Flying doctors services

This page is general information from Sejova Safaris in Arusha. It is not medical, legal or insurance advice. Confirm visas, vaccinations, weather and evacuation cover with official sources, your doctor and your insurer before you travel.

Parks and Kilimanjaro camps are hours from a full hospital. For a serious injury, altitude emergency or sudden illness, the practical move is often an air ambulance to Arusha, Nairobi or another city hospital — not a long road transfer. Sejova Safaris is a tour operator. We are not a medical provider and we do not sell evacuation memberships.

What “flying doctors” means here

In East Africa, travellers usually mean a medical evacuation organisation that can send an aircraft or helicopter when a case is accepted. Names you will hear include AMREF Flying Doctors and other regional air-ambulance providers. Your own international travel insurer may already have a 24-hour assistance number that works with those operators. Membership cards from a flying-doctor scheme can sit on top of that policy. Neither replaces travel insurance.

What your policy must actually say

• Safari in Tanzania, including remote national parks
• If you climb: trekking to 5,895 m / 19,341 ft and helicopter or stretcher evacuation from Kilimanjaro
• Air ambulance, not only a clinic visit in Arusha
• COVID or other exclusions read in full — do not assume

Carry the assistance phone number, policy number and a PDF on your phone and in print. Tell us the insurer when you book so the office can reach the same desk in an emergency.

On the ground

Lodges and mountain crews start with first aid and the nearest clinic. They then call the evacuation number on your documents. Without cover, a flight can be delayed while a family arranges payment. That is why we ask every Kilimanjaro client for proof of suitable insurance before the climb briefing.

Related reading: health and safety in Tanzania and health and safety on Kilimanjaro.

Plan this with the Arusha team

WhatsApp +255 769 891 360 or request a quote. Tell us dates, group size and whether you want a park safari, Kilimanjaro, or both.

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