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Maleria in South Africa
Hi, I am thinking of a trip to South Africa next January & February. I do
not know much about malaria and the pills. Would we have to take them every day of the 8-10 weeks we are there? Are they expensive? Also if anyone has some suggestions on a route around . How much is car rental's and the safety. Thanks , Val Canada -- |
#2
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Maleria in South Africa
Val, you should go to a doctor that specializes in travel medicine. Your
family physician should be able to refer you to one. There are some vaccinations you will need before you go. Not all parts of South Africa are prone to malaria, so what and when you take a malaria prophylactic will depend on where you travel. Also some strains of malaria are resistant to some medicines so a travel doctor should be up to date on what to prescribe. Most medicines have to be started a few weeks before you go to a malaria area and continued a few weeks after. Some have to be taken daily and others weekly. My daughter is currently traveling in South America and the Larium she is taking is giving her nightmares, although it did not bother her when she was in South Africa. The last time my wife and I went to South Africa our travel doctor recommended a different medicine because of the possible psychotic effects. There are innumerable activities in South Africa, so where you go will depend a lot on your interests. For 8-10 weeks I would consider starting in Cape Town and spending a few leisurely days doing wine tours, easy hikes and other attractions while I adapted to the time change from Canada and got used to traffic on the left side of the road. Then I would rent a car and start up the Garden Route, heading northeast along the coast. Be sure to take lots of side trips for whale watching, cave exploring at Oultshorn, surfing at Jeffries Bay and many other activities along that stretch. Continue along the coast, finally making a big arc northwards through the Drakensberg and Kruger National Park until finally flying home from Johannesburg. Whether you like historical sites, hiking, game watching or bird watching, there are many things to see and do along that route. On that route you don't get to see the Kalahari Desert in Kgalaghadi Transfrontier Park, but January and February would be extremely hot in that area. Save it for another trip, we have enjoyed our trips to South Africa and are planning another one. For car rental rates, check out Avis on the internet. They may not be the cheapest, but will give you a good comparison and will quote in Canadian Dollars. Safety is always a concern, but we have not had problems. Try to find a place to stay while it is still light, ask recommendations on places to eat and try not to walk around too much at night, especially in big cities. Ask local people's advice and heed their warnings. Scott Elliot Kelowna, BC http://www3.telus.net/selliot/ "billybob" james@ wrote in message m... Hi, I am thinking of a trip to South Africa next January & February. I do not know much about malaria and the pills. Would we have to take them every day of the 8-10 weeks we are there? Are they expensive? Also if anyone has some suggestions on a route around . How much is car rental's and the safety. Thanks , Val Canada -- |
#3
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Maleria in South Africa
"billybob" james@ wrote in message om...
Hi, I am thinking of a trip to South Africa next January & February. I do not know much about malaria and the pills. Would we have to take them every day of the 8-10 weeks we are there? Are they expensive? Also if anyone has some suggestions on a route around . How much is car rental's and the safety. Thanks , Val Canada -- Hi Val Depends where you are going? There are only malaria in the north eastern corner of the country (including the Kruger National Park, the St. Lucia wetland park and Tembe Elephant National Park). If don't plan to enter anny of these areas do not take malaria pills! The pills are rather cheap but may have side effects! Consuly your own physician and have a look at http://science.up.ac.za/delta01/malariainfopage.html Have a nice trip - South Africa is a wonderfull country! |
#4
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Maleria in South Africa
On Tue, 16 Mar 2004 09:35:50 -0800, billybob wrote:
Would we have to take them every day of the 8-10 weeks we are there? Are they expensive? Usually, you take them one week before entering a place where it si possible to be infected, and all the time during staying, and one month after going back to a place where tthere is no Malaria. It's definitly not going to be every day, you take 2 pills a week, together in some defined day and time during the week. If you forget once, the whole system of injection breaks down (much the same like the contraceptive pills). and then you'll have to spend one week after taking a couple of pills in a place where there is no Malaria, for the system of injection to be restored (or rather restarted). It siad to have a very nasty counter-effects. I took them before and it was okay. But anyway, this kind of stuff probably should be discussed with a professional Doctor. both the dosage and the prices vary from a medicin to another. So what I said is not necessarily what you'll get. Best, -- Maysara |
