I worked as a tour guide for many years in Africa. Tour operators usually require guests to have their own travel insurance in order to join a trip. While you can certainly find some operators that don’t care whether or not you have safari travel insurance, you should certainly want it for your trip.
Why You Should Want Travel Insurance for a Safari
Anything can happen on safari and you are exposed to certain environments in Africa which do expose you to more risk. One of my guests slipped a disc in her back on safari, another broke his back and it’s not uncommon to contract malaria even when you take the ‘preventative’ meds!
Safari Risks – You will have many close encounters with wildlife in Africa. This is not the same thing as going to the zoo as the animals are completely wild. It can happen that animals decide to follow their predatory instincts and you should want to be insured against any such related incidents.
Health Risks – I have already mentioned malaria and broken bones. But there are so many more health related risks to which you are exposed in Africa. Bacteria is common in this part of the world due to the lack of sanitization in places. You also have bilharzia near still water bodies and a host of other parasites to accompany them pesky mosquitos that carry the dreaded malaria.
Trip Cancellation – Anything can happen in Africa at any time and you should want to have personal insurance that protects you in the event of a cancellation.
It’s just not a risk you want to take and I always suggest you should at least get a quote. With this in mind, I always use World Nomads and it takes just a few seconds to get a quote on the link below….
Safari Travel Insurance: Why I Always Use World Nomads
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I have used several companies for my trips down through the years. But I found World Nomads to be more affordable than most other policies and the type of cover they provide was more relevant for adventure travel. World Nomads is also available from almost anywhere in the world and they cover overland tours and safari travel insurance. I know that some of my guests used to say this insurance was not worth the cost but that’s not what they said when things went wrong. For instance, medical emergencies in Africa can be expensive and I have needed to evacuate guests from both the Masai Mara and Serengeti National Park due to malaria.
Let’s take a look at some specifics I look for with Africa safari insurance:
What Insurance Cover Will You Need on Safari?
Coverage Limit – A high limit of coverage for medical expenses (More than $1,000,000)
Emergency – Emergency evacuation should be specified.
Repatriation – A policy that covers your return trip home in the event of illness or injury.
I would also suggest you pick an insurance policy that covers portable items that might get lost, stolen or damaged. After all, you are constantly moving on safari and your camera gear etc is likely to take a few knocks at some point. If you do need to make a claim, it is also important that your insurance provider is easy to contact. This is probably the main reason I go with World Nomads for my trips because they are always a quick phone call away and the customer service is excellent. Either way, I suggest you get a quick quote on the link below and thank you for supporting my blog by using the links on my website which can sometimes help me earn a small commission!
