Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) – Emergency Department
- 24/7 emergency
- Stages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Sokoine Road, PO Box 3010, Moshi
Kilimanjaro Lemosho Route · Checked October 2026
Kilimanjaro Lemosho Route emergency & health guide: altitude sickness, rescue and hospitals
How rescue works on Kilimanjaro, the signs of altitude sickness, the nearest hospital for each of the 7 stages, and the park rules: licensed operators, fees, porter loads, children, fires and drones.
On the mountain, tell your guide at once. Guides and the KINAPA rangers at every camp have radios, first aid and stretchers, and the treatment for altitude sickness is to go down, at night if needed. Severe headache that does not ease, vomiting, breathlessness at rest, confusion or stumbling are danger signs. For a helicopter evacuation your operator calls the provider and your insurer. In towns, call 112 (police, fire and ambulance); it does not always connect outside the cities, and the call-taker may speak only Swahili.
Emergency numbers
| Number | What it is |
|---|---|
| 112 | Tanzania's emergency number for police, fire and ambulance. It does not always connect outside the cities and there is no government ambulance service; on the mountain your guide and the KINAPA rangers organise rescue. |
| +255 759 359 741 | KCMC (Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre), Moshi: emergency line. Most evacuated climbers are taken here. |
| +255 766 909 113 | Arusha Lutheran Medical Centre (ALMC), Arusha: emergency line |
| +255 27 275 6602 | Kilimanjaro National Park (KINAPA) headquarters, Marangu: office line, not a 24-hour rescue line |
Save your operator's 24-hour emergency number and your insurer's assistance line before you start. Mobile signal on the mountain is patchy, often available at the higher camps but weak in the western forest and the valleys. Your insurance must cover trekking to 6,000 m and helicopter evacuation; the park rescue fee does not pay for a helicopter. Ask which evacuation provider your operator uses in 2026, after the rescue helicopter crash near Barafu Camp on 24 December 2025.
Rules to know
- You cannot climb Kilimanjaro independently: every climber needs a licensed guide booked through a licensed Tanzanian tour operator, which buys the park permit. You may enter and leave only through the gates on your permit (Londorossi and Lemosho in, usually Mweka out), and you sign in at the gate and at every camp.
- Park fees in the latest published TANAPA tariff (valid from January 2025; no newer tariff found by October 2026), per foreign adult, plus 18% VAT: conservation USD 70 per day, camping USD 50 per night, rescue USD 20 per climb, forest fee USD 10. Children 5–15 pay USD 20 a day. An 8-day Lemosho climb comes to about USD 1,110 in park fees with VAT; operators include this in their price.
- Children under 10 are not allowed above 3,700 m. Porters may carry no more than 25 kg including their own belongings; loads are weighed at the gate.
- Altitude: do not push on if you are exhausted or have severe mountain sickness. This is a park rule. Walk slowly, drink 3–4 litres a day, and go down if symptoms get worse.
- Camp only at the designated KINAPA campsites and stay on the trail. Do not litter, light fires, pick plants or feed animals; pets and firearms are banned. The heath on the Shira side burns easily: in late September 2026 a wildfire closed the Lemosho and Londorosi routes from 28 September until a TANAPA notice reopened them on 8 October. Check the route status with your operator before you travel.
- Entry to Tanzania: passport valid for 6 months, a tourist visa (e-visa before travel or on arrival at the main airports) and a yellow fever certificate if you arrive from a country with yellow fever risk. Regulations published in September 2026 require most foreign visitors (not EAC or SADC residents) to hold a USD 44 inbound travel insurance policy from a Tanzanian insurer, bought before travel or on arrival; check whether it is enforced when you travel.
- Plastic carrier bags are banned in Tanzania and are taken off you at the airport; ziplock bags for airport security are allowed. Pack your gear in dry bags or stuff sacks.
- Drones need permits from the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority, the Ministry of Defence and TANAPA, and are usually confiscated at the airport without them. Paragliding from the summit needs a separate park permit.
- Seasons: the dry months, late June to September and December to early March, are best. In the main rains (March–May) and the short rains (October–November) the forest and the track to Lemosho Gate are muddy and the summit can be deep in snow. Summit night is often -10 to -20 °C with wind chill.
Nearest hospital for each stage
| # | Stage | Hospital (24/7 emergency) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lemosho Gate → Mti Mkubwa Camp | Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) – Emergency Department |
| 2 | Mti Mkubwa Camp → Shira 1 Camp | Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) – Emergency Department |
| 3 | Shira 1 Camp → Shira 2 Camp | Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) – Emergency Department |
| 4 | Shira 2 Camp → Barranco Camp | Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) – Emergency Department |
| 5 | Barranco Camp → Karanga Camp | Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) – Emergency Department |
| 6 | Karanga Camp → Barafu Camp | Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) – Emergency Department |
| 7 | Barafu Camp → Uhuru Peak | Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) – Emergency Department |
Hospitals
Mawenzi Regional Referral Hospital
Hospitali ya Rufaa ya Mkoa Mawenzi
- 24/7 emergency
- Stages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Moshi town centre, Moshi
Arusha Lutheran Medical Centre (ALMC)
- 24/7 emergency
- Stages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Fr. Babu Road, Block 54, Levolosi, Arusha
Siha Hospital
- Stages 1, 2
Siha District, Kilimanjaro Region
Kibosho Hospital
- Stages 7
Kibosho Road, Kirima, Moshi Rural
Clinics and first aid
There is no clinic or doctor on the route; the KINAPA ranger posts at the camps have first aid only. On the west side there is a village dispensary at Ngarenairobi below Londorossi Gate and a district hospital in Siha, and Kibosho Hospital is below Mweka Gate, but serious cases go to KCMC in Moshi.
Cogi Ngarenairobi Dispensary
- Opening hours only
- Stages 1
Ngarenairobi, on the road to Londorossi Gate, Siha District
Pharmacies, cash and supplies
- Pharmacies:
- ATMs:
- Shops:
- Gates and transfers:
There is no pharmacy on the mountain, at Londorossi or at the gates. Buy everything in Moshi or Arusha before the climb: acetazolamide (Diamox) if your doctor prescribes it, painkillers, rehydration salts, a blister kit, sunscreen and lip balm. Bring prescription medicines from home in their original packaging. There is no power on the route: carry a power bank.
Pharmacies, ATMs, shops and stops: © OpenStreetMap contributors. Hospitals and health centres checked online.
Have the nearest help on your map, offline
Outest shows these hospitals, pharmacies, ATMs and stops on the Kilimanjaro Lemosho Route map, offline, together with the route, water and places to sleep.