#5
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Maleria in South Africa
-- Thank you for all the info. I have shared it with another couple that are also planning on going next January/February. What should we expect to pay for air fare from Vancouver? Is there a "best" time to book? (price wise?) What airline did you use. thanks again for all the helpful advise. Val "Scott Elliot" wrote in message news:sTK5c.236543$Hy3.11859@edtnps89... Val, you should go to a doctor that specializes in travel medicine. Your family physician should be able to refer you to one. There are some vaccinations you will need before you go. Not all parts of South Africa are prone to malaria, so what and when you take a malaria prophylactic will depend on where you travel. Also some strains of malaria are resistant to some medicines so a travel doctor should be up to date on what to prescribe. Most medicines have to be started a few weeks before you go to a malaria area and continued a few weeks after. Some have to be taken daily and others weekly. My daughter is currently traveling in South America and the Larium she is taking is giving her nightmares, although it did not bother her when she was in South Africa. The last time my wife and I went to South Africa our travel doctor recommended a different medicine because of the possible psychotic effects. There are innumerable activities in South Africa, so where you go will depend a lot on your interests. For 8-10 weeks I would consider starting in Cape Town and spending a few leisurely days doing wine tours, easy hikes and other attractions while I adapted to the time change from Canada and got used to traffic on the left side of the road. Then I would rent a car and start up the Garden Route, heading northeast along the coast. Be sure to take lots of side trips for whale watching, cave exploring at Oultshorn, surfing at Jeffries Bay and many other activities along that stretch. Continue along the coast, finally making a big arc northwards through the Drakensberg and Kruger National Park until finally flying home from Johannesburg. Whether you like historical sites, hiking, game watching or bird watching, there are many things to see and do along that route. On that route you don't get to see the Kalahari Desert in Kgalaghadi Transfrontier Park, but January and February would be extremely hot in that area. Save it for another trip, we have enjoyed our trips to South Africa and are planning another one. For car rental rates, check out Avis on the internet. They may not be the cheapest, but will give you a good comparison and will quote in Canadian Dollars. Safety is always a concern, but we have not had problems. Try to find a place to stay while it is still light, ask recommendations on places to eat and try not to walk around too much at night, especially in big cities. Ask local people's advice and heed their warnings. Scott Elliot Kelowna, BC http://www3.telus.net/selliot/ "billybob" james@ wrote in message m... Hi, I am thinking of a trip to South Africa next January & February. I do not know much about malaria and the pills. Would we have to take them every day of the 8-10 weeks we are there? Are they expensive? Also if anyone has some suggestions on a route around . How much is car rental's and the safety. Thanks , Val Canada -- |
#6
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Maleria in South Africa
The last couple of times we flew on points earned from other flights and
credit card purchases so we did not really look at the cost. One time we flew with Canadian, before it was purchased by Air Canada. They connected with British Airways through Heathrow. Both airlines had good flights, but spending about 10 hours at Heathrow was a drag. British Airways is now almost useless because the small size of permitted carry-on baggage does not allow you to take any decent camera equipment. The next time we had Aeroplan points and flew Air Canada to Frankfurt where we connected with Lufthansa. Air Canada was OK and Frankfurt airport was a tolerable place to spend 10 hours. The flight both ways on Lufthansa was terrible. The seats they provided for people flying on points had some kind of electrical box under the seat in front so there was no place to put your legs. On the way back they would not seat my wife and I together, even though the seat beside my wife was empty. (It had leg room so was too good for points fliers. I should have known in advance it would be better to ask forgiveness than permission.) I will never fly Lufthansa again. We now have Avion points so we can pick whatever airline we want. We will probably try to fly KLM or SAA for the Africa leg of the trip. I believe you can book airlines up to about 10 months in advance. Unfortunately you can book reservations in South Africa National Parks about 12 months in advance. We made the mistake of waiting until our airline reservations were made before booking in the parks. Some of the reservations we wanted were fully booked by then. Next time, if we want to stay in the parks, we will book the parks when we can, then book airlines around that. Scott Elliot http://www3.telus.net/selliot/ "billybob" james@ wrote in message m... -- Thank you for all the info. I have shared it with another couple that are also planning on going next January/February. What should we expect to pay for air fare from Vancouver? Is there a "best" time to book? (price wise?) What airline did you use. thanks again for all the helpful advise. Val |
