Antenna: 2012 Field Camp, v. 2 build 001

 

PERSONNEL

 

 Instructors

 

 J. Wood - MTU

 

 John Compton - UCT

 

 Assistants

 

 A. Guth

 

 A. Miller

 

 C. Polk

 

 Adjuncts

 

 Amy Spaziani -  BP

 

 

 Staff

 

 Billy Wanzala - KE

 

 Dennis Gitonga - KE

 

 James Wood - USA 

Innoculations are recommended for travel in Africa, especially for the first-time traveller. The following is taken mostly from the CDC website and from personal experience.

 

Try to get your inoculations at least a week or two before leaving. 

 

 

RECOMMENDED

 

MMR (measles, mumps, rubella)

DPT (diphtheria, perussus,tetanus)

Yellow Fever

Hepatitus A

Hepatitus B

Typhoid

Meningitis

Malaria (antimalarial drugs) Needed for Kenya, not South Africa.

 

 

The following are a judgment call: 

Rabies (?)

Polio (?)

 

I did not opt for these last two.

  

You can check all this out at the CDC Webpage:

http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/destinationKenya.aspx

 

 

You can get your shots all at once and have a sore shoulder for a day or so, but sometimes the clinic will be out of a particular vaccine, so it’s really best to take care of this at least a month out.

 

You really should take an antimalarial prophylactic while in Africa although I have never seen a lot of mosquitos where we go. You can opt to take one pill per day plus one for 2-4 days at the beginning and end or you can get a week-long pill. I usually go for the week-long pill though it does give you "vivid" dreams).

 

Anti-marlarial pills are available in Nairobi, usually much cheaper than similar pills in the U. S. I usually buy the bulk of my pills in Nairobi. (Marlarial pills are surprisingly expensive if you do not have good insurance. The pills can run $300 - $500 without insurance). But since you should start them 2-7 days before you leave home you should pick up a couple stateside. (I start them in Nairobi since Nairobi is presently not a malaria zone, but you can make your own judgement.)

 

OTHER HEALTH ISSUES

If you regularly take medicines be sure to bring enough along. There are good pharmacies in Nairobi and Cape Town for non-prescription drugs but you might want to bring along some aspirin and some general purpose cold tablets (sudafed variety) as well as bandaids and Tuff-skin for blisters. You can buy almost everything in Nairobi that you would find in the USA, so no need to try to get anything through TSA that you think might give you problems.

 

Stomach problems seem to be unavoidable in East Africa, usually of the mild variety, but expect at least some GI problems.  South Africa is better than Kenya in that regard.

 

 

NOTES

 

Note 1. IMPORTANT UPDATE: If you intend to travel from Kenya, a yellow fever zone, to other destinations in Africa, such as South Africa, you must have a yellow fever certificate or they will not let you board the plane. I found this out the hard way trying to fly back to Cape Town from Kenya. Best to get the yellow fever shots and TRAVEL WITH A COPY OF THE VACCINATION CERTIFICATE! Not all countries seem to require this. Return to the USA/Europe for example does not at present. You can get a yellow fever shot at Kenyatta airport ($50) but it takes time (~1 hour) and may only be available during standard working hours. Best to get the yellow fever shot at home.

 

NOTE 2: Make sure you get marlarial pills that work in Kenya. There are 3-4 varieties out there and not all of them are effective in certain places. Another reason to buy in Nairobi?