Drank wine and beer. Had a martini at the Four Seasons, which I presume was "shaken not stirred" and I live to speak of it! Perhaps the vodka warded off any microscopic critters!! I do recall one of our group drinking amarula (liqueur) over ice and she seemed just fine. More problematic is remembering not to rinse off your toothbrush and keeping your mouth shut while showering!! Songless showers for the duration! I would say to enjoy your cocktail with abandon, my friend....that is until the next responder chimes in with the opposite advice! BtW, this is a phenomenal trip! Ice cold beers at a picnic in the Ngorongoro Crater and mimosas in the middle of the Masai Mara! Oh, yeah, and then there are the animals, the scenery and the wonderful people of Africa!
Just think twice about eating lettuce, etc.- I didn't and paid the price : ( of course it is impossible to place blame on any one thing. Our TD said everything at the hotels was safe to eat.
I've talked about this a few times in here. I am certainly not an expert on contagious diseases and intestinal illness, but I have a good friend that is. Before I took this trip he and I talked about what to watch for. He is familiar with Tauck and knows that Tauck would not put anyone in harms way intentionally. However, his experiences in Africa are that even if a hotel says it rinses all it's fresh fruits and vegetables in in filtered water, it is impossible to know if they actually do it. In addition, a knife, spoon, bowl, or surface can easily be contaminated. (Kind of like handling chicken.) It isn't done intentionally, but it can, and probably will, happen somewhere.
His suggestions were as follows when it comes to fruits and vegetables:
1. Boil it, (this applied to water too)
2. Cook it,
3. Peel it, or
4. Forget it.
He almost laughingly said, "You know this isn't a culinary tour and it is only two weeks without fresh fruits and vegetables. It isn't as though you are never going to get to eat a salad again." Just make sure your veggies are cooked and if you can, have them give you whole fruits that you can peel (and make sure there aren't any holes in the peel). I ate some bananas (even Seth gave us some bananas just picked at one of the rest areas) and oranges that I checked for cracks and peeled.
Now, about rinsing with filtered water. He also said that even filtered water may not remove all of the bacteria. He also was very firm about ice in drinks. He said hotels probably don't have filtration lines into their ice machines. Figure that one out for yourself.
On my tour several people got varying degrees of being loose in the caboose. Some just a little, some were quite sick and missed some game drives. I guess for the money this trip costs, I don't want to miss something because I had to have some fruit salad, but that is your choice. Most people did not get sick, even though they ate raw fruits and vegetables and ice. According to some emails I received a couple of people took their intestinal issues back to the States with them and had some serious issues.
I had too much fun on this trip to increase my statistical chances to miss any of it or be uncomfortable during it or having to "check the spare tire" often. If you don't know what that means, you will. I am a firm believer in "free will" and you are in charge of what decisions you are going to make on the trip.
As has been suggested don't forget to rinse your toothbrush with bottled water (there is plenty of it) and keep your mouth zipped in the shower. Seth's suggestion for the bathroom sink is to put a wash cloth over the faucet on the sink to remind you not to use the water there to rinse your toothbrush. It worked for me. I found myself starting to use the sink and the wash cloth was a great reminder to stop.
I know others will tell you they did all this stuff and were fine. Thank goodness for that. I just focused on what my priorities for the trip were. Taking any chance to get sick in order to taste some food was not near the top of the list. The cooked food is very good (not gourmet by any chance, but still tasty).
I think Seth said it best..."It isn't that the food is so dirty, it is that our intestines are so clean. Any small amount of contamination just effects us negatively." Enjoy and stay healthy.
I agree with ndvb 100%. I'll add the recommendation to use hand sanitizer liberally and often.
Despite all precautions there is still a chance you will have an attack of the big D, but will not be able to identify the cause or source. Before you go, talk your doctor into giving you prescriptions for Lomotil (anti-diarrheal) and Cipro (antibiotic). I had an issue at Amboseli, but started Lomotil immediately. It controlled the symptoms so I didn't miss a beat, except one of our drivers had to take me to the restrooms on nearby Observation Hill and I missed the opportunity to buy Masai trinkets after we toured their village (Oh, darn :-) ). But, I did have some other minor side effects for a few days. Once I started taking Cipro things got better very quickly and all issues were totally resolved in a day or two.
Comments
Just think twice about eating lettuce, etc.- I didn't and paid the price : ( of course it is impossible to place blame on any one thing. Our TD said everything at the hotels was safe to eat.
His suggestions were as follows when it comes to fruits and vegetables:
1. Boil it, (this applied to water too)
2. Cook it,
3. Peel it, or
4. Forget it.
He almost laughingly said, "You know this isn't a culinary tour and it is only two weeks without fresh fruits and vegetables. It isn't as though you are never going to get to eat a salad again." Just make sure your veggies are cooked and if you can, have them give you whole fruits that you can peel (and make sure there aren't any holes in the peel). I ate some bananas (even Seth gave us some bananas just picked at one of the rest areas) and oranges that I checked for cracks and peeled.
Now, about rinsing with filtered water. He also said that even filtered water may not remove all of the bacteria. He also was very firm about ice in drinks. He said hotels probably don't have filtration lines into their ice machines. Figure that one out for yourself.
On my tour several people got varying degrees of being loose in the caboose. Some just a little, some were quite sick and missed some game drives. I guess for the money this trip costs, I don't want to miss something because I had to have some fruit salad, but that is your choice. Most people did not get sick, even though they ate raw fruits and vegetables and ice. According to some emails I received a couple of people took their intestinal issues back to the States with them and had some serious issues.
I had too much fun on this trip to increase my statistical chances to miss any of it or be uncomfortable during it or having to "check the spare tire" often. If you don't know what that means, you will. I am a firm believer in "free will" and you are in charge of what decisions you are going to make on the trip.
As has been suggested don't forget to rinse your toothbrush with bottled water (there is plenty of it) and keep your mouth zipped in the shower. Seth's suggestion for the bathroom sink is to put a wash cloth over the faucet on the sink to remind you not to use the water there to rinse your toothbrush. It worked for me. I found myself starting to use the sink and the wash cloth was a great reminder to stop.
I know others will tell you they did all this stuff and were fine. Thank goodness for that. I just focused on what my priorities for the trip were. Taking any chance to get sick in order to taste some food was not near the top of the list. The cooked food is very good (not gourmet by any chance, but still tasty).
I think Seth said it best..."It isn't that the food is so dirty, it is that our intestines are so clean. Any small amount of contamination just effects us negatively." Enjoy and stay healthy.
Despite all precautions there is still a chance you will have an attack of the big D, but will not be able to identify the cause or source. Before you go, talk your doctor into giving you prescriptions for Lomotil (anti-diarrheal) and Cipro (antibiotic). I had an issue at Amboseli, but started Lomotil immediately. It controlled the symptoms so I didn't miss a beat, except one of our drivers had to take me to the restrooms on nearby Observation Hill and I missed the opportunity to buy Masai trinkets after we toured their village (Oh, darn :-) ). But, I did have some other minor side effects for a few days. Once I started taking Cipro things got better very quickly and all issues were totally resolved in a day or two.
Beer is pasteurized and sealed (tamper-proof as opposed to water sometimes...but no worries about that provided in the lodges or by Tauck).
Liberal use of hand sanitizer as mentioned. We had some green stuff, but not as much as we'd have had at home.
No issues.