Children at Victoria Falls

We often get asked about taking kids to the Falls and "will adults still be able to experience Vic falls with a child around."
You should know first up that the Falls themselves are not a toddler or small child-friendly destination at all. Outside of the viewing point area's, there are no secure fences and many wet steps that go down a very long way.

We went with our kids when they were aged 5 and 7 and although there were few nervous moments, they were warned enough times and understood where the dangers were. Much younger than 5 and I would recommend not letting them off the end of your arm until you are well away from the Falls area.

The good news is you have a holiday town where all the adventures and activities are relatively close to each and within a relatively close driving distance.

There is a lot of exploration to be done with kids in the area. The obvious one is the walk along the paths surrounding the Victoria falls which are quite well signposted and pretty safe if rules are adhered to. There are great vantage points all along the paths and kids will stand for ages just staring t the sheer volume of water all going into the gorge. They will also love the running around in the "rain forest" getting soaked by the mist coming off the waterfall.

Malaria and Yellow fever for children

The one drawback to Vic Falls is obviously the Malaria issue and if you fly in through Livingstone on the Zambia side you need to have had a Yellow fever Jab at least 10 days before you arrive too. You need to consult your local travel clinic to get advice on what Malaria medication best suits your family. medication usually needs to be started a few before your trip and needs to be continued a few weeks after as well.
Be sure to take plenty of mozzie spray as well and we found that the electronic deterrents available from the local camp shop also worked very well. These clipped onto the kid's shirts and kept the mozzies away.

---- No longer a problem as of 2017 ----
Zambia has a small problem with Yellow fever in the far north of the country and they are looking for a solution that will allow people just going to the Vic Falls area to be held exempt from getting the Jab but this is all still under discussion
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So what can children do at the Falls?

You can see our kids guide here to get an idea of the age restrictions for the various activities. Writing with personal experience I can tell you that while my kids loved the helicopter flip (The flight of Angels) the 2 things they still talk about 2 years later is The Elephant Back Safari they did and the squeaky sand on the sand Island in the middle of the Zambezi we had breakfast on

The Kingdom Hotel in Zimbabwe and the Zambezi Sun in Zambia are the most child-friendly of the hotels in Victoria Falls but I am also going to add Victoria Falls Safari Lodge.