Today I had to get 4 shots. Two more potentially! Plus a live vaccine in pill form. Wow!

We learned a lot today at the travel clinic. Like, for example, never put two high-ranking executives on the same plane. Check. Also, malaria is only common in one small part of South Africa. However, it’s the place most people go on safari. It turns out Malaria is one of the tougher choices we have to make. The pills are complicated, expensive, and all involve side-effects of one form or another. Choice A: a $5 per-pill new drug that you take 1 day before, during and 7 days after your trip into a malarial region, for a minimum of $40 pp plus $5 a day. Ouch. Most trips into malarial regions will cost us $100 on medication alone with this pill. B: a cheap, once-a-week pill that can give you suicidal thoughts. Oh, and you have to keep on it for 4 weeks after you leave the malarial region. C: A $1-a-day, once-a-day that you must take 1 week before and 4 weeks after entering malarial region. Also makes you prone to sunburn and irritable.

No easy choices! Just to go on safari, and to Laos which is completely infested with them. We got a prescription for the expensive pills but haven’t filled them yet.