Tsee.tsee flies this month in TZ???
 

Leaving Thursday for Northern circuit 12 day private safari....and in reading trip reports I'm finding out (late) about electric fly swatters....do I need one..should I run to REI tomorrow to buy one...and do I need "After Bite" or will Cortaid do???

I thought I had everything covered...

I was there this time last year and the flies were a nuisance, although they didn't diminish the trip at all. I didn't notice them at the lodges/camps. They were bothersome only during some game drives. The drivers at the different properties usually handed out horsetail swatters to help keep the flies away. I'd forgotten my repellent, which I recommend bringing, but riders in my cars shared what they had. Spraying clothes helps as I found the flies would bite through my shirt. Despite a few bites I don't recall itching or scratching. Any time I travel I bring Cortaid and something stronger (e.g., triamcinolone acetate cream, 0.1%, Rx needed, but just super for itchiness) in case of severe itchiness.

Have a great time! Steve

Tsetse flies like to target the ankles so thick socks are good! Also, they will bite through clothing - we wore sweatshirts with T-shirts underneath and they still managed to bite our upper backs. Some repellant to spray on your clothing might help. I found the bites incredibly itchy and had to use an antihistamine to sleep at night - it was that bad! After Bite didn't help! If I go again, I will try the cream that Steve recommends. Robin
Incidently - we didn't find that the colours we wore made much difference ie. avoiding blue and dark colours didn't seem to help.

Tse-Tse usually pop up when driving thru woodland areas, rarely on the open plains. Driver will advise to roll-up windows and close pop-top when you do, then open when you're thru such areas.

These critters will bite thru anything, but your guide should show you how to flick these out of vehicle or off you rather than smashing them dead.

Thankfully, flying things don't like me, and in all these years, only 1/tse-tse bite and those grass ants that attacked my ankels one year on Zanzibar. You should have some cortaid or similar if bitten; Calamine lotion also works well. And, if bitten... please do not scratch if you can help yourself. Can't comment re a fly swatter, never used/needed.

Safari njema!

Robin-

I'm sure your doctor would tell you if he prescribes it for you, but the triamcinolone cream should be used sparingly, i.e., a little dab on the end of a finger rubbed into the affected area works very quickly to stop itching.

Steve

I got tsetse bites in September in southern Tanzania. Cortaid and After Bite didn't help. At all. Camp mgr cut a sausage from a sausage tree and I rubbed that on them. It took away the itching for a couple of hours. Mine got pretty bad and one bite spread into a red splotch probably 3 sq inches. Two others on my arm swelled up for a couple of days. I read later that if you put Listerine on the bite it will quit itching. They didn't itch by the time I read that so I don't know if it's true. I skipped one game drive (horrors!!) to avoid being bitten more.

Sharon gave me antihistamine to help sleep at night and I did need it.

Thanks Steve! Robin

OK...I won't buy an electric fly swatter...probably too late anyway. The prescription itch cream I have is called Cloderm 1%. First of all...hope they don't bite me and second...hope this cream works.

As always, you have all been most helpful...so now as I pack, I can stop obsessing about Tsee Tsee flies.

I would take an antihistamine as well, just to be safe. Robin

I've rarely encountered tsetses on the northern circuit. AfterBite is a good thing to have along, though. One fellow traveler was bitten by fleas or something else around her ankles and feet; the AfterBite helped.

We traveled the Northern Circuit this past August and were eaten alive. The tsetse flies were in the Serengeti (Western Corridor, Seronera and Lobo area), Lake Manyara (especially bad here) and Tarangire - not in Ngorongoro. Normally, I'm not bothered by biting insects - mosquitoes, black flies, deer flies show no interest in me. Tsetse flies proved to be the exception. I was eaten alive and have scars on my ankles and lower legs from the wretched creatures. The flies would appear shortly after sunrise and be out until sunset. For fun, we actually started to record the time of our first tsetse kill each morning! They don't kill easily either - you have to really whack them.

The only way I could sleep at night (through the itchiness) was with the antihistamine Claritin, which my husband had thankfully packed in case his hayfever acted up. During the day, I put up with the itchiness, but my ankles were raw from the scratching - hence the scars! Neither After Bite nor Calamine lotion helped. Tsetses take itchiness to a whole new level!
Robin

Wow! Sorry to hear that, Robin! I've been on the northern circuit in three different months and didn't have that experience. I know from what Sundowner experienced that it's really miserable if you have a bad reaction to them. I was bitten several times on that same safari, but never had any reaction... no itching, red marks, or anything.

Hmm, I'm starting to itch just thinking about this. Does anyone know what to expect for the Tse-Tse flies in mid-Feb. in southern Tarangire or the Ndatu area? Thanks.

I have ever been this time of year so don't know about the tsetses, but SandraJoy, Safari njema!!! You leave tomorrow, how exciting!

FWIW, I had no problems first trip to TZ; second trip I had an experience like Robin's. Used antihistamine, plus some topical stuff. When that ran out, toothpaste (not gel) and bandaids over my bites helped me stop mauling myself until I bled.

Now I am really concerned. We are booked for a trip next August in the Northern Circuit. I have allergic reactions to bee stings and to bites in general. Not the kind that are life threatening but really unpleasant and uncomfortable. I do not want to have to be worried every day that I am going to bit by Tse Tse flies. Any suggestions?? Do you think that Tanzania might not be a good destination because of this?

I had a curious experience in Tanzania with Tse Tse flies. Normally, I'm a bug magnet, but on that trip my poor roommate got horrible Tse-Tse fly bites, and I got NONE. I have two theories. First, she was often wearing a blue denim skirt, (and dark blue is considered a tse tse attractor). Second, I was using Eucalyptus bath gel soap (from Bath & Body). Several times I noticed a strange sensation and saw a tse tse fly alighting on my skin, but leaving without biting. It's almost as if they nibbled and didn't like the taste. So maybe it was the soap?

My roommate ended up with some large infected sores. The camp staff identified them as Tse Tse bites, and gave her a cream to use, that I believe was actually a combination of an antibiotic, an antihistamine, and cortisone.

lhgreenacres, this is completely anecdotal, so take it with grains and grains of salt.

The weird thing for me was the second trip, the one when the tsestses bothered me, it was only after I had received about 5-6 bites that I started to react (itching, itching, itching). I had gotten a few bites in Tarangire and they hurt for a couple minutes but no allergic reaction. I had a greyish sweatshirt that I had been wearing. I ditched that and ended up wearing a white (horrors, I know, but they stayed away when I wore it) long-sleeve almost every day.

Anyway, I would think you'll be fine. Bring enough anti-itch stuff, some antihistamines and lots of bandaids. If you're not in woodsy areas you won't encounter many or any of these guys. As Robin mentions, the Western Corridor has lots of woodsy, tsetse-heavy spots, but I doubt you'll be over there in August.