There's something fishy about this build...

[Slocke]

Wear cargo pants. Put different amounts of money into each pocket, and also some in your socks. Know exactly how much is in each of your pockets. When you go to the art markets, don't pull out ANY money. First have an entire browse around the market politely shaking your head No to all offers to sell you their wares. Pinpoint what you want and where you want it in the market. Go directly to their stalls and ask for it. Start haggling. Pull out the entire amount of money you have in the pocket designated for that item and show it to them as "That's what I got, see". They say no, start walking away, they'll take it. Don't bother squabbling over a few dollars, of course. Then go to the next stall you mapped out and do the same with another pocket. NOTE: as soon as the money starts coming out, you're going to get swarmed. They will literally throw items through the taxi windows as you're taking off and demand you pay up (just do it, it's easier than getting out of the taxi to return the wooden bird).

Another great past time in subsaharan Africa is the "How many times was my ice cream refrozen!?" game. Loads of fun.

This is also great advice

 

[danieyella]

I also sit criss cross apple sauce (I'm an adult and I'll call it whatever I dang please). Depending on your height/leg length it should work out - I'm 6' 165lbs and basically all legs. I can sit cross legged in it even with the back leaning forward as much as possible.

I'd post a photo but it's terribly unflattering hahah.

The arms are fixed, but the wrist rests/pads slightly angle (this may be a function of age, not a feature), and the slide forward/backwards a bit.

5'2 and 105 soaking wet :face-with-tears-of-joy: I keep seeing the "crisscross" chairs and I've been considering those. I've been using a very old gaming chair with a squishmallow to buffer my back because the things lumbar support died ages ago.

 

[mjszos]

I never once felt unsafe in southern Africa and I lived and traveled around the poorest areas. Yes people will steal your stuff if given an opportunity but they are unlikely to be armed or aggressive just sneaky. So lock your car doors and watch for pick-pockets. The tourist areas are generally gated with guards and the only people with guns are military, guards, and law enforcement.

The only time I know of people getting in trouble is when walking the back streets of major cities. Don’t do this and you’ll be as safe if not safer than you are in the US.

I mean, this isn't something unique to Africa. Everyone feels comfortable in their bubble and puts their guard down, but if you travel anywhere in the world that you're unfamiliar with you need to be more proactive and not pay the fools tax.

5'2 and 105 soaking wet :face-with-tears-of-joy: I keep seeing the "crisscross" chairs and I've been considering those. I've been using a very old gaming chair with a squishmallow to buffer my back because the things lumbar support died ages ago.

I have no experience with the criss cross chairs you're talking about, but I'd probably stay away from them. I just assume anything sold like that has to be a gimmick. Investing in a good chair is worth it if you're spending any significant amount of time in it. My wife is a little bit taller than you and she can basically curl up in a ball on this chair, if we were both a hair smaller we could sit side-by-side to each other in it. It's my only real complaint, I wish it was a little "tighter" on me, but the extra space does allow for some really unusually and ergonomically incorrect seating positions, LOL.

 

[Mschmidt]

Joseph Campo has merely visited Africa.I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't see the light until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but BLINDING!

Jk but I have lived there for a total of four years in two different counteies

oh yeah, well I've heard of Africa, so there!

 

[danieyella]

I mean, this isn't something unique to Africa. Everyone feels comfortable in their bubble and puts their guard down, but if you travel anywhere in the world that you're unfamiliar with you need to be more proactive and not pay the fools tax.



I have no experience with the criss cross chairs you're talking about, but I'd probably stay away from them. I just assume anything sold like that has to be a gimmick. Investing in a good chair is worth it if you're spending any significant amount of time in it. My wife is a little bit taller than you and she can basically curl up in a ball on this chair, if we were both a hair smaller we could sit side-by-side to each other in it. It's my only real complaint, I wish it was a little "tighter" on me, but the extra space does allow for some really unusually and ergonomically incorrect seating positions, LOL.

I honestly want one of the chairs one of my tattoo artists use. It's called nuchair and it's so freakin comfy. I just don't know if I'd like it long term.

 

[mjszos]

I honestly want one of the chairs one of my tattoo artists use. It's called nuchair and it's so freakin comfy. I just don't know if I'd like it long term.

At my old company they had all of the trendy stuff to try to hire us millenials... one of the chair options was basically a "reverse" chair where the "back rest" was actually up front. You could lean forward and take a nap on the thing, it was great.

The issue is I try to sit with good posture and being able to freely lean forward just hurts my neck more :rolling-on-the-floor-laughing:

 

[Slocke]

What is this nonsense?! Guess I'm deleting this game!

