 y o and then started going to Kruger again as a family

Hi brucebru,

Like Dzombo, we also decided not to take the risk of going into a malaria area when our son was small (the mozzies loved him), and also used to visit Pilanesberg to get our "bush fix". Although, I'm not sure I agree with Dzombo that Kruger is relatively low risk. There have been numerous cases of malaria reported in the lowveld this year.

However, looking at various Facebook pages, plenty of people do visit Kruger with small children and even tiny babies. And, plenty of adults do not even take prophylactics as they say it disguises the symptoms of malaria and make it harder to diagnose.

If you do decide to visit Kruger with a baby, the advice is always the same:

Take plenty of anti-mozzie sprays and creams, citronella candles, lavender oil etc, etc.
Cover up as soon as the sun goes down
Visiting during the winter months may be slightly less of a risk

However...none of us on this forum are experts, so the best advice I can give you is speak to your doctor.

Thanks for the advice guys. Unfortunately for us, we live in Durban so Pilanesburg is quite a drive for us. There is also Umfolozi and Mkhuze, which are both in lower risk areas than Kruger which are options for us.

My opinion with doctors is that they will always offer you the "safest" advice in order to avoid any potential liability

Yes, but that is their job I suppose.

Absolutely...

but if we had to follow every bit of doctor's advice to the tee we'd never leave the house ...

Also true!

You just have to weigh up all your options, the pros and cons, the advice you want to hear and the advice you don't want to hear, but at the end of the day, it's a choice only you can make.

Our baby daughter was 3 months old when we first took her to Kruger , but that was way back in 1970 , before internet , and before facebook and twitter and other social media where everybody wants to tell you how dangerous it is to go anywhere