Successful Climbing Kilimanjaro With Our Kilimanjaro Health & Safety Guide

How Safe Is Kilimanjaro?

How safe is it to climb Kilimanjaro? It's one of the questions we hear most, especially from first-time climbers. When it comes to Kilimanjaro health & safety, altitude sickness is the biggest concern on any Mount Kilimanjaro climbing trip. Kilimanjaro is the highest peak in Africa, at 19,341 ft.

Climbing snow-capped Kilimanjaro carries real risks. Around 1000 people are evacuated from the mountain each year, and around 10 people die each year from altitude sickness.

The main dangers on Mt. Kilimanjaro are altitude sickness and the extreme weather up high.

As a Kilimanjaro climb guide, we put the health and safety of every client first, both before the climb and on the mountain.

We've built a thorough safety program around this, and we're proud of it.

Safety Is the Most Important Part of Your Climb

Good Kilimanjaro health and safety is a big part of a successful climb when you're Mount Kilimanjaro climbing. To keep the risks low, we've built several layers of safety into the way we work. Most medical problems on the mountain come from the high altitude, the bitter cold and bad weather.

Altitude Sickness

Altitude sickness is the most common problem on the mountain, and it's at the top of our Kilimanjaro health & safety guide. Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) is the severe form of altitude sickness. The fastest way to deal with altitude sickness is to bring the sick person down to a lower altitude. To help prevent it, we start the trek at a slow, steady pace, or add extra days so your body can adjust to each new altitude. For severe cases, we also carry oxygen to treat you. We recommend drinking 3-4 liters of water every day on the hike. You can also bring altitude sickness medicine with you.

Hypothermia

Hypothermia happens when your body loses heat faster than it can make it. The right clothing and trekking gear are key to preventing it, and dressing in layers works best. Hypothermia can be treated if the person is moved quickly to a sheltered spot or to a lower altitude. We take off their wet clothes and put them inside three sleeping bags to warm them up.

Sunburn

The sun's UV rays are strong when you're Mount Kilimanjaro climbing, and sunburn happens fast. We recommend using sunscreen of SPF 30+ throughout the trek. A wide-brimmed hat and UV-protective sunglasses with side shields are also a good idea.

Foot Problems

Rubbing and other foot injuries usually come from boots that don't fit well or are brand new. So wear boots that fit and that you've already broken in. Keeping your toenails short makes your socks more comfortable. If you feel a sore spot starting, take your boot off right away and treat it with zinc oxide tape or a clean plaster.

High Quality Safety Equipment

For Kilimanjaro health & safety, we bring the medical and safety equipment we need on every single trek.

• Oxygen: for emergencies or severe altitude sickness
• AED (defibrillator): an automated external defibrillator, used for sudden cardiac arrest
• Gamow Bag/Hyperbaric Chamber: to treat severe altitude sickness, high-altitude cerebral edema (HACE) and high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE). The Gamow bag raises the partial pressure of oxygen to treat altitude injury in cases of HACE, which is caused by fluid leakage from the brain
• Pulse oximeter: for daily checks on every trekker
• Evacuation stretcher: to carry the sick person safely and keep them warm
• First-aid kit
• Climbing helmets

Kilimanjaro Health & Safety on the Mountain

The effects of high altitude usually start once you climb past 2,400 meters. Most hikers feel altitude sickness in their body above 2,400 meters.

Signs of Kilimanjaro altitude sickness include headaches, nausea, tiredness, poor sleep, irritability, muscle aches, dizziness, breathlessness, loss of appetite and possibly palpitations.

• Eat well up high and drink 3 to 4 liters of fluid a day to stay hydrated
• Don't try to answer "How fast can you climb Kilimanjaro"
• Choose a longer route for better acclimatization
• Get good quality clothing, hiking gear and other equipment
• Follow "climb high and sleep low" on the trek
• Get the vaccinations you need, such as hepatitis A, diphtheria and tetanus, and malaria prophylaxis
• Carry a personal first aid kit with bandages, tape, a blister kit, antibacterial and antifungal cream, antibiotics, flu medicine, throat lozenges and altitude medicine such as Diamox
• Get travel and health insurance that covers evacuation and medical treatment above 6000m altitude

Other Safety Tips

• Stay with your group and enjoy the company.
• Follow your guide's instructions.
• Avoid alcohol, smoking and other harmful habits.
• Drink plenty of water.
• Follow the "climb high, sleep low" plan and get proper rest.

Our guides are certified Wilderness First Responders, medically trained, and carry several kinds of mobile communication. Climbing Kilimanjaro is still hard work, but with Kilisa Tours and Safaris as your trekking partner, you'll have an experienced team with you the whole way, so "How hard is it to climb Kilimanjaro" becomes a question you can face with confidence. To learn more about us, visit https://kilisatours.com/