Limpopo Malaria

[375Fox]

In Malaria areas I take Lariam (Mefloquine). It has no Side effects for me and Is only one pill weekly. Some report side effects. Malarone gave me terrible side effects. I just mention this as an option because everyone is different.
As has been said with your clothing treated and good big repellent you will likely be ok.

I didn’t realize anyone still took Larium or Doctors prescribed it still. My Dad took it on his first African trip and he said the mental side effects of it nearly ruined his trip, particularly the nightmares.

 

[375Fox]

If you research the mosquito that causes malaria they do not make the buzzing sound. Many people might not even know they are there. A lot of Limpopo is malaria free, but near Kruger isn’t. I wouldn’t risk it. I have before though on an unplanned trip to Caprivi. I made sure to spray my room thoroughly every night with bug killer before dinner and luckily never got sick. There weren’t many mosquitoes but there would still be 10 or 15 dead on white sheets to see each evening, only takes one. I took doxycycline on this trip but did the same in my hut each night when I hunted adjacent Kruger in month of June. Mosquitoes were there then too.

 

[revturbo9967]

I'm curious if a thermocell would help in the room.

 

[spike.t]

In Malaria areas I take Lariam (Mefloquine). It has no Side effects for me and Is only one pill weekly. Some report side effects. Malarone gave me terrible side effects. I just mention this as an option because everyone is different.
As has been said with your clothing treated and good big repellent you will likely be ok.

Lariam has messed up a lot of people....I used it a lot when it first came out, and I also had no problems...but I know people who did....ranging from wild nasty nightmares to full hallucinations in seeing people who weren't there....another in Tanzania with a friend I had booked a hunt for....our tents were bout 20 yards apart and I woke up to him shouting for me ....said a lion was trying to get in his tent....I got my rifle and torch and slowly unzipped my tent and went over to his....as he saw my torch he came out of his tent....I walked around his tent and saw nothing....he told me he had heard bones crunching in the small thicket behind the tents, then he had coughed and the noise stopped. Next he said he heard panting/breathing outside the tent opposite to his bed....he said then the "lion" had pushed its muzzle into the tent wall pushing it in...then it came to his side where the bed was and did the same...he said he was shouting for me during this time but I never heard...so whether he imagined shouting or not I don't know...he said whenever he moved to one side of the tent or the other it followed....I looked around the swept area around the tent and couldn't see any tracks, and no possible damp patches on the tent from the muzzle or mouth....I told him there is nothing....he said I am sharing your tent...he got in the 2nd bed in it and I went to sleep....he then woke me up freaking out saying its back...listen you can hear it breathing and waking around ....I couldn't hear anything...he kept saying there and pointing....I said sorry I can't hear a thing...he got pretty pissed off with me and in the end i got my torch and rifle and stomped off outside as I wanted to get some sleep....I looked around and nothing....Next morning my friend the ph came from where he was sleeping and we had a good look in the thicket...no bones...looked around the tent and in the clear day light no tracks in the swept dirt....after this he hunted in CAR or Cameroon and told me he was having a shower in the the grass thatch walled shower and as he opened his eyes from rinsing off his shampoo he said one of the locals was standing there looking at him...he said he shouted what you doing in here....then blinked his eyes and the "person" vanished....his wife was a child psychiatrist and in one of her medical magazines she saw an article on lariam....it said one of the side effects was people hallucinating ....so she told him and he realised after thinking about it that these 2 incidences were down to him taking lariam....his next hunt his doctor gave him lariam again...his doc when he queried this said if you are rational enough to work out that's what happened its not a problem you taking it....apologies for the long waffle...but he was terrified during the tent episode...he really thought a lion was trying to get in and I couldn't hear him....

 

[375Fox]

