Hi,
A small group of us will be driving through Namibia, Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi & Mozambique from mid-April to late-June. One couple will be flying point to point, the other will be towing a trike which they will rig & fly at selected places.
We have some info on how to get about in Mozambique & Namibia, but would be hugely grateful for advice on how to get on in the other countries. Of particular interest, is what we need to do in order to cross borders with a trike on a trailer?
We are not interested in bribes & cheating the system, so please only offer constructive advice that does not perpetuate corruption.
Thank you,
Trailering a trike through Africa...
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justin.schoeman
- Frequent Flyer
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- Joined: Tue Aug 30, 2005 5:25 pm
- Location: Pretoria
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ZU-ANE
[/quote]Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi & Mozambique from mid-April to late-June
Dont 4get malaraia meds and preventative measures... it a big problem in those areas. All of those areas have quinine resistant malaria, so consider taking either doxycyline 100mg daily or malorone/ larium 250mg once weekly..... start 6weeks before trip and conclude course 6 weeks after your return.
In addition i would highly recommend that you take a few test kits with for the "falciparum" strain of malaria as this is the most common and can lead to cerebral malaria. Take a couple of courses of Coartem 20/120, (u will probably need a drs script as its schedule 4 medication).... dont bother taking quinine as all of the areas you have mentioned have quinine resistant strains of malaria.
Also, take plenty of paracetemol based tablets eg panodo. They are highly effective in breaking malaria induced fevers, and keeping the associated headaches to a manageable level. Two 500mg tabs every 4-6hours is the usual prescribed dose.
Dont forget mosquito repellent such as tabard or peacful sleep, if u are going into heavily invetsed areas (low lying, near water) take a DEET based repellent (eg jungle juice), and take soap with citronella... it definately works.
If any of your party get malaria, expect at least 48hours downtime once the medications have been started. Keep the fluid intake up, and watch the urine for any significant colour changes.... if it turns black, seek medical attention fast.
ZU-CPW..... t/bird mk2
Hoedspruit Civil Airfield
Hangar 8
Hoedspruit Civil Airfield
Hangar 8
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ndiza
- Found a flight school
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Thanks for highlighting this, Iceman ... I called my doctor as a result ... he's put me onto "Mefliam" ... it's one tablet a week, I have had no noticable side-effects, and it's very reasonably priced. He reckon's it's 99% effective.
We discussed necissary vaccinations etc.; he reckon's best thing is decent insurance which will cover an evacuation in the unlikely event of a serious accident or disaster.
We've all done a level 2 First Aid course too!
We discussed necissary vaccinations etc.; he reckon's best thing is decent insurance which will cover an evacuation in the unlikely event of a serious accident or disaster.
We've all done a level 2 First Aid course too!
-
ndiza
- Found a flight school
- Posts: 19
- Joined: Wed May 25, 2005 8:52 am
- Location: johannesburg
- Contact:
Jay Hyde a.k.a Oddball, very generously e-mailed the following advice after a trip he did through Namibia & Botswana:
Hi there Stephen,
Perhaps my last mail did not get through to you with my phone number, so here is some info for you.
In Namibia I applied for permission to fly through the equivalent of the MISASA club; they then arrange the necessary permission with the Nam CAA equivalent; very hassle free and easy- and free I think. You need your log book, licence, aircraft log book and auth to fly.
Trailering through Botswana and Nam was virtually a non event; cross the border and just have the registration papers for the trailer and car as usual. Put a ZAR sticker on car and trailer though (from the AA) as they fine you for not having it.
The other tip that I can tell you is to exchange Rand for Pula here in SA first; they want you to pay a road tax/ insurance as you cross over the border from SA to Botswana, and you have to pay in Pula. ‘Conveniently’ there is a Bureau de change right there that you can use, at their rates of course…
In Botswana the rand is sometimes accepted, but often not, and you cannot easily draw Pula from an autobank (I have now found that Stanbic Bank, similar to Standard in SA can do this as long as you do not try the fastcash option). A word of warning, if you are using the ‘Trans-Kalahari’ highway make sure that you have enough fuel and carry some extra. I very nearly got caught out when I hit a headwind and my consumption went way up and I did not have enough fuel and no Pula. Luckily for me I had given a hitch hiker a lift and he had Pula and we found a small ‘kuka’ store/ bar where we got diesel from out of an old drum, via a dirty bucket. Fill up even if you think that you might make it to the next spot. Also, avoid travelling this road at night (or any African roads for that matter). Goats, donkeys, buck and so forth wonder across the road all the time.