#7
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Maleria in South Africa
-- Now I realize what happened. We were on aeroplan to Bangkok with United and we got those seat too. The ones with the boxes by our feet. It was horrible. So United gives those seats to airmile people too. On the way home they gave us normal seats. Thanks again for the info. Val "Scott Elliot" wrote in message news:vj97c.261046$Hy3.217942@edtnps89... The last couple of times we flew on points earned from other flights and credit card purchases so we did not really look at the cost. One time we flew with Canadian, before it was purchased by Air Canada. They connected with British Airways through Heathrow. Both airlines had good flights, but spending about 10 hours at Heathrow was a drag. British Airways is now almost useless because the small size of permitted carry-on baggage does not allow you to take any decent camera equipment. The next time we had Aeroplan points and flew Air Canada to Frankfurt where we connected with Lufthansa. Air Canada was OK and Frankfurt airport was a tolerable place to spend 10 hours. The flight both ways on Lufthansa was terrible. The seats they provided for people flying on points had some kind of electrical box under the seat in front so there was no place to put your legs. On the way back they would not seat my wife and I together, even though the seat beside my wife was empty. (It had leg room so was too good for points fliers. I should have known in advance it would be better to ask forgiveness than permission.) I will never fly Lufthansa again. We now have Avion points so we can pick whatever airline we want. We will probably try to fly KLM or SAA for the Africa leg of the trip. I believe you can book airlines up to about 10 months in advance. Unfortunately you can book reservations in South Africa National Parks about 12 months in advance. We made the mistake of waiting until our airline reservations were made before booking in the parks. Some of the reservations we wanted were fully booked by then. Next time, if we want to stay in the parks, we will book the parks when we can, then book airlines around that. Scott Elliot http://www3.telus.net/selliot/ "billybob" james@ wrote in message m... -- Thank you for all the info. I have shared it with another couple that are also planning on going next January/February. What should we expect to pay for air fare from Vancouver? Is there a "best" time to book? (price wise?) What airline did you use. thanks again for all the helpful advise. Val |
#8
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Maleria in South Africa
"billybob" james@ wrote:
: Hi, I am thinking of a trip to South Africa next January & February. I do : not know much about malaria and the pills. Would we have to take them every : day of the 8-10 weeks we are there? Are they expensive? : : Also if anyone has some suggestions on a route around . How much is car : rental's and the safety. : Thanks , Val : Canada We just got back from a one month trip to SA. It is a beautiful country and people were very friendly. You just have to make up your mind what you want to see. In the north eastern part of the country there are many private game reserves and also the huge Kruger National Park. If you go to Kruger plan at least 3 days. Drive slowly and drive on the dirt roads. We had a small Volkswagen Golf City 1.4 L and did not encounter any problems. The organisation of the park is excellent. If the condition of a dirt roads are not good, then this road will be closed by the park rangers. We rented the car from Jo'burg Intl. Airport at Thrifty/Dollar Co. and it cost us 5000.- Rands for 29 days. Gas is available everywhere and cost about 4.20 Rand. From Kruger we passed thru Swaziland to St. Lucia to the wetlands. Stay in St. Lucia Wilds, a really god place. http://www.stluciawilds.co.za We went on a boat trip on the lake and drove thru the St. Lucia National Park. Then we took a guided tour thru the Umfolozi Park with Jeff Asherwood. He is a fantastic entertaining guide who has a very broad knowlede about all the plants and animals in the park. The cost was 465.- Rand per person for the full day tour including a fantastic breakfast and a brai (south african word for a grill party) for lunch. It was really worth the money and a nice change not having to drive myself: http://www.watersedge.satel.co.za/ In Addo Elephant National Park north of Port Elizabeth you will be sure to see a lot of Elephants. The southern part of the country from Knysna to Capetown reminded us more to Spain or Italy instead of Africa. Capetown is a beautiful city and the drive down to Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope took us a whole day. If you have more questions e-mail me at pns(at)gmx.net regards Peter |
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