Frank in Africa ‘08

My Packmule wanted a sugar cube for all it has to carry, I told it to shut up and quit whining or I’ll trade it for a Camel. there is probably stuff missing from these lists, I don’t know if lists make good blog posts, I guess if any of my ever go on a long trip it could be useful, any suggestions would be welcome:

Medication:

• Malaria Pills (Malarone)
• ORS
• Diahrrea supressor
• Aspirin
• Vitamins

I really wonder how bad those Malaria pills are, they kill parasites in your body so they’re hardcore poison. They don’t eat any veggies in a Africa so vitamin pills should be a good idea, I got the extra strong ones with 400% of the daily amount.

Toiletry:

• Toothbrush + Toothpaste
• Dental Floss
• Comb
• Hairgel
• Q-Tips
• Scissors
• Razor + Blades
• Shampoo

The usual stuff, nothing special, since I didn’t have time to go to the dentist im taking no chances, I’m gonna be flossing my teeth, once or twice =). I bought a bottle of beer shampoo, it’s the best.

First Aid:

• Bandages (different types)
• Disposable gloves
• Medical Needles
• Pocket Knife
• Scissors
• Disinfectants
• …other stuff that came with the kit

Its great that I have a first aid kit, but I don’t really know how to use it, it’s going to be interesting. I got a MacGyver pocket knife (swiss army knife), so I can play Doctor and Long hair Spy / Hero at the same time, awesome!

Tags: Packing by Frank
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yo,

I went to college today to work on the website, it’s looking pretty good and it’s nearing completion, just a lot of small things that still need to be optimalised. my contributions to the site are small, since I joined the project when the design was already done. The guys managed to do a good job without me, I just did some maps (1 of Africa with the tour route, and 1 of Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania)) it is becoming a fun little site with lots of interactivity.

I also got my tickets today, and I got my passport back, which makes everything a lot more exciting somehow. I can’t believe I’ll be in Africa soon! walking through the city I drew a map of, in the sun, in shorts…Yikes! shorts…

Tags: Planning by Frank
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I’ve been making lists of stuff I need to pack, and getting the items together ready to go into my bag. Lets start with the fun stuff, the electronics:

• Macbook Pro, power cable (has a small and large power plug), battery
• Canon EOS 350D, Digital SLR (photo) camera, 3 batteries, charger, USB cable
• Diana+, LOMO camera*, 20 Rolls of 120mm Film (might sound like a lot but its only 24 to 32 photos a week)
• Cellphone, charger (not gonna use it in africa, but might need it on my way to the airport)
• Universal Power Plug
• Various cables, wires and plugs (earphones, earphones signal splitter, etc)
• college: Laptop (macbook pro)**
• college: External Hard Drive

*) a LOMO camera isn’t electric, I know, give me a break!
**) not sure this will go in my bag, theres a chance

Now I know what you’re gonna say: “I hope you got it all insured, because in Africa people have a real reason to rob you”. Yes I did, up to 2000 euros, and I know it’s worth a little more, but thats a risk I’m willing to take.

I have a feeling I’m forgetting something… the only thing not on the list is an MP3 player, because I dont have one anymore and I have a laptop.

More lists coming soon…

Tags: Packing by Frank
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Today was another busy day of getting organized for the whole africa trip (still hard to believe its real), after getting up and taking a shower I took the train to Breda again, well, that was the plan, but something happened (an accident probably) and I ended up waiting in the cold drinking coffee for 45 minutes.

When I finally got to Breda I walked to the doctors office and explained the whole situation to the nurse (the same nurse who gave me my shots last week). She told me that they never put their address on their doctors notes because its private information, but she stamped it with some general “Meditel” head office stamp, and called the pharmacy to check with them if they would accept it, after a discussion with the manager, they were willing to do so.

After I got back to Tilburg and walked to the pharmacy they finally gave me my pills, which cost me 112 euros total (37pills), 2 extra trips to Breda and 2 days that I could have used for other stuff. I was happy I finally had the most important things taken care of so I went home.

