We're visiting 5 different camps in Botswana, South Africa, and Zambia in July 2006. We're looking for advice on three things:

-- medical preparations. What shots, pills, etc do we need to have beforehand or bring?

-- electricity. any general ideas on the types of electricity available at the camps? i will need to charge my cameras and PC. Are there voltage differences from US 110v? we booked our trip thru a travel agent and don't know how to contact the camps directly.

-- weather. we understand that it will likey have highs in the 60's and lows in the 20's -- that's a pretty broad range. i guess we will need shorts, long pants, sweatshirts and fleece jackets? does that sound about right?

many thanks in advance

- Medical Preparations:
I would recommend seeing your physician or a local clinic that specializes in travel medicine. As a reference, check the CDC Traveler's Health site. You will be in a malaria zone and you will need to decide what malaria preventative medication to take after discussing it with a physician. You may also need to update standard preventative vaccinations. You won't need Yellow Fever vaccination for those countries.

We were not in an area that had a high risk of Malaria unlike the areas you are traveling. But we did take Malarone for malaria with us because you didn't have to take it for a long period of time. It is expensive compared with other malaria medicine ($5-$7 per tablet). My only advice is to go to Costco for the lowest cost.

There may be other items so definitely see a physician. I also recommend going 4-6 weeks in advance in case you need any vaccinations updated.

- Electricity
Here is a page from Voltage Valet which lists the voltage and plug types used in the different countries. None of the countries use 110. I would check your digital equipment and make certain they will work with both 220 and 230. Most digital equipment today has build in adapters for all the different voltages. I didn't have any problems charging my digital camera or portable hard drive. I did have to get plug adapters. South Africa has a different plug. It happened to be used both in SA and Namibia but I brought along all the possible ones suggested on the page above. It looks like you may run into a couple of different plugs.

Most of the camps we stayed in had electricity available. There was one where it was only available in the main office and the guests had to take turn charging. I took two sets of batteries for my camera just in case.

If you know the names of the camps you are staying at, you might try googling them for information on how to reach them. Even though I had everything arranged by a travel agent, I did find a lot of information about each place we stayed directly through the internet.

- Clothing
My advice is to make certain you take safari colored clothes. These are neutral colors such as tan, khaki, olive green type of colors. Don't plan on wearing bright colors on drives because animals can see you more. You will also want to avoid dark colors because they attract certain insects.

I have heard it does get cold at night in Botswana so you may want thermal underwear along. Also, are you flying into the camps? I've heard that there are weight restrictions on luggage so you may want to take lightweight warm clothes. I'd recommend checking at a sporting good store for lightweight warm hiking clothing. Also a lot of the lightweight clothing will dry fast.

quote:

Originally posted by EL Schurr:
-- medical preparations. What shots, pills, etc do we need to have beforehand or bring?

-- electricity. any general ideas on the types of electricity available at the camps? i will need to charge my cameras and PC. Are there voltage differences from US 110v? we booked our trip thru a travel agent and don't know how to contact the camps directly.

-- weather. we understand that it will likey have highs in the 60's and lows in the 20's

Hi

My wife and I have went on a safari in the Kruger park about a year ago and it was a great experience. I have posted my trip report with pictures on my homepage http://gardkarlsen.com/djuma_vuyatela_safari.htm . Maybe you can find some useful info there. About your questions:

Shots: You should get in touch with your doctor and check. I always get in touch with a place where I live that focus on injections in connection with travels. Or you can read a bit on this page: http://www.fit-for-travel.de/en/reiseziele/index.html

Electricity: Lonely Planet (http://www.lonelyplanet.com/) has some information about this..what kind of plugs the countries use etc

Weather: You can get weather stats on www.weatherbase.com :-)

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

Thanks for your reply, it was helpful.

My equipment can all handle the electricity in African countries; now i'm just looking for the appropriate plug adapters.

thanks again.