East Africa...anyone been there recently?

stickyfiddle

I know a chap who's in and out of East Africa regularly. He's perfectly happy going to Nigeria, Kenya, Iran etc but draws the line at Yemen. Don't go to Yemen.

Don't go without security if you're going to be anywhere but nice hotels in the cities.

Forge

It will be in major cities where potential customers are and maybe looking around to set up a small office/warehouse.

Cirrus

If you're going to have a logistics chain in place anyway you might as well do deals with local gangs for drug and human trafficking - that way you'll get their protection and part of the extra income you generate can go towards bribing officials to look the other way.

But whatever you do DON'T TAKE PICTURES OF THE LOCALS. I read in an old book I found that all African people without fail believe that photos can steal their soul.

holnrew

Even if it's safe, I don't like the culture.

Phil_aka_Pip

Forge said:

Phil_aka_Pip said:

We're installing products in Uganda right now and due to install more in Tanzania soon. I'm not going.

I'd love to hear about the experience there...these are the countries I am likely to go to along with Rwanda.

When (if) the guys come back I'll pass on anything they tell me. If they don't, I'll warn you

Forge

The checklist is joyful...Malaria meds, jabs, insect repellent, mosquito net, unopened bottle water, loo roll, copies of passport, carry little money, spare cash for bribes, no salads, avoid backpacks, take no pictures, minders...

ICBM

Just watch The Last King Of Scotland.

That's probably the most genuinely scary film I've ever seen.

Bogwhoppit

Safer then moving to Chicago

chillidoggy

+1 on the bribes front. My mate used to fly into west Africa on a regular basis to work on ships. The first thing he did was buy 200 fags to bribe the customs officials, but, on occasion, they would still take other gear from his suitcase if they wanted it. Toothpaste, soap, you name it, anything they thought they could flog. Cash was readily accepted, particularly USD's. They only managed to ease the problem by getting the local shipping agent to guide them through, and even then they still had to stump up something.

Course if he'd flown with RyanAir, he wouldn't have been able to afford to take a suitcase, hence it wouldn't have been a problem.

Cirrus

ICBM;419076" said:

Just watch The Last King Of Scotland.

That's probably the most genuinely scary film I've ever seen.

Watched that with the family a few months ago. Yep.

At the end I was just.... :-O

xHymnal

I was in Tanzania not long ago, and never felt unsafe there at all. Such a friendly country and the people are fab: in my experience though there have been a few acid attacks on Zanzibar recently (!). I spent a bit of time in Kenya too and the atmosphere feels palpably different, I stayed in Nairobi and was nervous. We had armed guards round the compound we stayed in and I heard gunfire at night (not close to us but close enough to hear). Kenya feels very very impoverished in a way that whilst Tanzania is also very poor Kenya seems worse in some way, it's apparent that the civil issues of the 20th century still haven't been resolved fully. Seeing the Masai as a regular occurrence is pretty cool though!

Forge

Cheers @Hymnal that is great info, I will probably avoid Kenya as I would probably be on my own in Nairobi. My short time in the forces also confirmed I have little love for firearms and I do not expect the company will provide guards.

holnrew

Cirrus said:

ICBM;419076" said:

Just watch The Last King Of Scotland.

That's probably the most genuinely scary film I've ever seen.

Watched that with the family a few months ago. Yep.

At the end I was just.... :-O

It had me hooked.

TTony

Quite seriously, you should get your company to sort out K&R cover for you.

(That's Kidnap & Ransom).

Their insurance broker will be able to sort out cover for you (and any other employee likely to go out there) as part of their wider corporate insurance policy (EL, PL, BI, et al) and it shouldn't be a stupidly expensive addition.

The value to you is that if you get kidnapped, all the dealings are handled by professional firms who specialise in sorting out payments (safely) and getting you back.  It's not like an SAS rescue mission or a TV programme.  it's just a business transaction, and that's the business that they specialise in.  Odds are that they'll know the kidnappers (having dealt with them before!) so there's trust on both sides, and it all happens quickly and quietly.

They'll also give you up to date advice on risks, countries/places to avoid, and probably give you risk awareness training.

Look at www.controlrisks.com as one example.

If your comany won't sort that level of protection (as a minimum) you're really working for the wrong company.

crunchman

Forge said:

crunchman said:

ICBM said:

Are you likely to be prone to a bad reaction to malaria drugs?

Very serious question. Check up on the side effects before you even consider it. And no, you can't go without.

My daughter has the option of a school trip to east Africa in two years, which is why I'm asking… haven't decided whether to risk it or not yet.

I went to Tanzania last year to climb Kilimanjaro.  I've got friends who live there long term.  They have had to stop taking the malaria drugs as you are not supposed to take them for more than 2 years.

There are different drugs.  I used Malarone which has less side effects but is more expensive than some of the others.  One of the possible side effects of the cheaper ones was nausea, and given that nausea can be an issue at altitude it seemed more sensible to use Malarone when climbing Kilimanjaro.  Thankfully I did not have problems with altitude sickness.

How did the trip go?

Personally it went well.  I made it to the top, and raised £4k for charity.  Some of the others in our team had problems with altitude sickness though and didn't make it to the top though.

The rest of the trip was a really good experience.  It was my first time in Africa. There are massive contrasts in Dar-Es-Salaam.  There are parts of it with lots of money because of oil wealth and there are parts like this:

My friends do a lot of work with the families who live in this disused quarry.

blueskunk

Respect to your friends ^^^^

chillidoggy

crunchman said:

Forge said:

crunchman said:

ICBM said:

Are you likely to be prone to a bad reaction to malaria drugs?

Very serious question. Check up on the side effects before you even consider it. And no, you can't go without.

My daughter has the option of a school trip to east Africa in two years, which is why I'm asking… haven't decided whether to risk it or not yet.

I went to Tanzania last year to climb Kilimanjaro.  I've got friends who live there long term.  They have had to stop taking the malaria drugs as you are not supposed to take them for more than 2 years.

There are different drugs.  I used Malarone which has less side effects but is more expensive than some of the others.  One of the possible side effects of the cheaper ones was nausea, and given that nausea can be an issue at altitude it seemed more sensible to use Malarone when climbing Kilimanjaro.  Thankfully I did not have problems with altitude sickness.

How did the trip go?

Personally it went well.  I made it to the top, and raised £4k for charity.  Some of the others in our team had problems with altitude sickness though and didn't make it to the top though.

The rest of the trip was a really good experience.  It was my first time in Africa. There are massive contrasts in Dar-Es-Salaam.  There are parts of it with lots of money because of oil wealth and there are parts like this:

My friends do a lot of work with the families who live in this disused quarry.

Can I just point out that you've posted a photo of one of Margate's council estates? It's an easy mistake to make, though.

Fortheloveofguitar

That's where I'll be living if my wife finds out about all the new gear I've bought.

TTony

chillidoggy said:

crunchman said:

My friends do a lot of work with the families who live in this disused quarry.

Can I just point out that you've posted a photo of one of Margate's council estates?

Wow!!!

They've been tidied up nicely since I was last there.