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Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

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Original poster

What innoculations do you need for Africa?

18 replies

Outstandingkatymac · 14/02/2006 07:31

Don't really know where to go?

Not sure whether I would give DD anything unusual just for a holiday - but she really wants to go to Africa and "see lions"

OP posts:

Klauz33 · 14/02/2006 07:37

Lions tend to be congregated in Southern Africa -South Africa would be a safe bet as lots of game parks, or Botswana, Zimbabwe (maybe not as politically a bit of a mess), Tanzania, Zambia.

I can't really remember what injections required, yellow fever, rabies, polio. Malaria, not an injection but pills, though a good quality mosquito net would cut down the danger.

Why can't you go to a wildlife park, where she can see lions wandering free, though without the ten hour flight.

Original poster

Outstandingkatymac · 14/02/2006 07:42

We do regularily

But she is also fascinated that her ansestors origional came from Africa (not quite the interest in those that came from Scotland)

I was hoping (in my ignorance) tha we could do it all a bit further north

OP posts:

Klauz33 · 14/02/2006 07:48

I really can't remember if you get lions in West Africa. Cameroon is a lovely country, people very relaxed and friendly. ~They do have game parks there, but didn#t go to one so can't tell you whether they had lions.

They do have lions in Uganda, again ten years ago a very friendly country. Bit further north but not that much

Blandmum · 14/02/2006 07:50

Kenya has lions, and some amazing countryside , fantastic poeple. But it isn't that stable atm either.

You would also need a whole load of jabs etc

How old is your dd? Safrais are great fun but quite grueling, bumpy and ob v hot! Too much for littlies IMHO

Original poster

Outstandingkatymac · 14/02/2006 07:53

She will be 9 when we go

I was wondering if she would be too young

And whether it is fair to give her jabs and anti maleria stuff or if I should wait until she is older and can understand what the medications are

OP posts:

Blandmum · 14/02/2006 07:56

I wouldn't take my dd who is 9 on an organised safara, where you are comitted to so many hours out on a game drive. She could get tired, hot and fed up, and you'd be stuck out in the bush for another two hours! Grim with my dd

It might be worth you hiring your own guide, that way you could come back when you had enough IYSWIM.

These things are not that cheap, and the last thig you'd want to do is spend a load of dosh to have a hot, bored kid on your hands!

oranges · 14/02/2006 07:59

May be worth waiting till she'a a bit older anyway, as many safari companies don't like taking children under 12, as the drives are long and very bumpy.

But if you do want to go now Kenya has plenty of lions, baby hippos etc, fun places for kids, and is more stable than Uganda or West Africa (fwiw I live in Kenya and have just had piles of family and friends to visit).

Original poster

Outstandingkatymac · 14/02/2006 08:00

Maybe we will leave it for a few years

It's rotten to go if she will be miserable

OP posts:

Blandmum · 14/02/2006 08:03

oranges, you live in Kenya.....you amazigly lucky woman! It is the most beautiful place I have ever visited. We went to the coast and also had a safrai (Before children ). We stayed at Watamu, up the coast from Mombassa....on the corral reef. Quite amazing

oranges · 14/02/2006 08:12

I know mb - been here for two years with work and have loved it. i'm coming back to the uk in a few weeks - don't think i'll ever find as nice beaches ever again.
katymac - its probably worth waiting a bit as it will be expensive. In my experience, even the most sullen teenagers are vowed by the place, while younger kids have moments of wonder but do get very tired and crabby too.

Enid · 14/02/2006 08:16

god I hated kenya

always think I should go back though as its not normal to have disliked a place so much

Blandmum · 14/02/2006 08:17

where did u go enid? and what was the probelm? I loved the place

Enid · 14/02/2006 08:21

I went in 1997

stayed in Malindi

hated the fact that the hotel was so nice yet the town was so poor, hated the expat Italians not letting black people into their cafe, hated the fact that there were men with machine guns patrolling the grounds of our hotel warning us off the beach, hated the fact that every day on our way to the dive site we got stopped and bribed by policemen, hated the dive site (ruined coral, very little to see), hated the fact I took Lariam and had a massive panic attack.

vile

but dh loves africa and keeps bleating on about wanting to go back.

Blandmum · 14/02/2006 09:23

We were near there but longer ago. that is so sad that the place has got so violent. when we went it was much more open and freindly. I knew the poitical situation in Kenya had deteriorated, but haddened realised it was that bad.

Very, very sad

wannaBe1974 · 22/02/2006 22:10

outstanding if you're not after a majorly long safari then I would recommend going to South Africa. Kruger park is 4 hours away from Johannesburg and you can stay in the park and go on game drives but the area is not as big as kenya so not such long drives and therefore not so likely for your DD to get bored. Also not far from Kruger is Sabi (another park) and there is a chita sanctuary where you can get up close with the cats (most have been rescued either from poachers or found injured in the wild, they are rehabilitated and returned to the wild if possible). you could do a few days in the parks and then there is a lot more you can do in SA, you could visit the gold mines in Joburg if you're so inclined, drive up to kimberley to see the diamond mines, drive up the garden route (it's very beautiful) and could drive or fly up to Cape town and there is yet more to see there. Plus for South Africa you don't need any jabs. Malaria tablets are recommended if you travel to Kruger but I have my own views on those.

Anyway if you were interested I could give you good places to go - I lived in SA for 15 years on and off

foxinsocks · 22/02/2006 22:14

yes I would second wannabe's idea

South Africa is great - you could go to Cape Town for a bit of beach and spend some time at game parks in other parts of the country. You can stay just outside the Kruger (loads of lovely hotels, guest houses, self catering) and drive into the Kruger on your own steam. Or, you can go to some of the smaller game parks (in Natal especially) which are much more pricy but likely to take you out on tailor made trips.

Blu · 22/02/2006 22:17

My brother took his kids - 8 and 10 - to S Africa, and they had a very wonderful time, seeing lions, baby rhino, giraffes, etc etc - and certainly no reports of misery or excessively bumpy rides. They also saw whales, sharks and penguins...but I have a feeling the whole trip was enormoulsy expensive.

Also, if your DH is of caribbean descent, her ancestors are highly unlikely to have come from S Africa, or very Southern Africa, aren't they?

HRHQueenOfQuotes · 22/02/2006 22:17

She's right you don't need any jabs - but I would make sure all the polio's, tetnasus's etc etc are up todate - and although the side effects of Malaria tabets can be a little horrible I'd still recommend taking them no matter where in Africa you travel to - the side effects of Malaria are even worse.

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