Be a sissie and slap on the sunscreen, put on your hat and slip on some long sleeves.  Always be prepared for the unexpected when you take on mama Africa’s sun.

THE HOT AND THE SHORT

We all know that we should not embark on a walking trail without a bottle of water in  your backpack, but  this also applies when you are in your vehicle searching for those elusive birds or animals to tick the checklist.  As soon as you start feeling thirsty you are becoming dehydrated.  Remember to consume enough fluids even if you are not very active.

I always have to keep an eye on myself to consume enough fluids, especially when we are travelling, as consuming fluids while travelling brings on other interesting experiences when using public toilet facilities.  The long and the short is that an adult person should consume four to six liters of water per day (including those in foods) to keep the body properly hydrated and healthy.  Remember in extreme conditions you have to up your consumption of fluids drastically.  We found that in Cote d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone, being on the equator where humidity is very high every day, you sweat a lot and we easily consumed up to 10 litres of water per day to keep our hydration levels up to standard and to avoid running into health problems.  Occasionally we did miss our liquid intake targets and like clockwork we ran into health issues!

Also take cognisance that the elderly is more susceptible to heat exhaustion and dehydration.  As we age the skin gets thinner so sunburn and skin damage will happen a lot quicker.   Be on the lookout for the symptoms and act quickly.

TELL TALE SIGNS TO NOTE

So what are the signs of dehydration?

My first signs are normally a headache accompanied by a lethargic feeling.   Signs vary from person to person, but dark yellow urine and a skin that do not return quickly to the original smooth position when pinched and dark circles or puffy skin under the eyes are all indicators of note.

HOW TO PREVENT IT

Wear a hat with a wide brim that provides shade to sensitive areas like your nose, cheekbones and ears.  My nose is my problem area for sunburn, but it is not always easy to protect it fully unless you want to look like the famous cricketer, Allan Donald.

Wear good quality sunglasses to protect your eyes from harmful UV rays.  My Diesel sunglasses has served me well on numerous trips in Africa and Asia.

If you turn from a white crab to a red crayfish from a little bit of sun, slap on the sunscreen and wear thin breathable (i.e. cotton) long sleeve shirts.  For some it may look silly, but it is highly effective!

Remember to cover your feet or slap on some sunscreen, especially when you are on a boat on the water.  Hubby turned from crab to crayfish while on a dhow in Mozambique and learnt this lesson the hard way!

Seek some shade during the heat of the day between  11:00-15:00.  Take a  nap, read a book, sit under a tree, go to a shop and buy your food for the night, do whatever your fancy is for that four hours of the day.  That is when the sun’s rays are the most dangerous.

Damage to the skin caused by the sun is cumulative and you will only discover the damage in later years.

EMERGENCY RESCUE

Keep rehydration sachets such as Rehydrate in your medical kit.  In Africa you will find it almost anywhere, but if you cannot get hold of it concoct your own, like the locals.  The recipe helped me out of some difficult situations in the past:

RECIPE:

1 x tin of Sprite

1 x teaspoon of salt

Let stand until salt is dissolved and drink frequently

The post THE AFRICAN SUN IS NOT FOR SISSIES! appeared first on TRAVELBUCKET.

Fever trees

 My first introduction to Nairobi was, to say the least, very interesting.  The bumper to bumper traffic is nerve wrecking, but my Better Half was not intimidated at all by this as he is used to driving in Khartoum, where he worked, with even worse traffic.  Thumbs up to him!  You really have to have nerves of steel and adapt or die to cope with the aggressive African drive style, but our trustworthy Garmin GPS took us all the way to Upper Hill campsite in the middle of Nairobi without any glitches.

Driving into Nairobi

As I had a “fly in” visa for Sudan (which was pre-arranged before we left home) we set off to the Sudan embassy to change it to a “land” visa as this was one of the last opportunities before entering Sudan.  Arriving at the embassy we are enlightened that the embassy only deals with visas on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Today is Friday!!  Bummer.   This means I cannot drive all the way with hubby in the bakkie to Sudan.  Plan B needs to kick in now.  So we decide  to get to Addis Ababa and then we will have to make the final decision about the Sudan visa.

For the rest of the day we were on the road and arrived after dark at Mountain Rock Lodge just outside of Nanyuki .  That night at an altitude of 6 420 ft we have our last beer  (aptly named White Cap) in the Southern hemisphere in the foothills of Mount Kenya and  sleep like logs near the equator (S00.06.687, E37.02.464).   Tomorrow will be a big day as we will cross over into the Northern hemisphere.

Proof that we are on the equator in Kenya!

On 22.11.2007 at a height of 6 495 ft and 5 895 km from our home in George I can remove the tag from by travel bucket when we cross the equator.  We pass big commercial farms and get our first glimpse of Mount Kenya with its ice cap.

Mount Kenya

At Isiola we fill up everything with fuel and water before we set out on the infamous road to Marsabit.  Our trusty Hilux was taking a beating on  this stretch.  At the 12 km mark we had our first “incident” when we lost a spot light, at 44 km we lost our rear back shock due to the horrendous road conditions, at 116 km the gas bottle holder on the roofrack breaks and at 206 km the roofrack finally breaks.  We still have quite a bit of road ahead of us.    The “incident” list is getting longer and longer as the driver’s safety belt gets stuck in one position,  I loose the glass on my watch and we almost have no breaks on the Hilux.  After driving 7.5 hours to cover the 250 km we arrive tired in the dustbowl town of Marsabit.

On the road from Isiola to Marsabit

Just a few quick but necessary repairs before we go to bed in a howling wind.  Tomorrow will be another long hot day when crossing the Kaisut desert as we also need to be on the lookout for bandits before we reach Moyale on the Ethiopian border.

We buy fresh bread from the bakery run by a Swiss guy who has been living in Marsabit for the past 30 years  (I can think of a lot of other places I would rather stay!) before we take on another hot day in Africa.  The Kaisut Desert is waiting.

The brakes finally packs up

At the police post at Sololo we were told to take four policemen as escorts to Moyale as we are not traveling in a convey through bandit country.  After much negotiation, and just because there is no space, we are allowed to squeeze in only two guards. I end up on the backseat with a lot of stuff on my lap and hubby and the two guards, with AK47’s, sharing one seat in the front.  It is going to be a long hot and sweaty 130 km to Moyale!   After 8 hours and only covering 250 km we reached the dusty border town of Moyale – and did not see one bandit on the road!

Top speed!

Camping at the Kenya Wildlife Services grounds

After dropping off the guards we located a camping spot in the compound of Kenya Wildlife Services.  We just unpacked the necessary camping gear and then had to deal with a trickling cold shower and a toilet without water.  Tired as hell we went to bed early!

A first visit to Kenya was ticked off from the list!  After this I have made several transfers at Jomo Kenyatta in Nairobi enroute to other wild and wonderful places on the globe.  I will always remember my first Kenyan visit.

CURRENCY NOTE:  The Kenyan shilling is the local currency, but American Dollar is widely accepted especially in touristy places.  At Jomo Kenyatta Airport they accept Euro, Dollar and Kenyan Shilling (KSH/KES) as payment method.

“Time flies. It’s up to you to be the navigator.”
Robert Orben

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