Health & Safety on Your East Africa Trip

Speak to a travel clinic four to six weeks before departure. Yellow fever is required by some countries if arriving from a risk country, and hepatitis A, typhoid and your routine vaccines are commonly recommended. Malaria is present across most safari regions — antimalarial tablets, a mosquito repellent with DEET, and long sleeves at dusk are the standard, effective combination.

Drink bottled or filtered water, including to brush your teeth, in most areas outside major hotels. Lodges and camps on the safari circuit provide safe drinking water as standard. Stick to freshly cooked, hot food and fruit you can peel yourself when eating outside your lodge.

The equatorial sun is stronger than it feels, especially at altitude. High-SPF sunscreen, a hat, and sunglasses matter even on overcast days. Carry water on every game drive.

This is what genuinely happens on the ground: on a game drive, you stay inside the vehicle at all times unless your guide explicitly tells you it's safe to step out — usually only at a small number of designated, fenced viewpoints. Your driver-guide is trained to read each animal's behavior and keep a distance that's both legal and safe. Here's what you're likely to meet, and the one habit that keeps every sighting safe:

Lion

Never leave the vehicle near a pride, even a resting one.

Elephant

Give mothers with calves extra space - your guide will read the warning signs.

Leopard

Usually spotted resting in trees - stay quiet so the sighting lasts.

Buffalo

Considered one of the more unpredictable of the five - always viewed from the vehicle.

Rhino

Rare and closely protected - your guide keeps a respectful distance for the animal's sake as much as yours.

A comprehensive policy that covers medical evacuation is worth the cost — remote safari areas can be hours from the nearest hospital by road, and light-aircraft medevac is how serious emergencies are actually handled out there.