In Namibia rands are accepted quite happily almost everywhere on a 1:1 rate with the Nam dollar. When going into Namibia do not even mention that you are there for business, even if you plan to do a bit whilst there- then you need a ‘wek pemit’ and that is more than a hassle to get. You can also draw Nam dollars at most ATMs in Namibia and you find these even far north. What you do need to be careful about as you travel north off the ‘main’ roads is fuel availability. Smaller places often run out of one or the other fuel type, and it takes a week or more to replenish. These guys are not good with thinking ahead…
For the trailer:
Don’t trailer…. Sigh, I really stuffed my trike up by trailering it, especially over dirt roads.
If you have to trailer it then add a solid floor, sides and front; stones kick up and hit your trike at 120km/h, or what ever speed you are travelling at. Put thick screens over the front of your radiators (I used closed cell foam 1 cm thick) and cover your prop blades as well.
Some people advise using shade cloth stretched between the front of your trailer and the back of your car. This helps a bit, but not on dirt.
When you trailer over dirt also put a cover over the trike if you can and pad frontal areas with foam; you are going to spend some time cleaning a LOT of fine dust out of it at the other end no matter what you do. A useful item is a high pressure water jet; take one along with you, or, as I did, beg one off the workshop of the lodge that you stay at. Usually people are interested in the aircraft and will help you out.
Make sure that your spare wheels are BOLTED firmly to whatever they are attached to; I used tie downs because I was pressed for time when I left and it cost me the loss of both my car and trailer spare. (also make sure that your trailer number plate is properly fixed!)
Your wing also takes a beating so wrap every hard piece (the top and bottom of the king post for example) in thick soft cloth to prevent rubbing. I have a couple of new holes in my wing where I forgot this. I also heard of people strapping the wing to an extended alu ladder for added rigidity- good idea.
Spares.
I had to repair my radiator fins, which was actually quite easy. I used a small blow torch (looks like a giant cigarette lighter), a bit of copper water pipe and solder. Take the solder and copper pipe with you, and either take a good blow torch or a new one of these lighter fluid torches; they are quite unreliable after not much use.
Something else that works very well is adhesive number cloth; this is sail material that is only a little thinner than normal sailcloth and it sticks like all buckshit. You can use this to repair a tear in your wing very quickly. Cut it to shape leaving a generous ‘sticking’ margin (2 inches or so), peel the backing and stick to the wing. Simple and very effective; I flew with a trailing edge tear repair like this for months.
Camping/ general.
Whilst I am on a roll…
I use a large machete that has a long flat blade (starts narrow with a straight back and the cutting edge curves down to a ‘belly’, the end being square) that also has a hook cut into the blade near the tip of the blade along the straight back (I think that Lasher makes this and you can buy it for around R25.00 at a hardware store). This is a great tool! You can use it as a spade, hammer, pot lifter (with the hook) and also as a machete! (leave your heavy axe behind).
Take a good knife sharpener along as well- the best that I have found is one that has a plastic handle shaped like a guard that your fingers fit into; the working bits are three small blades that are run over the blade with the knife blade facing up (call me for more details). The third bit is for sharpening scissors. They cost about R150.00 and are the BEST sharpener that I have ever had. Whilst in Namibia I came across a couple of Himbas, who carry a fearsome looking Okapi machete; I sharpened their machetes and had two very happy Himbas.
A note on the Himbas. If you are camping somewhere in the bush it is considered polite by the Himbas to approach your campfire and come to sit down for a chat. So if someone looms out of the dark looking quite scary with long stick and machete, they are merely being polite, and will sit there even if you cannot really communicate with them. It is considered polite to offer something in return; water, a cup of tea, a blade sharpening, etc. After that, courtesy observed, the Himba will normally be on his way again.
Another great thing for ‘out there’ camping is an empty 20 l oil drum, or metal drum of some sort, and a battery powered shower pump. Fill the drum with river water and put it over the fire; hot water! Use the pump to have a great shower experience. Yeah- I am recalling some of the highlights of my trip…
If you need in info on some of the great camping spots that we used in Namibia I can give you more on that as well.
Hope that this helps!
Jay
Hi there Stephen,
Perhaps my last mail did not get through to you with my phone number, so here is some info for you.
In Namibia I applied for permission to fly through the equivalent of the MISASA club; they then arrange the necessary permission with the Nam CAA equivalent; very hassle free and easy- and free I think. You need your log book, licence, aircraft log book and auth to fly.
Trailering through Botswana and Nam was virtually a non event; cross the border and just have the registration papers for the trailer and car as usual. Put a ZAR sticker on car and trailer though (from the AA) as they fine you for not having it.
