5 Tips to Staying Healthy While on Safari
We took a three-week overland safari with Acacia Tours and learned the ropes of how to stay healthy on an East African land adventure while camping and trucking across 4,300 kilometers from Livingstone, Zambia to Nairobi, Kenya with a few stops in between.
Follow these steps (and be safe) and you'll come out okay on the other end:
Food. If you want to maintain solid bowel movements, than always eat piping hot foods. The cooked food that is served hot will kill all microbes and bad bacteria that may pass disease, worms, or bugs trying to attack your body and your digestive track. It's okay to try foods here and there, but important to know the risk. If you do get diarrhea then it's best to let the system flush, have activated charcoal (takes toxins out of your gut), and ginger (settles your stomach). If you absolutely need to hold it (like you are getting on the truck for the day's drive) then you can use a antidiarrheal, but ideally you flush the bad bugs out.
Bathrooms. Spreading "poop germs" is the cause of a lot of disease and bad tummies. Always wash your hands. Often time toilets will not have the needed paper, soap, etc., so bring your own antibacterial spray.
Water. You will be using bottled water for the whole trip. Make sure the water bottle hasn't been opened and refilled. You can also use water sanitation pills or a chargeable UV water cleaner, but best to go bottled and recycle the bottles if you can.
Germs. You will probably shake a lot of hands, play with kids, and get down and dirty. It's all fine, but remember to keep that handy antibacterial lotion close by before touching your phone, camera, and spreading the germs you may pick up. Most likely, your body isn't used to this part of the world, so disinfecting germs immediately will be important to keeping your trip a happy one.
Fitness. This may sound odd since a safari is a very active thing in its own, but the fat is you spend A LOT of time on the road. This means you are sitting down a lot, so stretching, keeping your legs warmed up while on the truck, and maintaining physical fitness on a daily basis requires more effort on your part, especially after a long day's drive.
Hope this keeps you right as rain for your next safari, and if you have other tips or resources, please comment below.
