Vaccines and pills?

When you travel in Africa, there are some things that you need to be aware about. One of these things are the vaccines. There are a lot of them recommended when travelling in Africa. But I didn’t get any except “yellow fever”. Well, apparently I was not the most prepared traveler.

 

 

I’ve heard that infections in Africa are everywhere. It’s a well-known fact that all horrifying, awful viruses come from there. You can be infected with food or poorly washed fruits. But in the end one needs to eat. So I bravely eat local food of questionable hygiene in hostels, restaurants and roadside buffets. I eat and pray typhoid and hepatitis will pass me. Fortunately, they did.

Also I consciously decided that I wouldn’t take prophylactic pills for malaria. I read about their variety of side effects and concluded I wouldn’t spoil my trip with nausea, dizziness and hallucinations. Of course, every evening I pour plenty of disgusting repellents on my body. They smell so vile that I would run away from me if I could.

Occasionally a mosquito gets ahead of my evening pouring ritual and bites me. Subsequently I calmly count seven days (the incubation period of malaria), wait to run a temperature and if that happens – scamper to the nearby hospital. Thank goodness, I had no temperature during my trip.

I heard everything about malaria – that it’s like flu and that it is a perfectly natural companion in your daily life to stories of people who barely survived after treatment in 5 different hospitals and lost 20 kg.

According to my preliminary online research, the problem with exotic diseases, is that they all start the same way – as influenza. So when Slav suddenly starts complaining of a sore throat and a blocked nose, I secretly start to check on the hospitals in the area. Just in case. In a few days he gets better and everything is fine.

Being a pedestrian in Nairobi

It is interesting to watch the interaction between pedestrian and cars in Nairobi. In general, the pedestrians don’t have a lot of rights there. Walkways are just a decoration on the streets where there are streets.

I as a pedestrian, feel constantly threatened, suppressed and my adrenaline rises terribly in every successful or unsuccessful attempt to cross the street. My anxiety is strong, just as before physics exams when I was in the 10th grade. But local pedestrians … Oh, they are brave warriors worthy of recruitment into secret government organizations with the highest degree of danger. Here is how an everyday crossing in Nairobi looks like:

Busy boulevard. Dozens of cars bumper to bumper. It’s absolutely irrelevant to the pedestrians and the drivers if there a traffic light. On the side of the road you can see a crowd of pedestrians-daredevils who have definitely decided that they will cross whatever it takes.

Tension is in the air. After studying the situation for a few moments they go. Irresponsibly and resolutely blocking the path of the cars they somehow slip between and begin to maneuver left and right. It is possible for a pedestrian to be slightly pushed or even taken down by a vehicle. The man would get up quickly, get the dust out of his clothes and continue courageously through the cars.

Wow, that’s what I call bravery and heroism!

 

 

Driving in Kenya

Kenya is a country with left-hand traffic which is a new situation for us and it is a little bit challenging for guys coming from a right-hand traffic. My boyfriend Slav takes this responsible assignment.

The most difficult part is a turn because you instinctively look to the side which is common for you country but it is not common here and that can lead to literally catastrophic consequences.

Additional complication arises from the indescribable traffic jam in the big cities and the driving style of the locals. They don’t like the rules and traffic regulations. They are also unfamiliar with words as: right-of-way, keeping distance, tolerance. They are aggressive drivers who often keep a distance of about 2 cm from each other and refuse to believe they can do it differently.

 

Out of gas?

I talk about the gas in another story. But remember – in Kenya always, always fill gas at the big gas stations, such as Shell and Total.