The other tip that I can tell you is to exchange Rand for Pula here in SA first; they want you to pay a road tax/ insurance as you cross over the border from SA to Botswana, and you have to pay in Pula. ‘Conveniently’ there is a Bureau de change right there that you can use, at their rates of course…
In Botswana the rand is sometimes accepted, but often not, and you cannot easily draw Pula from an autobank (I have now found that Stanbic Bank, similar to Standard in SA can do this as long as you do not try the fastcash option). A word of warning, if you are using the ‘Trans-Kalahari’ highway make sure that you have enough fuel and carry some extra. I very nearly got caught out when I hit a headwind and my consumption went way up and I did not have enough fuel and no Pula. Luckily for me I had given a hitch hiker a lift and he had Pula and we found a small ‘kuka’ store/ bar where we got diesel from out of an old drum, via a dirty bucket. Fill up even if you think that you might make it to the next spot. Also, avoid travelling this road at night (or any African roads for that matter). Goats, donkeys, buck and so forth wonder across the road all the time.
In Namibia rands are accepted quite happily almost everywhere on a 1:1 rate with the Nam dollar. When going into Namibia do not even mention that you are there for business, even if you plan to do a bit whilst there- then you need a ‘wek pemit’ and that is more than a hassle to get. You can also draw Nam dollars at most ATMs in Namibia and you find these even far north. What you do need to be careful about as you travel north off the ‘main’ roads is fuel availability. Smaller places often run out of one or the other fuel type, and it takes a week or more to replenish. These guys are not good with thinking ahead…
For the trailer:
Don’t trailer…. Sigh, I really stuffed my trike up by trailering it, especially over dirt roads.
If you have to trailer it then add a solid floor, sides and front; stones kick up and hit your trike at 120km/h, or what ever speed you are travelling at. Put thick screens over the front of your radiators (I used closed cell foam 1 cm thick) and cover your prop blades as well.
Some people advise using shade cloth stretched between the front of your trailer and the back of your car. This helps a bit, but not on dirt.
When you trailer over dirt also put a cover over the trike if you can and pad frontal areas with foam; you are going to spend some time cleaning a LOT of fine dust out of it at the other end no matter what you do. A useful item is a high pressure water jet; take one along with you, or, as I did, beg one off the workshop of the lodge that you stay at. Usually people are interested in the aircraft and will help you out.
Make sure that your spare wheels are BOLTED firmly to whatever they are attached to; I used tie downs because I was pressed for time when I left and it cost me the loss of both my car and trailer spare. (also make sure that your trailer number plate is properly fixed!)
Your wing also takes a beating so wrap every hard piece (the top and bottom of the king post for example) in thick soft cloth to prevent rubbing. I have a couple of new holes in my wing where I forgot this. I also heard of people strapping the wing to an extended alu ladder for added rigidity- good idea.
Spares.
I had to repair my radiator fins, which was actually quite easy. I used a small blow torch (looks like a giant cigarette lighter), a bit of copper water pipe and solder. Take the solder and copper pipe with you, and either take a good blow torch or a new one of these lighter fluid torches; they are quite unreliable after not much use.
Something else that works very well is adhesive number cloth; this is sail material that is only a little thinner than normal sailcloth and it sticks like all buckshit. You can use this to repair a tear in your wing very quickly. Cut it to shape leaving a generous ‘sticking’ margin (2 inches or so), peel the backing and stick to the wing. Simple and very effective; I flew with a trailing edge tear repair like this for months.
Camping/ general.
Whilst I am on a roll…
I use a large machete that has a long flat blade (starts narrow with a straight back and the cutting edge curves down to a ‘belly’, the end being square) that also has a hook cut into the blade near the tip of the blade along the straight back (I think that Lasher makes this and you can buy it for around R25.00 at a hardware store). This is a great tool! You can use it as a spade, hammer, pot lifter (with the hook) and also as a machete! (leave your heavy axe behind).
Take a good knife sharpener along as well- the best that I have found is one that has a plastic handle shaped like a guard that your fingers fit into; the working bits are three small blades that are run over the blade with the knife blade facing up (call me for more details). The third bit is for sharpening scissors. They cost about R150.00 and are the BEST sharpener that I have ever had. Whilst in Namibia I came across a couple of Himbas, who carry a fearsome looking Okapi machete; I sharpened their machetes and had two very happy Himbas.
A note on the Himbas. If you are camping somewhere in the bush it is considered polite by the Himbas to approach your campfire and come to sit down for a chat. So if someone looms out of the dark looking quite scary with long stick and machete, they are merely being polite, and will sit there even if you cannot really communicate with them. It is considered polite to offer something in return; water, a cup of tea, a blade sharpening, etc. After that, courtesy observed, the Himba will normally be on his way again.
