Mozzies, Malaria n Mozambique
Saturday, January 31st, 2009
From Kruger National Park, Fred and I drove into Mozambique and passed through a very hectic immigration and customs border crossing. We then drove north two hours and pulled into Casa Lisa Lodge for the night. The next morning, we drove to Tofo (near Inhambane) where we have spent most of our week.
For the past 3 weeks or more, (since Etosha National Park in Namibia), we have been taking Apo-Doxy malaria pills and using mosquito repellent. In Tofo, we stayed in a beautiful seaside room at Aquatics Beachside Casitas. Before bed, we fired up the fan full speed, applied mosquito spray, and chose not to utlitlize the mosquito net (being in just a “double bed” you are very constricted with the net touching the sides of the bed). The next morning, both of us awoke to several mosquito (mozzie) bites each. . . . (not like the bites we get at home either, these are huge, red whoppers).
The reason this blog is entitled “Mozzies, Malaria & Mozambique” is because malaria is a serious health problem here. Everyone we spoke to seemed to have had malaria several times. The owner of the Tofo internet cafe has caught malaria 6 times (since 1999), the 25 year old Australian massage therapist I went to caught malaria 4 times in the past 3 years she’s been there, the German-Zimbabwean man who took us on the horseback riding safari along the beach has had it about 10 times, and finally, our gregarious host at the Blue Anchor Inn north of Maputo has had malaria about 10 times, twice being admitted to ICU because he was so sick. His 7 year old has had it several times, too. As well, the friendly lady from Germany that worked the bar there advised she quit counting after 10 bouts of malaria.
Apparently malaria symptoms are very similar to the flu. Headaches, achy joints, fever, etc and requires treatment as quickly as possible, especially within the first 48 hours of symptoms. If treated early, it is very curable, but if not, it can be difficult to treat and even death.
Malaria pills are not 100% pills effect, including the preventive malaria drugs we are taking. Everything we read tells us the best way to prevent malaria is to avoid being bitten my mosquitos which is easier said than done. Especially when the nets are not treated with spray, have holes in them, don’t fit properly around the bed and touch your arms, feet, legs , sides, and head when you sleep, allows the mozzies to still bite you even when you are using a mosquito net.
Fred says there is a real need for a mosquito net that is designed properly so as to not touch people as they sleep. Especially when it is upwards of 30 Celsius in the room at night, a fan doesn’t even penetrate the mosquito net, doesn’t cool you off, so you have to sleep in very uncomfortable conditions. Plus, most of the lodges we have stayed in have 20 foot ceilings so you can’t effectively spray the room to kill the mosquitoes.
After taking Apo-Doxy for a week, I started to develop heartburn and it lasted for 2 weeks. Apparently, heartburn and indigestion is a side effect of Apo-Doxy. I am relieved to report now that the side effects are gone and I am still taking the pills (and will continue to be on them for the next 3 months!)
One of the largest draws to this country, surrounded by Tanzania to the north, Zimbabwe and Malawi to the west, and South Africa and Swaziland to the south, are Whale Sharks. Of the approximately 2000 whale sharks left in the world, about 300 reside off the coast of Tofo.
We went snorkeling to see these incredible “animal wonders of the world” and were fortunate to swim within 9 feet of one – approximately 7 metres in length. They are gentle creatures and can grow to be 20 metres in length and 100 years old. Whale sharks belong to the shark family due to their skeletal system and not the whale family (called whale sharks because of their impressive size). Also, they eat plankton like whales do.
Also on our “ocean safari”, we spotted two different types of dolphins, one being the bottle-nosed dolphin which literally surfaced beside our boat then swam underneath it. Upon initially spotting them, everyone jumped overboard and started snorkeling but the flurry of activity only sent them off in another direction.
While in Mozambique, we also had the opportunity to go horseback riding along the Indian Ocean. I rode a nice grey Arab/Hannoverian cross called “Wolf” who could run like the wind. According to the owner (originally from Berlin, then moved to Zimbabwe then Mozambique), Wolf was the most expensive of his 8 horses, having paid $350 US to a resident of Zimbabwe.
Fast Facts about Mozambique (as reported in the 2007 Southern Africa Lonely Planet book)
– Portuguese speaking
– more than 3 times the size of the UK
– population is 19.7 million
– patience in the great Mozambican virtue
– about 80% of Mozambicans are involved at least part-time in subsistence agriculture, tending small plots of farm land
– annual per capita income of about US $300 (compared with about US $26,000 in the UK)
– if one family member is lucky enough to have a good job, it is expected that their good fortune will filter down to even distant relatives and others in the community
– HIV/AIDS infection rates are highest in the south and centre, where they exceed 20% and about 20,000 children die annually of AIDS-related causes (deaths are often explained away as tuberculosis or with silence)
After a relaxing 5-day beach holiday in Tofo, we headed back south towards Maputo. It took us a hard 6 hour drive before we reached the Blue Anchor Inn, located 50 km north of Maputo. Check out their website at www.blueanchorinn.com
Here, we had a super room (with private bath, fan, US$46/night) and our “Best Meal in Africa”. They cooked us up a scrumptious 3 course meal including creamy butternut soup, a delicious rump steak (for me), surf n’ turf for Fred (real “giant” prawns and steak), fries, vegetables, and desert, all for a very reasonable cost.
Out hosts, Nigel and his wife Nita (who were standing in for Nigel’s parents Paul and Liz Hallowes who were vacationing) were terrific and entertained us with stories of Mozambique (where they have lived for the past 18 years) and Zimbabwe (where they are originally from). After saying our good-byes early the next morning, we were off to our next destination: Swaziland.
Lisa n Fred
frednlisa