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Anyone use “Travelan” to prevent diarrhea before it starts when traveling to Africa?

Anyone use “Travelan” to prevent diarrhea before it starts when traveling to Africa?

Old Aug 6th, 2022, 07:07 AM
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Anyone use “Travelan” to prevent diarrhea before it starts when traveling to Africa?

Or should we stick with Immodium or Pepto Bismol?

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Old Aug 7th, 2022, 08:31 AM
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TPAYT, I don’t know your exact itinerary and accommodations but in my experience in the camps and lodges where I’ve stayed in Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda, I would be very surprised if you got diarrhea. They go to great lengths in food prep and cleanliness to ensure no one gets sick (imagine the Trip Advisor reviews if they did!). The only one I know who was that ill in Africa was due to taking anti-malarial on an empty stomach. Once she took it with food, she was fine. I say this having been horribly ill in Munich, Seville and coming back from Peru, for comparison purposes! I take Imodium just in case, but I don’t think I’ve ever used it in Africa.
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Old Aug 8th, 2022, 03:28 AM
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amyb…..thanks for the response. We will be on safari in Kruger Park with Shiduli Lodge, then Victoria Falls, and Cape Town.
I’ve noticed that you give good advice on traveling in Africa.
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Old Aug 9th, 2022, 05:21 AM
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Our family of 5 has been to Africa two times (Kenya, then Kenya + Uganda) ... and has been fine. The time to be especially vigilant is from plane to safari camp. We were told that safari camps know how to prepare food safely - we ate everything. While in Nairobi, though, we stuck to the rules. Our travel dr. told us that the biggest time that people let down their guard is on the way home - through the major city, airport, and flight home (with veggies sourced from that major city).

I would be prepared with meds if needed, but I would be afraid to take something in advance - you don't know how you may screw up your system otherwise.

(and take the malaria meds on a full stomach. We took them after dinner every night).
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Old Aug 9th, 2022, 08:55 AM
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Maybe 2 out of 20 in our group had tummy trouble in Kruger, but we didn't all eat together. I had no problems there or in Cape Town.
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Old Aug 9th, 2022, 12:43 PM
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amyb and surfmom……Even though we are going to a different part of Africa than you did I really enjoyed both of your trip reports, and oh those photos, stunning. The excitement builds as Sept. 9th (departure date) is nearing.

mlgb….did you write a trip report I could look up?
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Old Aug 9th, 2022, 03:52 PM
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TPAYT, no I did not, I was there in for nearly a month in February 2019 (LAX to OR Tambo via Heathrow on Virgin) spending the night of Feb 5th into Johannesberg, at Sunrock Guest House (ate at the Guest House). From the 6th to the 15th we were in Kruger at six of the public rest camps from Berg-en-dal, Skukuza (on the Sabie River), Olifants, Shingwedzi, Mopani, all the way to Punda Maria (far north). We generally ate meals at the restaurants inside Kruger, bungalows mostly had kitchens of one sort or another. We were in the big safari vans (inside Kruger they have covered tops) and also went on two night drives. In the public camp gift stores they sell the Honeyguide booklets (hopefully in stock), which are excellent.
We had big buses for our transfers to and from Johannesberg. On the way in we had time to stop at a mall for lunch and grocery purchase, there are also groceries for sale at the shops in Kruger. Some of the bigger camps have laundry service. Wifi is generally not available. (I think one restaurant had working wifi). Even with a local SIM you may not get service so you do need a paper map. There are sightings boards at the camps, plus people generally stop where others do. We saw all of the expected species, even leopard, and a few groups had wild dogs. One of the camps has a pond with bleachers, at night my friend was watching and saw lions take down a water buffalo! We all had bought the Wild Card online before we left, my physical card showed up a year later, LOL.

On the 15th I flew to Cape Town (FlySafair) and shuttled into downtown Cape Town (one night at Cape Heritage hotel on Bree Street), picked up my car from Avis downtown the next morning, and stayed at several different B&Bs (the Muize and SALT Airbnb), as well as a day and night up near the West Coast National Park (Le Mahi Guest House in Langebaan). Several of the others took a charter and toured Victoria Falls into the Delta and then down to Cape Town. I didn't go because I thought it would be too much water at Vic Falls, and that was correct.

In Cape Town did a combination of general sightseeing and nature/birding things, including a downtown Walking Tour/Bo Kaap, one of the museums, Cape Point, Chapman's Peak drive, Boulders Penguin Colony (you can see them around Water's Edge beach in Seaforth for free ), Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, and a pelagic birding tour with Cape Town Pelagics. The line for tickets to theTable Mountain cable car was just too long (no wifi up there so couldn't log on to buy a ticket online) so I didn't go up , but there are great views all around the Cape. If you self drive in Cape Town be sure to know where you are going, sometimes Google Maps takes you through areas you should avoid.

My flights were return out of Johannesberg, so I flew back and had an extra night and day there (private Apartheid museum and tour of Soweto/ Mandela's house booked by Sunrock.)

Last edited by mlgb; Aug 9th, 2022 at 04:39 PM.
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Old Aug 25th, 2022, 06:08 AM
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Azithromycin

I had a very very minor case of traveler’s diarrhea after traveling in Europe for a month and Kenya for a week. We had brought a 3-pill course of Azithromycin with us - cured the problem (which again was minor)
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