crystalsong

Hi, Everyone:

We just had our visit at the travel clinic, and got al of our recommendations for vaccinations, malaria, antibiotics, etc. It's all so exciting, now that we're only seven weeks away from leaving!

Everything we were recommended to take was completely expected, all except the typhoid vaccination! After havng read this board for so long, I think it's the first time I had ever heard of it, but the clinic said that Botswana and Zimbabwe were definitely typhoid zones and that it is recommended. It's a live vaccine, in pill form, so there we were, carrying home our live typhoid, in the car! Just seemed kind of surreal, and funny! Not that typhoid itself is funny at all.

We also received prescriptions for malarin and zithromax (the high dosage variety), and received polio boosters, the Hep A and B vaccination, but were told that yellow fever isn't necessary. Hurray!

I guess that having begun this process has really made it seem more real that we are actually going! This has been i the planning for two years now!

spsand

Hi crystalsong,
As i am reading your post, i am swallowing my first ( of four) typhoid pills.......i have been putting it off because it seemed weird to me.......I am leaving in less than 4 weeks so i just did it......it says to keep it refrigeerated and also to take it one hour before a meal......in my life, i rarely go without eating for one hour at a time so i am looking at my watch carefully.........i will let you know if i have any funny reactions......

crystalsong

Hi, Spsand,

I start mine tomorrow. I am forever eating, so I guess I'll just have to take it the minute I get up, and then starve for a bit! Just remember, this is the first tangible sign that we're really going soon!

Where and when are you going?

jasher

Hello,

At least you guys can take the pills -- I had to get the typhoid jab. Over here it's pretty standard, but it sounds like it's not too common in the US.

Cheers,
Julian

spsand

Hi Crystalsong,
Ok, it has been about 10 hours since i took my pill.....I immediately went to Macy's to buy another pair of khaki pants..( a reaction to the pill? )

I am going with Elderhostel (educational travel group for people 55+) a...couple of days in Nairobi on my own and will meet the group on third day.....we will travel to Ambeseli Park...Lake nakaru....Sweetwaters Game Park and Masi Mara.... about 11 days actually on Safari........i am marking things off my list and scurrying around getting everything that i will need...

How about you? Where are you going...would love to hear

MonicaH

I just got done taking my typhoid pills.....yuk! Both my husband and I felt sick to our stomachs for the first day, the second round still a little sick and then better the third and fourth pill. We were so paranoid about taking it too close to eating any food, we ended up taking them during the middle of the night whenever we would wake up. It was a long week!

ann_nyc

Hi Julian, my travel doc explained to me that the reason she was advising me to get the typhoid shot rather than the pills is because I was also getting a yellow fever shot, which is also a live virus.
I don't know if it is a hard and fast rule, but she felt I should not take two live viruses at the same time, thus I took the typhoid (dead) shot along with the yellow-fever (live) shot. Had I not needed the yellow-fever shot, she would have given me the typoid (live) pill instead.
So that might explain why some people are advised to get the pill while others get the shot.

jasher

Hi Ann,

I got my typhoid and yellow fever for two separate trips, so I don't think the live virus was a factor. As a doctor myself I've found the differences between US and UK medical practice fascinating and a bit random at times...

Cheers,
Julian

crystalsong

Hi, Spsand:

Your trip sounds wonderful!

My husband and I will be traveling to South Africa, visiting Hluhluwe in Kwazulu Natal Province, where we will be on safari for about four days, and then it's a full day in Joburg to visit a private rehabilitation center, the Lion Park and a ranch where we'll get to eat dinner surrounded by tame zebras! After that, it's six nights in Botswana and two different camps before finishing up in Vic Falls for two nights. We are so excited! Only thing I'm not looking forward to is missing our girls!

Didn't start the typhoid pills yet; decided to wait a couple of days so that te polio booster, Hep A and B have a chance to do their thing. (Good pocrastination, right?)

How are ou feeling? Poor monica seems to have had a terrible time with them. Sorry to hear that, Monica.
I'm such a big baby when it comes to upset stomaches.

MarthaT

I am in the US and I was given a choice.
I picked the injection just to get it over with quickly. I did this about a year ago but I think I remember the injection lasts 2 years and the pills 3 years. But I could be wrong.

crystalsong

The clinic told us, yesterday, that the injection is good for two years, the pills for five. That's why I opted for the pills; figured might as well get as much protection as I could.

spsand

Hi Crystalsong....

Your trip sounds wonderful.....i'll do that one next time(?) My trip also includes some rehabilitation places and sanctuarys and i will be feeding tame giraffes....i have fostered a baby elephant at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust......I will go and see how he is.

So far, i haven't had any reaction to the pill....i have been very fortunate with no reactions to the innoculations including the yellow fever....i feel a bit shaky today, but that is probably because i had little sleep last night...

The hardest part for me is missing my two cats....

MonicaH

crystalsong-

Thanks for the well wishes. I thought the Typhoid pill lasted longer than 3 or 5 years. Oh well, I am sure an upset stomach will be well worth it. Only 6 days and counting!!!!!

Monica

crystalsong

Hi, Monica and Spsand:

Monica, how lucky you are to be going so soon! Where are you going?

Spsand: What a neat idea...fostering a baby elephant. Are you going to get to see him or her? How did you end up doing this?

When do you leave for your trip?

I can't wait to hear from both of you when you get back; I love hearing about everyone's experiences!

MonicaH

Hi!

I am heading to Rwanda and Tanzania…..leaving next Sunday. Hubby and I are trekking to see the gorillas and then safari in Tanzania. We also adopted a baby elephant and will see it on our last day in Africa. I can’t believe after all this time of planning (since June) that we are a week away. I will try to post my detail itinerary this weekend.

Monica

spsand

Hi Crystalsong

I had found the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust website by accident but since then many people have told me that they have heard about it.

If you go their website, you will see what this is all about. I fostered a toddler named Kenze....when he was rescued, he was emaciated and pretty near death........it was recently and he is still being rehabilitated.....in fact i am going to check the website right now to see if there is any updted info on him......The orphanage is near Nairobi, Kenya.