Another great thing for ‘out there’ camping is an empty 20 l oil drum, or metal drum of some sort, and a battery powered shower pump. Fill the drum with river water and put it over the fire; hot water! Use the pump to have a great shower experience. Yeah- I am recalling some of the highlights of my trip…
If you need in info on some of the great camping spots that we used in Namibia I can give you more on that as well.
Hope that this helps!
Jay
-
justin.schoeman
- Frequent Flyer
- Posts: 1234
- Joined: Tue Aug 30, 2005 5:25 pm
- Location: Pretoria
You are not allowed to fly while taking Mefliam, or for two weeks after! Use Doxycycline, or Malanil instead!ndiza wrote:Thanks for highlighting this, Iceman ... I called my doctor as a result ... he's put me onto "Mefliam" ... it's one tablet a week, I have had no noticable side-effects, and it's very reasonably priced. He reckon's it's 99% effective.
This really irritates me, as Mefliam has no side effects for me, buf Doxycycline messes with my stomach, and Malanil is very expensive.
If you can afford it, get Malanil - no side effects, and don't have to take it for a month after leaving the malaria area!
-justin
You are not allowed to fly while taking Mefliam, or for two weeks after
The mefliam eg meflium, larium etc based meds have been well documented to cause a state of depression when used over extended periods , (sometime a gradually increasing depression to the point of contemplating suicide)........ but this doesnt happen to everyone.... the restrictions are based on a general blanket therory....... there are many bush pilots flying 8hrs per day taking mefliam so it basically boils down to "one mans meat is anothers poison"This really irritates me, as Mefliam has no side effects for me, buf Doxycycline messes with my stomach
Doxycyline based meds eg doxitab, sometimes causes nausea (usually mild, sometimes moderate) for a few hours after ingestion, (it also really depends on each person) however taken in the evening before bedtime seem to reduce any noticible problems.... the bonus here is that its very cheap, (its a form of antibitoic) taken in a very low dosage (100mg per 24hrs)..... so has added benefits for helping to lower risks of other infections, (eg upper respiratory infections, soft tissue infections)........ its also very effective if malaria is contracted, to supplement the malaria treatment with the doxy. (doxy can be increased to 3oomg per day for 7 days, to supplement the coartem 3 day course).....
i think ms scribe from afskies will be making a few recomendations in this regards in one of her upcoming editions........he reckon's best thing is decent insurance which will cover an evacuation in the unlikely event of a serious accident or disaster.
(ps: just spotted a type error in my previous posting... the areas are not "Quinine" resistant, they are "Chloroquine" resistant..... quinine is still effective as a treatment, although usually better to start with an intravenous dose followed by a 7 day course....... unfortunately causes quite a pronouced "ringing" or "buzzing" in the ears for the 7 days)
my advice: doxy/ mefliam as prophylaxis and coartem as treatment if needed (all reasonably priced and effective)..... plus paracetamol for the headaches
and temps, sweating and chills... ZU-CPW..... t/bird mk2
Hoedspruit Civil Airfield
Hangar 8
Hoedspruit Civil Airfield
Hangar 8
that insurance / medical aid may not cover a person using Mefliam in the event of an accident[/quote]
Your medical aid, insurance/ travel insurance should specify in their fine print. any exeptions or exclusions....... some will cover, some wont. If its not specifically listed in the policy fine print as an exception, then suggest you contact them directly for clarification...... just make sure that you recieve written confirmation of whatever the outcome is....... while you have them on the line, find out who their medical service provider (MSP) is for remote site evacuations and notify them with a courtesy ph call before you go (dates and expected intenaries)....... in the event of things going pear shaped, you can deal with the MSP directly who will arrange the evac aswell as liase with your medical aid/ insurance at the same time... the evac will usually only fly when the med aid/ or insurance has accepted a quotation for the flight and signed a gaurantee of payment.... usually in the region of 25-30K USD
Your medical aid, insurance/ travel insurance should specify in their fine print. any exeptions or exclusions....... some will cover, some wont. If its not specifically listed in the policy fine print as an exception, then suggest you contact them directly for clarification...... just make sure that you recieve written confirmation of whatever the outcome is....... while you have them on the line, find out who their medical service provider (MSP) is for remote site evacuations and notify them with a courtesy ph call before you go (dates and expected intenaries)....... in the event of things going pear shaped, you can deal with the MSP directly who will arrange the evac aswell as liase with your medical aid/ insurance at the same time... the evac will usually only fly when the med aid/ or insurance has accepted a quotation for the flight and signed a gaurantee of payment.... usually in the region of 25-30K USD
ZU-CPW..... t/bird mk2
Hoedspruit Civil Airfield
Hangar 8
Hoedspruit Civil Airfield
Hangar 8
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