When I opened the front door to drop off the pills, there was a guy waiting for me, wanting to see the electricity meter and gas pump and write down the numbers. I had no clue where the gas pump was located, so after a trip around the house (he seemed to be in love with our fireplace) I called my dad and he told me it was somewhere next to the radiator in his little office covered by wooden housing and a stack of cardboard boxes, so it wasn’t strange at all that I didn’t know where to look.

After the guy checked everything I ran to the trainstation to get on the train to Den Haag, there was meeting there with the organisation of the virusfreegeneration hiphop tour, and I got to meet the 2 dutch hip-hop artists. Ninthe and Blaxtar, all the people were really nice, lots of information was given and some more appointments were made…

I got home at 7pm, ate, ordered some clothing online, and packed some stuff already…

Tags: Planning by Frank
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I didn’t feel all that great today so I didnt get much done, I got me a klamboe (a mosquito net) which was expensive, there better be some giant insects flying around after all the money I spent on insect repellents.

I should look at and ordered some clothes for the trip… only 8 more days to go…

Tags: Planning by Frank
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Today I bought things I need for the journey, about 100 euros worth. lets first start with the things I did manage to get:

• Anti sumburn cream, 2 bottles (factor 50 and 30), I only plan to use it the first week or so.
• Aftersun lotion, 1 bottle, not much of a believer, only helps for a few minutes.
• Mosquito/insect repellent, 2 bottles (50 DEET), 2 sprays (40 DEET), I wonder how good this stuff is, it was expensive.
• Emergency kit, a small box with bandages and such, so I can play doctor.
• Water resistant bandage, need those to keep my wounds from getting infected.
• 8 Needles, various sizes, if I was on heroin this would be great, but since I’m not I don’t like the idea of having them used. No Hepatitus B for me (that rhymes).
• Diarrhea suppressor, for long trips, so I won’t be shitting on people.
• ORS, stuff to get your salts/minerals back to normal after you’ve lost a lot because of diarea/vomiting.
• Toothbrush (needed a new 1), still got to make a dentist appointment.
• Toothpaste, the fancy type that promises extra white teeth, even though its the same stuff as all the other ones
• 10 Hair elastics, I lose about 50 of these every year.

I couldn’t get my Malaria pills because the doctor forgot to include his full address on the recipe, this is exactly the kind of behaviour I expect from doctors, happy to see this new guy managed to keep the reputation up.

Being a doctor means guessing what’s wrong with a patient, giving that person some different medication, and hope 1 of those solves the problem. Doctors don’t actually “know” whats wrong with a patient, their guess is as good as anybody who’s read a medical book, mine might be good at this guessing game, but he can’t even write his address on a piece of paper…!!!

So after the meeting at college I went back to Breda, to the doctor, I got there at 4:59pm and they were closed, oh well, tomorrow is another day…

Tags: Planning by Frank
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This morning I felt a little nervous about needing my passport and voluntarely getting a bunch of needles pushed through my skin and getting injected with who knows what, but it had to be done and I knew I was making a big deal out of nothing.

After traveling to Breda and finding the place the first thing the nurse asked me was “did you bring your passport?”, after explaining that I handed it in to get my visa for Tanzania, everything was fine, and she handed me a bunch of papers to read about the stuff I could get in the countries I’m visiting…

It scared me, 30 pages of things that can result in my death, the advice I got from those papers was: avoid local people, avoid water/liquids (only bottled drinks and the ocean are ok), avoid animals (especially dogs), dont eat local food, dont eat salads, make sure you wash everything yourself and that its all cooked, dont have sex, wear long sleeves, avoid dirty needles being used on you, dont go outside between 11am and 2pm, dont go out at night and take your malaria pills… all together a pretty much impossible task.

After the doctor went through the list with me, I got 3 shots, vaccines against Yellow Fever, Hepatites A and DTP. there was no time for me to get the Hepetites B shots because it would require me to come back for another shot in a month, so I was adviced to buy a set of medical needles and to avoid blood transfusions at all costs.

The Nurse talked a lot while giving me my shots, but it all went ok, my arms are a little heavy, like I just did pushups, but I’ll be fine… I’m leaving in 2 weeks… scary stuff.

Tags: Planning by Frank
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