Africa? Suggestions?

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

Has anyone here ever been to Tanzania or Kenya that has had to live in conditions that aren't hotel-quality? I'm going to be going on May 19th to stay at a children's orphanage to film a documentary and would like to know if anyone has any suggestions for things to bring with me... I know we will have bottled water, and I've got the malaria medicine, but didn't know what kinds of things would also be helpful to bring. I got my shots, I'll be there 2 weeks, I'm a vegetarian... any tips/info would be helpful. thanks DUers.

[crispini]

1. Well, based on my experience in SE Asia,

you probably want to bring your own mosquito net and mosquito stuff. Also a sleeping bag liner or sleep sack in case the linens aren't really clean. And maybe a small camping pillow.

And if you're a vegetarian, well, you may have a hard time. You might want to bring extra nutrition bar type things. If you are going to stay with the locals, however, you will earn major major bonus points by eating with them. So you may want to at least try to eat what you are offered. However, this pretty much led to me eating, among other things, intestines, curried frog, and crickets. It's not for everyone but the emotional gratification from this is worth it IMO. It really means a lot to "break bread" with your hosts.

I'll see if I can think of more.....

[Cos]

2. I have

My family lived in Uganda when I was a baby but I barely remember any of that. But I spent a couple of weeks in Kenya as an adult, when my girlfriend was doing a semester abroad there. It helped that she'd learned enough Swahili to sound mostly fluent. Plus, having a Nairobi address (her host family) combined with decent Swahili meant we could get lower resident rates for lots of things, like hotel rooms. I had some great meals with her host family.

Make sure to get all your immunizations up to date. Tell your doctor or HMO that you're going to Kenya... sounds like you already did that. Definitely get a mosquito net if you're gonna stay in places that aren't hotels/motels/hostels/otherwise lodgings for foreigners. All those places generally come with mosquito netting. Then again, who knows, maybe it'll be damaged or ripped.

Get a moneybelt that you can wear around your waist, under your clothes, and carry your money in that. Particularly if you're going to be in cities. Keep it on you at all times, except when you're sleeping but put it near you then too.

The biggest danger, aside from mosquitos, is water. If you go swimming in fresh water, just accept that you'll get some strange disease. If you don't go swimming, watch out for fresh uncooked food. For example, salads: the vegetables were washed in local water. Some hotels catering to westerners boil all their water or have their own supply. If you cook, you can boil all your water. If someone else cooked and you didn't watch the process, though, beware. The locals all have immunity to all sorts of stuff that you don't, and water carries a lot of it.

When we ate "out" (which includes at hotels), we mostly stuck to things like french fries and well-done fried eggs (my girlfriend was vegetarian). When we were renting a rural cabin and cooking for ourselves, we ate rice and beans and similar things. We also ate a lot of passionfruit. Fruit tends to be safe because diseases might be on the surface, but don't usually get inside. If you get your fruit whole and open it yourself, it's okay. Still a small risk (and we did both get some stomach thing that lasted a couple of days).

Do plan to get sick at some point during your stay, despite the precautions.

And remember: The climate crisis (aka "global warming") will bring tropical diseases to the upper latitudes later on this century :)

[pitohui]

3. a few suggestions

don't know tanzania but kenya is strongly influenced by the masai people and if you are treating and eating with masai you should probably fudge on the vegetarian diet and eat what everybody else is eating as long as it is well cooked

in nairobi there is no need for bottled water, many people do, but i didn't and i wasn't ill for a moment, indeed, in some areas outside nairobi you can eat fresh vegetables and drink tap water but if in any doubt at all stick to bottled water, cooked food, and forget being a diet ninny, it's only two weeks, it won't kill you, or maybe you could just eat a lot of omelets if you are an ovo-lacto vegetarian, this might be an option, they overcook their omelets and boiled eggs tho, i blame the british colonial influence!

oh, and if you drink milk, this is a terrific thing they do, they can make you a good hot breakfast tea with hot milk, it's wonderful!

the vegetarian lifestyle isn't environmentally responsible in kenya, you'll see why when you get there, growing crops in many areas is difficult because the land is marginal, so there is great reliance on goats which can eat even the thorn tree and turn it into usable protein and of course cattle, the overgrazing is bad as a result, but there is no water or soil at all to grow vegetable crops in many areas, so you will see them sneaking these farms into the national parks, and it's quite destructive to what remains of the native plant

this is off the subject but in some areas you may see prickly pear growing wild, yes, that is our american prickly pear which has escaped into kenya


to be honest i think bringing your own food (the energy bars suggested by the other poster) would just be really rude and ugly-american-ish but you will have to examine your own conscience on that matter, but keep in mind worldwide that people can feel unexpectedly hurt when you don't eat their food -- as the other poster correctly pointed out, i might add, so maybe i shouldn't have reiterated

if you are in the highlands, mosquitoes weren't an issue, but it sounds like you don't know where you will be, and malaria is an issue in some low-lying areas

i would bring binoculars and the book, birds of kenya, even if you have zero free time, there are such things as long-crested eagles sitting right out by the road, i mean it, right out on telephone poles even! hell there are tons and tons of marabou storks right in the middle of nairobi, and you will see nairobi or at least drive through it because you'll use that airport i'm sure

if your malaria prophylactic is larium, don't take it before bed and esp. don't take it before bed with a bloody mary, not that you will, but hell i was on vacation

i really didn't bring a whole lot, if you have to carry your own bags which i did, you may want to keep it light, in an ideal world, you would get it all in a backpack, but pack an extra bag for souvenirs, if you can stand to haggle, you can get some great deals on fabric, as i can't stand haggling over price i really didn't buy anything but there's some nice stuff

making a documentary film, that really sounds exciting, congratulations!

[XemaSab]

4. I have a suggestion...

Take me with you! :cry:

[pitohui]

5. oh you would love it

aren't you one of the birding crowd? you would not bul-lieve the birds of kenya

especially the birds of prey!

[XemaSab]

6. I got birds of africa south of the sahara a few months ago

and DAMN... you're right, I wouldn't believe it, if the field guide is any indication.

What do they have for Kenya? 21 species of starling alone? :wow:

[pitohui]

7. there were lots of starling sp. for sure and most spectacular

i just saw checked my list and i saw 8 myself w.out trying, of course superb starling is practically a nuisance underfoot there are so many :-)

a wacky looking thing was wattled starling

there was a starling in the masai mara, think it was violet-backed, which was a metallic plum-colored thing, i tried to google some pix but they just don't capture the play of light issue w. these starlings

[XemaSab]

8. Man, and we had to get the crappy starling...

Damn Shakespere! :banghead:

[pitohui]

9. heh that's what we said

great minds think alike and all that