Lariam has messed up a lot of people....I used it a lot when it first came out, and I also had no problems...but I know people who did....ranging from wild nasty nightmares to full hallucinations in seeing people who weren't there....another in Tanzania with a friend I had booked a hunt for....our tents were bout 20 yards apart and I woke up to him shouting for me ....said a lion was trying to get in his tent....I got my rifle and torch and slowly unzipped my tent and went over to his....as he saw my torch he came out of his tent....I walked around his tent and saw nothing....he told me he had heard bones crunching in the small thicket behind the tents, then he had coughed and the noise stopped. Next he said he heard panting/breathing outside the tent opposite to his bed....he said then the "lion" had pushed its muzzle into the tent wall pushing it in...then it came to his side where the bed was and did the same...he said he was shouting for me during this time but I never heard...so whether he imagined shouting or not I don't know...he said whenever he moved to one side of the tent or the other it followed....I looked around the swept area around the tent and couldn't see any tracks, and no possible damp patches on the tent from the muzzle or mouth....I told him there is nothing....he said I am sharing your tent...he got in the 2nd bed in it and I went to sleep....he then woke me up freaking out saying its back...listen you can hear it breathing and waking around ....I couldn't hear anything...he kept saying there and pointing....I said sorry I can't hear a thing...he got pretty pissed off with me and in the end i got my torch and rifle and stomped off outside as I wanted to get some sleep....I looked around and nothing....Next morning my friend the ph came from where he was sleeping and we had a good look in the thicket...no bones...looked around the tent and in the clear day light no tracks in the swept dirt....after this he hunted in CAR or Cameroon and told me he was having a shower in the the grass thatch walled shower and as he opened his eyes from rinsing off his shampoo he said one of the locals was standing there looking at him...he said he shouted what you doing in here....then blinked his eyes and the "person" vanished....his wife was a child psychiatrist and in one of her medical magazines she saw an article on lariam....it said one of the side effects was people hallucinating ....so she told him and he realised after thinking about it that these 2 incidences were down to him taking lariam....his next hunt his doctor gave him lariam again...his doc when he queried this said if you are rational enough to work out that's what happened its not a problem you taking it....apologies for the long waffle...but he was terrified during the tent episode...he really thought a lion was trying to get in and I couldn't hear him....

Good thing he didn’t start shooting. I’d hate to try Lariam myself to find out as long as it stays in your system. I unfortunately found out doxycycline is less effective than others areas against malaria strain in Cameroon. They said there had been many breakthrough cases.

 

[Dewald]

I'm curious if a thermocell would help in the room.

It works incredibly well. A client from South Carolina brought me a few that I use on bushpig baits. You can buy peaceful sleep, doom etc matts for it locally. I try reserving the Thermocell mats for hunting as they don’t give off much of a scent on the pig baits.

 

[Justbryan]

I am going to hunt Limpopo in August and visiting Kruger. Looking at annual August highs there could be mosquitoes out doing the day but probably not at night. We will be doing some night driving in Sabi Sands.

I am struggling to make my decision on whether to take or not. Physican is giving me a prescription for atovaquone-proguanil hcl but not sure whether to take or not. I would take it if going in June and I have taken it before. What would you do?

 

[revturbo9967]

Lariam has messed up a lot of people....I used it a lot when it first came out, and I also had no problems...but I know people who did....ranging from wild nasty nightmares to full hallucinations in seeing people who weren't there....another in Tanzania with a friend I had booked a hunt for....our tents were bout 20 yards apart and I woke up to him shouting for me ....said a lion was trying to get in his tent....I got my rifle and torch and slowly unzipped my tent and went over to his....as he saw my torch he came out of his tent....I walked around his tent and saw nothing....he told me he had heard bones crunching in the small thicket behind the tents, then he had coughed and the noise stopped. Next he said he heard panting/breathing outside the tent opposite to his bed....he said then the "lion" had pushed its muzzle into the tent wall pushing it in...then it came to his side where the bed was and did the same...he said he was shouting for me during this time but I never heard...so whether he imagined shouting or not I don't know...he said whenever he moved to one side of the tent or the other it followed....I looked around the swept area around the tent and couldn't see any tracks, and no possible damp patches on the tent from the muzzle or mouth....I told him there is nothing....he said I am sharing your tent...he got in the 2nd bed in it and I went to sleep....he then woke me up freaking out saying its back...listen you can hear it breathing and waking around ....I couldn't hear anything...he kept saying there and pointing....I said sorry I can't hear a thing...he got pretty pissed off with me and in the end i got my torch and rifle and stomped off outside as I wanted to get some sleep....I looked around and nothing....Next morning my friend the ph came from where he was sleeping and we had a good look in the thicket...no bones...looked around the tent and in the clear day light no tracks in the swept dirt....after this he hunted in CAR or Cameroon and told me he was having a shower in the the grass thatch walled shower and as he opened his eyes from rinsing off his shampoo he said one of the locals was standing there looking at him...he said he shouted what you doing in here....then blinked his eyes and the "person" vanished....his wife was a child psychiatrist and in one of her medical magazines she saw an article on lariam....it said one of the side effects was people hallucinating ....so she told him and he realised after thinking about it that these 2 incidences were down to him taking lariam....his next hunt his doctor gave him lariam again...his doc when he queried this said if you are rational enough to work out that's what happened its not a problem you taking it....apologies for the long waffle...but he was terrified during the tent episode...he really thought a lion was trying to get in and I couldn't hear him....

