Malaria in Tanzania

Last checked: 2 October 2026

Yes, there is malaria in Tanzania, in the safari parks, on the coast and on Zanzibar. The risk is high, and the medical advice for travellers is clear: take antimalarial tablets. We follow that advice for every one of our guests.

Everywhere, on safari too

The advice makes no distinction between regions. So even if you think the Serengeti in the dry season cannot be that bad, you take the tablets for the whole trip.

Altitude does make a difference to the mosquito. On the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater, at over 2,300 metres, the evenings are cold and you see very few. But the next day you drive back down, and tablets only work if you take them every day.

Which tablets

Which one suits you is for your doctor or a travel clinic to decide. It depends on your age, your health, any medication you already take and how long you are away.

What they are likely to put to you:

Medicine	How	Worth knowing
Atovaquone-proguanil, known as Malarone	every day, from one or two days before arrival until seven days after you leave	the most common choice for a trip of two or three weeks
Doxycycline	every day, until four weeks after you get home	cheaper, makes your skin more sensitive to the sun
Mefloquine	once a week	prescribed less often because of side effects

No medicine protects you one hundred per cent. That is why everything else you do matters just as much.

When the mosquito bites

The malaria mosquito bites between sunset and sunrise. By day in the vehicle, out on the plains, your risk is low. What counts are the hours around the campfire, and the night.

What we tell our guests:

At sunset, change into long trousers, long sleeves and socks. Evenings on safari often turn cool, so you would do it anyway.
Spray DEET on your ankles and feet. That is where most bites land, and almost nobody thinks of it.
Sleep under the mosquito net, and tuck it under the mattress.
Keep the tent or your room closed once it gets dark.

If you get a fever

Malaria starts like flu, with shivers and that achy, fluey feeling, then a fever. If you get a fever during your trip or in the months after, see a doctor that same day and tell them you have been in Tanzania.

On safari, tell your guide straight away. A malaria test is quick to do here.

What we do ourselves

We have lived in Moshi since 2009, with our children. We do not take tablets. You cannot, year after year, and we do not need to, because we get tested the moment anyone runs a fever, and the result is back within fifteen minutes.

For you it is different. You are here for two or three weeks, your body does not know this place, and if you are lying on the sofa at home with a fever, malaria is not the first thing your doctor thinks of. No tablets for us, tablets for you. Same risk, different outcome.

With children

Children can take tablets, with the dose based on their weight. Babies and toddlers have their own rules, which you go through with the clinic. A net over the bed, long sleeves at dinner and a repellent suited to their age do the rest.

Where to find the official advice

At a travel clinic or with your doctor, and in the WHO's guidance for travellers. Book the appointment six weeks before you fly, and cover your vaccinations in the same visit.

We are not doctors. We know what happens here, they know what you need.

You do not have to work this out alone

Malaria is often the last question before someone says yes. Book with us and after booking you receive an email with everything to arrange before you fly, from the clinic to your visa, in the right order. And on the road, the person driving beside you knows what to do if you feel unwell.

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