Malaria Pills

Robert and Judy

There seems to be some question whether or not Malaria pills are needed in SA and Kruger National Park.
I've heard they are not pleasant, with side affects, and many people say they are not needed where the March 19th trip goes. Our doctor, who has not been there, says it's up to us. Can anyone offer any advice?

Dickhardy

To begin with, check theCDC web site for information. We were on the Elegant Adventure trip in December and started taking malaria pills in Kruger, though they were not really needed. Kruger is not a dangerous area. Zimbabwe is more so, though we got only one bite between the two of us. In any case, use plenty of good insect repellant (Consumer REports did a good study on them) and plenty of it.

gyndoc

Robert and Judy wrote:

There seems to be some question whether or not Malaria pills are needed in SA and Kruger National Park.
I've heard they are not pleasant, with side affects, and many people say they are not needed where the March 19th trip goes. Our doctor, who has not been there, says it's up to us. Can anyone offer any advice?

i was on the elegant adventure in october/november and took malaria pills. there is nothing unpleasant about them and my infectious disease m.d. insisted. you will need to use plenty of insect repellent which is provided in your hotel room and wear long sleeves and slacks especially in the evening. it is a marvelous trip. enjoy

captaingail

If you are going to be visiting Kruger or Victoria Falls, you must take anti malaria pills, starting 2 days before visiting the area, during, and for 7 days after you leave the area. My husband and I have taken Malerone on two previous trips before with no side effects with Malerone. Better to be safe than sorry.

Also, to those of you have asked about luggage limits, I would think that if you are traveling with Tauck, since the limit is two bags at 50 lbs each, you should not have a problem--especially if you purchased the air tickets from Tauck. Talk to someone knowledgeable at Tauck yourself. If they can't help or seem unsure, askto speak to a supervisor. Tauck knows what the correct info is. We just returned from the Australia-NZ trip, and while the domestic limit was 44 lbs, like South Africa, we were not challenged regarding weight for the four flights within Australia that Tauck included in the trip. We purchased our own international flights.

In addition, we are traveling to South Africa independently in March for 3 weeks and have 4 internal flights as well as a flight to Zimbabwe to visit Victoria Falls. We used a travel agent that specializes in S.A. and they booked our air with South Africa Air. It was a consolidator ticket, whatever that means, and was $400 less per person than I could cobble together on the South African air website.

Because I too was concerned about the posts here about luggage limits, I asked our travel agent, who told me that for all the flights, our limit is 50 lbs for each of 2 bags each--and if we had a problem to ask for a supervisor. He also said, in writing, that if we were charged for more than 44 lbs during the domestic flights, to contact him when we returned and he would deal with S.A. air and get us a refund.

I also called S.A. air for their opinion. Their agent checked my type of ticket, since I have not yet received my documents, and told me that because all our flights were all ticketed at the same time, our limit is 50 lbs for two bags each. If you purchased your own tickets, call the airline. South Africa Air's number in the U.S. is 800 722 9675 M-F 8:30-8 pm Sat-Sun 8-4 pm. Have fun.