 

[Slocke]

@mjszos
If I were you I’d start at Maputo. Go up the coast. Cut over to Zambia, through Lusaka, and head for Victoria falls. Then head to the okavango delta. Then head to Namibia, check out the skeleton coast and stop at Erindi before going to Swakopmund and checking out the Namib which is the most incredible desert in the world. From there I'd head to Cape Town. Potentially stop at Fish River canyon. End at Cape Town which is probably the best city in Southern Africa.


Definitely take an anti-malarial though

 

[JoJosReef]

Well, I can't agree with it being safe. Maputo is a nice city that can be very rough. Don't expect military or law enforcement to be your friend -- I've been taken off at gunpoint by them for bribes. I've had bottles thrown at me from people at a beach event just going through as a passerby. My colleague got a machete to the head just eating at the same outdoor restaurant we went to every week (fortunately only skin lacerations and nothing through the bone/soft tissues). Definitely have your wits about you, but realize that even the savviest traveler is putting themselves at risk.

That said, don't let the dangers overshadow the truly amazing people and places you get to visit.

Be VERY careful on the roads. Car accidents are a leading cause of death in many parts of Sub Sahara Africa, Maputo being exceptional. Driving through the rural parts at night is dangerous. People cross the highways constantly and you can't see them till they're 10-20 yards away. I've seen multiple fatal pedestrian crashes, been involved in one, carried a dying boy in my arms.. that stays with you forever. Maximum Effort on the safe driving.

Oh, and have fun!!

 

[JoJosReef]

@mjszos
If I were you I’d start at Maputo. Go up the coast. Cut over to Zambia, through Lusaka, and head for Victoria falls. Then head to the okavango delta. Then head to Namibia, check out the skeleton coast and stop at Erindi before going to Swakopmund and checking out the Namib which is the most incredible desert in the world. From there I'd head to Cape Town. Potentially stop at Fish River canyon. End at Cape Town which is probably the best city in Southern Africa.


Definitely take an anti-malarial though

Now I want to go!

Take Mefloquine or Malarone for malaria. Mefloquine is typically harsher, but you only take it once a week and some people tolerate it great (I got psychedelic dreams). Malarone is generally tolerated better by most but is a one-a-day pill. I got Hollywood slapstick comedy levels of gas on Malarone.. just so you know.

There's a hundred other bugs you want to avoid, too. I just carried around Ciprofloxacin, doxycycline, and Coartem for anytime I started feeling fever--not generally adviseable, but I was sometimes far away from healthcare. Note: Coartem is for malaria *treatment*, so don't take it for an upset stomach or anything else potentially bacterial.

Well, that's about enough ill advice for one day! How about see what your travel doctor says!?

 

[mjszos]

@mjszos
If I were you I’d start at Maputo. Go up the coast. Cut over to Zambia, through Lusaka, and head for Victoria falls. Then head to the okavango delta. Then head to Namibia, check out the skeleton coast and stop at Erindi before going to Swakopmund and checking out the Namib which is the most incredible desert in the world. From there I'd head to Cape Town. Potentially stop at Fish River canyon. End at Cape Town which is probably the best city in Southern Africa.


Definitely take an anti-malarial though

This is good info. There's tons of research for us to do on health concerns leading up to a trip like this, we're definitely not jumping in blind.

Well, I can't agree with it being safe. Maputo is a nice city that can be very rough. Don't expect military or law enforcement to be your friend -- I've been taken off at gunpoint by them for bribes. I've had bottles thrown at me from people at a beach event just going through as a passerby. My colleague got a machete to the head just eating at the same outdoor restaurant we went to every week (fortunately only skin lacerations and nothing through the bone/soft tissues). Definitely have your wits about you, but realize that even the savviest traveler is putting themselves at risk.

That said, don't let the dangers overshadow the truly amazing people and places you get to visit.

Be VERY careful on the roads. Car accidents are a leading cause of death in many parts of Sub Sahara Africa, Maputo being exceptional. Driving through the rural parts at night is dangerous. People cross the highways constantly and you can't see them till they're 10-20 yards away. I've seen multiple fatal pedestrian crashes, been involved in one, carried a dying boy in my arms.. that stays with you forever. Maximum Effort on the safe driving.

Oh, and have fun!!

This is also all great info. Regarding the driving, we'd be on-road exclusively during the daytime. I hate driving at night in general, take away visibility even further and it's a no-go for us on a trip that's meant to be memorable for the views, not the stress levels haha.

 

[Slocke]

Now I want to go!

Take Mefloquine or Malarone for malaria. Mefloquine is typically harsher, but you only take it once a week and some people tolerate it great (I got psychedelic dreams). Malarone is generally tolerated better by most but is a one-a-day pill. I got Hollywood slapstick comedy levels of gas on Malarone.. just so you know.

