Rwenzori Central Circuit emergency & health guide: hospitals, evacuation, 999 and altitude

Emergency numbers

Do not count on mobile signal on the mountain. Your RMS guide is the link to help, and there is no organised mountain rescue or rescue helicopter service: evacuation means being helped or carried down by guides and porters, which can take a day or more from Bujuku or Kitandara. Carry insurance that covers evacuation and treatment up to 5,000 m, tell someone at home your dates and RMS booking, and keep the RMS numbers on paper.

Rules to know

• No independent trekking: Rwenzori Mountaineering Services (RMS) is the only provider of guides, porters and hut places on the Central Circuit. Book with RMS or with a tour operator that uses RMS.
• Packages in October 2026: 6 days Central Circuit from US$1,200 per person; 7 days with Margherita Peak from US$1,365. They include park entry, guides, porters, huts, meals and a cook; climbing equipment is hired separately at the RMS office.
• UWA park entry is US$35 per 24 hours for foreign non-residents, US$25 for foreign residents and UGX 15,000 for East African citizens. The last published UWA tariff (July 2024 – June 2026) lists the Rwenzori hike at US$50 per day including entry; no new tariff had been published by October 2026, so check your quote.
• Porters carry up to 12.5 kg of your gear each; carry the rest yourself in a day pack. Tips for guides, porters and cooks are expected.
• Altitude: four nights are at 3,400–4,000 m and the passes are above 4,200 m. Walk slowly, drink well and tell your guide at once about headache, nausea, breathlessness or confusion; the cure is to go down.
• Margherita Peak (5,109 m) is a glacier climb with crampons, ice axe, harness and rope, done from Elena Hut under RMS guides; it is not part of the 6-day circuit.
• Security: the FCDO (updated 8 October 2026) does not advise against travel to Kasese or the park, but warns of ADF terrorism near the DRC border, especially around Bwera, and of attacks on police and army posts in Kasese and Bundibugyo in November 2025. It advises against all travel to the bordering DRC provinces: stay on the Ugandan side of the range and travel by road only in daylight.
• Health: a yellow fever certificate is no longer required for entry to Uganda (FCDO, October 2026). Malaria is present around Kasese, so take medical advice before you travel.
• Gear: the trail is bog and mud for long stretches. Wear rubber gumboots (RMS hires them), carry full waterproofs and a sleeping bag for well below freezing, and keep everything in dry bags.

Nearest hospital for each stage

Hospitals

Clinics and first aid

There is no clinic on the mountain or at Nyakalengija. Small government health centres such as Maliba Health Centre III, about 10 km by road, can only assess and stabilise; serious cases go to Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital or Kagando Hospital.

Pharmacies, cash and supplies

• Pharmacies:
• ATMs:
• Shops:
• Bus stops:

There is no pharmacy on the mountain or at Nyakalengija. Buy all your medicines in Kampala or Kasese before the trek: altitude and diarrhoea medicines, malaria prophylaxis for the lowlands, a blister kit and water purification. RMS guides carry only basic first aid, so bring your own kit.

Pharmacies, ATMs, shops and stops: © OpenStreetMap contributors. Hospitals and health centres checked online.