Your health is of top priority for us. We carry a basic first aid kit, but please bring any prescription drugs or other usual medicines you might take for colds, infections, upset tummy, and the like.
Inoculation requirements vary from country to country, and change periodically. Yellow fever inoculations are a must. Please carry your inoculation certificate with your passport. Check with your doctor or a tropical medicine center or public health office what you need. Consider updating your tetanus, polio, meningitis, & hepatitis vaccinations.
Malaria prophylaxis is a must.
It is believed that the malaria-carrying mosquito is most active after 10 p.m. at night and until first light in the morning.
The best prevention is not being bitten, so bring a good insect repellent, and wear long sleeves and trousers during the evening. This is the prophylactic system I now use to avoid getting malaria and I have not had it in the last 6 years.
Some of our local Doctors no longer believe that Paludrine gives the cover that it gave a few years ago. Paludrine is what is still recommended by AMREF (the Flying Doctors). It is readily available over the counter in Nairobi and can be taken as a daily dosage, starting on the day that you arrive.
Check with your doctor for the most current information, particularly bringing to his attention the new highly effective anti- malarial drug Malarone, which has recently been approved by the FDA. Most US doctors have prescribed a Larium-based prophylactic in the past, but it sometimes has extremely negative side effects. Articles by Dr Richard Dawood on this subject are available on request.
Diabetics, dehydration
Please make sure that you tell me if you or anyone in your group is diabetic. Remember to bring your medication with you at all times. You should also drink more water than you normally do, as it is easy to become dehydrated.
Medical care and evacuations:
There are good hospitals and doctors in Nairobi. Ker & Downey Safaris Ltd is a corporate member of the Flying Doctors Service for emergency advice and evacuation at cost. While you are on safari, Ker & Downey Safaris Ltd. automatically registers you with the Flying Doctor Service in case of an emergency evacuation from the bush to a Nairobi airport. However, it does not cover your hospital costs or the costs of evacuating you from Nairobi onwards.