Victoria Falls

It has its own international airport, which makes it one of the easiest arrivals in Africa.

There are direct flights from Johannesburg, Cape Town, Harare and Bulawayo, and long-haul routes through Addis Ababa and Nairobi. The town is about twenty-five minutes from the airport and we have a driver waiting when you land.

There is no light-aircraft leg and no soft-bag weight limit either, so hard suitcases are no problem here whatever the rest of the safari demands.

Many guests arrive overland instead: about two hours from Kasane in Botswana including the Kazungula border, or an hour from Livingstone across the bridge in Zambia.

There are really two waterfalls, and they suit different people.

March to May is the Falls at full power, fed by rain that fell months earlier over the Angolan highlands. It throws up so much spray that the face can vanish into its own mist, everyone on the rainforest path gets soaked, and a helicopter flight becomes the reliable way to see the whole curtain.

From about August to December the river drops, the mist clears and the sheer basalt face shows itself, which is why photographers prefer it.

Low water is also what opens Devil's Pool and the classic rafting. June to August sits between the two, which is part of why it is the busiest time of year.

The ones with fixed capacity, and they go further ahead than people expect.

• Devil's Pool on Livingstone Island: small groups only, roughly mid-August to mid-January
• Helicopter flights: a twelve to thirteen minute circuit, or twenty-five minutes with the gorges, all year weather permitting
• White-water rafting: the classic low-water run from about August to December

The gentler things, the guided walks, the river cruises and the steam train, can be arranged around the mood of each day.

Tell us what you have set your heart on and we will hold the slots when we confirm the trip.

Yes, and it should be planned for. The town sits at around 900 metres, below the 1,200 metre line under which TravelHealthPro, the UK's official travel health service, rates Zimbabwe's malaria risk as high from November to June.

The risk drops through the dry months from July to October, though the CDC recommends tablets for travel anywhere in Zimbabwe at any time of year, so many visitors take them whatever the season.

We do not make medical recommendations. Which tablets suit you, and what is right for a child, are questions for your own doctor or a travel clinic.

On the practical part, dusk is the hour that matters, so cover up and carry repellent.

It is one of the easiest places in the region to bring them.

The town hotels take all ages, several have family rooms or adjoining suites, and the days are full of things that are not a game drive: the rainforest path, a river cruise, the steam train, a helicopter flight.

The limits are on the wilder activities. Guided walking safaris are usually sixteen and over, rafting has its own minimums, and some lodges outside town set a minimum age of six or seven.

Elephant and hippo move along this stretch of river, so families are escorted after dark rather than walking the grounds alone. Tell us their ages and we will match the hotel to them.

Two at a minimum, three if you want the water.

One night gives you the Falls themselves and nothing else, which is a waste of an expensive flight. Two lets you walk the rainforest path properly and take one activity. Three is what you need if Devil's Pool, rafting or a longer helicopter flight are on the list, because they run at fixed times and the river decides some of them.

Most trips we build use Victoria Falls as the start or the finish, paired with Hwange, Mana Pools or the Botswana camps across the border.

Tell us which way round your flights fall and we will place it accordingly.