Staying healthy
Erase the morbid images of tropical-disease-ridden explorers from your mind, your holiday isn’t likely to yield a cocktail of parasites with the pina colada. Travellers do need to be wary, however, that there are a few things to watch out for while in Zanzibar. Here’s the list of souvenirs you don’t want to pick up:
Malaria: Zanzibar has been praised for its containment of malaria, mostly due to the use of medicated mosquito nets and government initiatives in cleaning up mosquito breeding areas. Mosquitoes are hard to eradicate, so malaria is still a concern in Tanzania. Picking up some prophylactics from your doctor is the safest option for a short stay, as well as covering up in the twilight hours with repellents and using ceiling fans at night to sleep. Malaria risk increases in the rainy season. Testing is widely available should you need to check any unwanted symptoms and it's as simple as pricking your finger.
Food poisoning: This is a guaranteed experience for many travellers. It can range from mild nausea to a ‘Mike Tyson knock-out’ leaving you bed-ridden for days. To prevent it, watch street food to make sure it's cooked until hot and avoid salads, juices and cold food during the hottest part of the year unless they are prepared fresh for you. Food poisoning is especially problematic during rainy season, when the extra moisture in the hot climate breeds bacteria too well.
Worms: Unpleasant and unlikely, but still an unfortunate reality. Parasites like these are usually picked up from unclean drinking water, so stick to bottled or boiled and you’ll be fine. De-worming tablets can be picked up at any pharmacy if you have any doubts.
Decompression illness (DCI): DCI, the "diver's disease", sometimes occurs after scuba divers have resurfaced from a dive. Nitrogen content in the blood increases underwater and gas bubbles form if recompression isn’t done correctly. The bubbles cause chaos in the body; the symptoms are nausea, headache, skin rash, and stroke-like paralysis. DCI is extremely serious and any diver who suspects they have DCI should immediately contact the International Medical Centre in Matemwe. The doctors are on call to give advice and admit patients for recompression in the hyperbaric oxygen chamber. When choosing a dive centre it is advisable to dive with DAN Safety Network Partners and IMC chamber supporters, so that in the event of DCI you will be automatically admitted to the chamber and covered.
Sunstroke and sunburn: Protect your skin! Zanzibar is almost directly on the equator, and the sun is stronger from November-February. Pay attention if you feel faint after a beach trip and pick up some oral rehydration solution (ORS) if you think you’ve lost too many fluids and you need to rehydrate. Use aloe vera on your burns mixed with a little clove oil to ease the pain. Happy hour after a full day of snorkelling might sound reasonable, but as obvious as it sounds, you need to at least drink water between your cocktails.
Sea urchin stings: There’s nothing worse than a romantic walk along a beautiful beach interrupted by the painful force of tiny black needles piercing your feet. And it happens. Sea urchins tend to collect in seaweed during low tide so be careful when you’re walking barefoot. The local remedy is papaya juice, as the enzyme in papaya breaks down the urchin needles. The sooner you get the juice on your foot the better.
Yellow Fever: Though uncommon in Zanzibar, Tanzania sits in the endemic zone and the World Health Organisation recommends that travellers vaccinate themselves before they arrive.
