Whenever I hear the word ‘Africa’, I immediately think of the famous song by Toto, which (as my friends can verify) will result in me heading like a bullet out of a gun to the nearest spot on the dance floor. A cracking tune I hope you all agree….
My first big trip of the year is to Africa, and Africa as many of you will know, requires a fair bit of prep, particularly as far as visas and vaccinations are concerned. The last few weeks have seen me acting as a human pin cushion, as I get myself inoculated for the various illnesses and diseases that exist in that part of the world. I’ll be going to Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe and as 80% of the trip is camping, it’s fair to say I need a dose of pretty much everything going! This includes Yellow Fever, Typhoid, Hep A, Hep B, Rabies and of course Malaria tablets. You also need the Tetanus, Diphtheria & Polio jabs that I think most of us had as standard as children, thus only requiring a booster. Having been to the likes of China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Sri Lanka in recent years, I’ve already got a lot of the needed jabs however as a result of stupidly losing my yellow fever certificate, I had to be jabbed again just to acquire evidence, which is a tad frustrating (although totally my own fault).
You can get a fair few of these on the NHS, but sadly not all of them. I don’t know about you, but I find it hard to part with cash for someone to stick needles in you, in fact I’d argue someone should be paying me, but it is what it is. Hep B and Rabies are the two that are the most annoying. Both require a course of three injections to be effective, and with Rabies, even then it only buys you an extra 24 hours to seek medical care so the jab in itself isn’t preventative. At a cost of £180 for Rabies alone, it doesn’t quite strike me as value for money, but if I happen to get bitten by a rabid dog or monkey, I may start feeling that its more of a return on my investment.
Now onto visas….thankfully Zambia and Zimbabwe are pretty straight forward in the sense that you hand over your cash on arrival (as is the case with many countries) and away you go. Whilst in theory its the same for Malawi and Tanzania, guidance suggests that both are best obtaining upon arrival.
Tanzania have made strides into the 21st century by allowing you to make the application electronically, which is relatively straight forward. That said, had I not chased the Embassy for confirmation, I’m not entirely sure how long the visa would have taken to come through as within 24 hours of me chasing, it magically appeared in my inbox. Fancy that.
Malawi on the other hand is somewhat more intrusive. Bearing in mind I’m only there for 7 days, the visa required photos, a covering letter, three months bank statements and a little outing to the Malawi High Commission in Holborn, London. I’m glad I looked into this in advance, as it soon became apparent that they only accept visa applications on a Mondays from 10:30am to 1:00pm and 2:00pm to 3:30pm. You then need to return on the following Thursday to collect your visa (within the same time frames). No appointment is required, and you sit, in what feels like your grandmothers lounge, with Good Morning Britain on the TV whilst you wait for a nice chap to come, check your documents, take your money and disappear, shortly returning with a little slip to bring with you upon your return. I’ve always had an issue leaving my passport anywhere so close to the start of a trip, so I’m currently praying for its safe return this Thursday, fully endorsed with shiny Malawian visa. Watch this space….
As far as the rest of the Africa prep goes, I’ve got a ton of equipment to buy. The trip is rural and overland so camping equipment is a necessity – I’ll blog about this at a later date. In the meantime, I’ve found this rather cool water bottle which has a micro filtration system, basically meaning you can scoop water from pretty much anywhere, and it filters it to a point where its safe to drink.
On that note, I’m going to leave you with a link to the epic sound of Africa by Toto.
Enjoy and stay tuned!
Luce x
Finding Freedom 