Yikes. That would be enough for me not to touch it. I have a bit of an embarrassing story like that, although there were no lions and crunching bones. I was on an elk hunt with my father in law and a few other guys. We were at 11k feet which I was not used to. I was taking altitude pills but it was still quite the shock being that high. I was dehydrated for most of the trip and very overtired from how physically demanding the hunt was. When I get overtired Ill get weird dreams and talk in my sleep.

Well one night I woke up yelling something about a bear, waking the 3 others in my tent. Unfortunately they weren't as kind as you and told me to calm down and go back to sleep. They didn't even attempt to unzip their sleeping bags, and were back to snoring in about 10 minutes.... In the morning they asked me what the hell happened and all I could say was a bear was licking my feet. We laugh about it now.

 

[WAB]

I am going to hunt Limpopo in August and visiting Kruger. Looking at annual August highs there could be mosquitoes out doing the day but probably not at night. We will be doing some night driving in Sabi Sands.

I am struggling to make my decision on whether to take or not. Physican is giving me a prescription for atovaquone-proguanil hcl but not sure whether to take or not. I would take it if going in June and I have taken it before. What would you do?

Take it! I took a chance once and came down with a raging case of malaria.

 

[BRICKBURN]

.... I never tiook meds....until I contracted falciparum malaria and spent 7 days in ICU.....I nearly died and due to the high doses of meds my eye sight was affected.
.......

This is the reason you seek qualified medical advise for your particular needs.

Are you going to get your doctor to judge Kudu trophies for you and ignore the PH?

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

I lived and worked in Angola for 5-1/2 years and took Larium (1 pill per week) with no side effects. I would take it for about 8-9 months solid and then get off it for 3-4 months during the dry season.

I lived and worked in Nigeria for 6 years and never took any meds. I did however travel with a 12 pill blister pack or Malerone (daily pill). The medical professionals advised if malaria symptoms occurred, take 4 pills a day for 3 days and get to a doctor.

The malaria meds do not prevent malaria. They simply make the treatment work faster and better and you'll have a less severe case.

 

[autofire]

I've taken Malarone on my 6 trips to Namibia, RSA , Limpopo and Botswana. No side effects for me . See no downside in taking Malarone, only downside of that one mosquito bite from malaria carrier. I have friend who doesn't premedicate for malaria who contracted malaria.

 

[Tokoloshe Safaris]

We live next to Lake Kariba. Two weeks ago one of our neighbors, a friend of my wife became ill her husband ruled out Malaria because they take a malaria tablets. He decided to take her to the clinic at Binga 11/2 hrs drive she died on the way.
One week later another friend (same area) tested positive. We had given her a zip lock with 12 malarone (4 tablets x 3 days 12 tablets total) recovered in a few days.

One of our workers last week tested positive same course same results. 3 days off now back to work.

We are a strong believer in Malarone that is why my wife started her 3 day course this morning, yep!

 

[R.M.C.]

Wow, I was told Limpopo in the winter months were malaria free. I went in August and stayed right on the bank of the crocodile river , there were swarms of bugs around the light outside my tent at night. I'm taking meds next time.

 

[Justbryan]

Wow, I was told Limpopo in the winter months were malaria free. I went in August and stayed right on the bank of the crocodile river , there were swarms of bugs around the light outside my tent at night. I'm taking meds next time.

R.M.C. thanks, I am going to make an appointment to get meds. I work in a hospital so all my other shots are up-to-date.

 

[375Fox]

Wow, I was told Limpopo in the winter months were malaria free. I went in August and stayed right on the bank of the crocodile river , there were swarms of bugs around the light outside my tent at night. I'm taking meds next time.

This appears to be an accurate malaria map in Limpopo. You’ll notice the risk areas are also the lowest elevations. Johannesburg is over 5000 ft elevation while Hoedspruit near Kruger is under 2000 ft. I’m sure all times of year, but from my experience definitely June, you’ll notice a huge difference in temperature between two areas.

https://www.health.gov.za/malaria/

 

[Borderer]

My wife and I have used Malarone with no effects at all. We have have a friend who gets very ill with it.

I have heard some really bad stories about Larium. I have heard of two people being hospitalised after having very bad accidents whilst hallucinating.

 

[IvW]

Malarone and Larium give me serious heartburn and one of the two makes me halucinate....I see pink elephants flying around with twigs in the trunk tips and then get the idea they must have a nest nearby.....scary stuff these drugs....

 

[spike.t]

Malarone and Larium give me serious heartburn and one of the two makes me halucinate....I see pink elephants flying around with twigs in the trunk tips and then get the idea they must have a nest nearby.....scary stuff these drugs....

You sure you not on something else....

 

[IvW]

You sure you not on something else....

Brandy....