There's a hundred other bugs you want to avoid, too. I just carried around Ciprofloxacin, doxycycline, and Coartem for anytime I started feeling fever--not generally adviseable, but I was sometimes far away from healthcare. Note: Coartem is for malaria *treatment*, so don't take it for an upset stomach or anything else potentially bacterial.

Well, that's about enough ill advice for one day! How about see what your travel doctor says!?

I always avoided cities so that's probably why. I was a security warden for peace corps so I got all of the crime statistics for PC and every single incident happened in the cities.

 

[Slocke]

Now I want to go!

Take Mefloquine or Malarone for malaria. Mefloquine is typically harsher, but you only take it once a week and some people tolerate it great (I got psychedelic dreams). Malarone is generally tolerated better by most but is a one-a-day pill. I got Hollywood slapstick comedy levels of gas on Malarone.. just so you know.

There's a hundred other bugs you want to avoid, too. I just carried around Ciprofloxacin, doxycycline, and Coartem for anytime I started feeling fever--not generally adviseable, but I was sometimes far away from healthcare. Note: Coartem is for malaria *treatment*, so don't take it for an upset stomach or anything else potentially bacterial.

Well, that's about enough ill advice for one day! How about see what your travel doctor says!?

I was on doxycycline but it made me depressed and I was in a "probably not" malaria area so I stopped. Then I got malaria and came so close to dying.

 

[JoJosReef]

I was on doxycycline but it made me depressed and I was in a "probably not" malaria area so I stopped. Then I got malaria and came so close to dying.

Malaria is no joke. That's why I carried around an artemisinin combination therapy (most often artemether/lumefantrine). Not worth getting cerebral malaria and dying while I'm trying to get a good day to swim with whale sharks (Alas!!).

 

[Slocke]

For animal safety it's pretty simple. Lions, rhinos, and elephants are almost all in parks and almost all parks will have walled in sleeping areas so there should be no danger so long as you stay in your vehicle and don't go for an impromptu walk where you aren't supposed to. Hippos and crocs just don't go in the water unless you see other people then still don't go in the water because of sistosomyesis (or however it's spelled). Also never go between a hippo and water.

Leopards are nocturnal so don't go walking at night. I mean I did because I lived in the Kalahari and needed to get groceries and it was too hot to walk in the day but I never died even once. Cheetahs are wimps so if you get killed by one you will be the first I believe. Don't chase snakes (why people attack snakes and then are surprised when they defend themselves I do not know) especially mamba. Don't run in the Mozambique jungle as you do not want to tread on a Gaboon viper.

I worked with CCF and other animal conservation groups BTW in reducing human animal conflict. Common sense is all you honestly need.

 

[mjszos]

For animal safety it's pretty simple. Lions, rhinos, and elephants are almost all in parks and almost all parks will have walled in sleeping areas so there should be no danger so long as you stay in your vehicle and don't go for an impromptu walk where you aren't supposed to. Hippos and crocs just don't go in the water unless you see other people then still don't go in the water because of sistosomyesis (or however it's spelled). Also never go between a hippo and water.

Leopards are nocturnal so don't go walking at night. I mean I did because I lived in the Kalahari and needed to get groceries and it was too hot to walk in the day but I never died even once. Cheetahs are wimps so if you get killed by one you will be the first I believe. Don't chase snakes (why people attack snakes and then are surprised when they defend themselves I do not know) especially mamba. Don't run in the Mozambique jungle as you do not want to tread on a Gaboon viper.

I worked with CCF and other animal conservation groups BTW in reducing human animal conflict. Common sense is all you honestly need.

While all very useful disclaimers, all it makes me think of is the fact that natural selection is so rampant that my new microwave came with a warning label that basically said "do not put babies in this microwave"

 

[mjszos]

Talking about the future is fun, but lets talk about the present;

I just received confirmation that my new tank was received at IM's warehouse... Anybody have any idea what their inspection/plumbing assembly timeline is like before things get sent out the door?!?

 

[Fish Styx]

While all very useful disclaimers, all it makes me think of is the fact that natural selection is so rampant that my new microwave came with a warning label that basically said "do not put babies in this microwave"

Then why even have one, amirite?!

Edit: I hope you all know that that was a joke

 

[Stang67]

Yeah I know it's a cover. I love the original too. All this talk had to throw it up here. She sang on the original with the greatest artist ever.

 

[Slocke]

Yeah I know it's a cover. I love the original too. All this talk had to throw it up here.

Ever dove(dived?/doven:face-with-tears-of-joy:) Africa? Madagascar, Mozambique or one of the islands. (I believe the east islands are Comoros, Mauritius, Reunion, Mayotte, and Seychelles not that I’m a geography nerd…)