Bugs/Insects in Kenya Tanzania
Curious to find out how bad the bug situation is in K/T in September. My husband and I have taken all our shots and typhoid pills and plan to start malaria pills before we go. We are bringing Sawyer Insect Repellent - 4 ounces. Is that enough? Can you purchase insect repellent on the trip? How necessary is it to spray all the clothing? Any other advise or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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We just got back from a July safari and saw no Tse Tse flies. Indeed, most of the guides we asked said that they didn't have Tse Tse flies at all or it wasn't the season. Our TD said we really only had to worry about them on the Mara and only after about 9:00 a.m. Since they rose from low ground then. I wore my nave blue fleece a few times.I don't think any of us saw any mosquitos at all. I think September is still the dry season, no? It's probably the same thing if so. We only sprayed the edges of our sleeves and collars with permethrin and the tops of our socks. I'm pretty sure we didn't need to. What you WILL need is a buff or scarf to keep the dust out of your nose and lungs. Large sunglasses help too for your eyes. Our TD said they don't even give malaria pills to people coming from Europe and a number of our group stopped taking them. I continued until we were in Europe.
Hope that helps. Have fun.
Melanie
Are you talking about the repellent you spray on your clothing or the one you spray on yourself, they are different. The clothing one is toxic while wet, usually contains permethrin, the other has deet. Hard to buy insect repellent on the tour, but several of the accommodations provide a spray or wipes in the rooms. I did encounter tsetse flies and was bitten through socks with a blue boarder, they hurt! They vary depending on where the game are, more game, more flies at times. You won't always encounter them.
We did get mosquitoes inside one of our tents inparticularly, they are smaller than those in the US, are silent and perch on tent walls ready to pounce. We always take our malaria meds, better safe than sorry, it only takes one bite from an infected mosquito. Admittedly high altitudes do discourage mosquitoes.
You pays your price and takes your chance. We sprayed our clothes and didn't get bitten. If we hadn't, who knows? Better safe than sorry. There are a number of threads about this in the K&T forum.
Ah Starmom, you must spray your clothing at home before you leave. It last through several washes. The permethrin is toxic while wet, so I usually rig up a clothes line under my deck,hang everything up, and these days I just spray around clothing openings for economy's sake, neck, wrists, ankles because the clothing must be thoroughly soaked so it takes a lot of spray, way more than 4 ounces. I wear protective clothing and a face mask. Once dry, the insecticide is safe. There is a Sawyer video you can find on line about treating clothing with Permethrin. This protects against mosquitoes but not tsetse. Avoid wearing blue and black. The flies were either more attracted to the black skin of our guides or they were not wearing protection, one day they would not leave our guide alone.