Jet lag

[JAC]

hey!
is the jet lag bad when you get over there? im sure the excitement of the hunt could keep you going or does the time change affect anybody very much?

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

I've found that if I get there in the morning and stay up for the day, I conk out just fine that first night and am good from there. My first trip I arrived in the evening on the Delta flight from Atlanta. Went to sleep okay, but was awake at about 2:30 in the morning for good. This kind of messed up sleep schedule went on for a couple more days.

 

[Mike70560]

It takes me at least three to four days to really get squared away on my sleep. I like to have a couple of days prior to the hunt to relax. Photo safaris are a nice way to relax and reset the internal clock.

 

[JimP]

On my trip over I didn't have any problems. We got into Port Elizabeth in the early afternoon and after a nice shower I met up with my partners and we went out to eat and then to bed at around 10pm local time. It has been said that to help with it to set your watch for South African time when you get onto the plane for the long trip. Then try to stay on your regular schedule as far as sleep in concerned and try to force yourself to sleep at the time that you would be sleeping on your hunts.

Now on my trip home I was screwed up for 3 or 4 days but that didn't matter since I didn't have anywhere that I needed to be for those days.

 

[greyfox]

Set your clock (watch) to destination time as soon as the plane departs.
Eat the dinner, drink a bottle of water and pop a sleeping pill (OTC sleep aid)
It's a 15 hour flight from Atl to Jo'burg. The first night I stayed at Afton House and ate and slept fine.
Next morning I was up and flying to Port Elizabeth and was over the jet lag.

I am not a pill taker, but on long flights (over 10 hours) I highly recommend it. I also highly recommend staying in Jo'Berg the first night, just to rest up and freshen up.

 

[cpr0312]

You will be pumped up with so much adrenaline it wont matter that first day or two of hunting. I didn't sleep the whole way over and slept about half the first night, once you get a day or two of lots of walking and hunting in, you will sleep good

 

[AB2506]

Slept as much as possible on the way over, then stayed the night at City Lodge in Joburg. I then slept as well as I ever do. We did spend about a week chilling at Morgan Bay and touring Addo before hunting. I was tired coming back, but was excited to see my kids, so couldn't sleep until normal MST bedtime.

 

[BRICKBURN]

It is always worse on the way back.

 

[Royal27]

Set your clock (watch) to destination time as soon as the plane departs.
Eat the dinner, drink a bottle of water and pop a sleeping pill (OTC sleep aid)
It's a 15 hour flight from Atl to Jo'burg. The first night I stayed at Afton House and ate and slept fine.
Next morning I was up and flying to Port Elizabeth and was over the jet lag.

I am not a pill taker, but on long flights (over 10 hours) I highly recommend it. I also highly recommend staying in Jo'Berg the first night, just to rest up and freshen up.

This

It is always worse on the way back.

And this

I don't have issues on the way over at all, but when I come back it takes me 4-7 days...,

 

[JAC]

just what I was looking for.. thanks everybody.
im thinking of doing a trip to a game reserve the first full day, just to get acclimated and let the nerves settle just a bit. looking at maybe one to two days of the big five park and lounging then hunt hard for the next 8-10 days!!!

 

[Royal27]

just what I was looking for.. thanks everybody.
im thinking of doing a trip to a game reserve the first full day, just to get acclimated and let the nerves settle just a bit. looking at maybe one to two days of the big five park and lounging then hunt hard for the next 8-10 days!!!

Not a bad idea at all.

1. Settle down and adjust as you say
2. Start seeing the animals and getting used to the different shapes and sizes.

 

[wesheltonj]

I've alway found from many trips over the "pond" the easiest way to beat the jet lag, is a bottle of whiskey, right before after dinner after landing and the next morning, all adjusted. Of course it does not work the other way, because the next day is back to work.

 

[JimP]

Lets see, a bottle of whiskey just before dinner and then another bottle the next morning?

I don't think that that you would care about much of anything much less jet lag.

 

[wesheltonj]

Lets see, a bottle of whiskey just before dinner and then another bottle the next morning?

I don't think that that you would care about much of anything much less jet lag.

I did not mean to say another bottle in the morning, but no lag the next morning.

 

[thriller]

I can't sleep on planes (i have tried every conceivable way it doesn't happen for me) I find if I crash out when i get there jet lag is not a problem. my father sleeps on the plane and is plagued by jet lag the whole time.


Also i have found the over the counter sleep aid melatonin to be very useful on this front.

 

[buck wild]

It is always worse on the way back.

x 10

 

[cpr0312]

Agreed with thriller,

If you eat a lot and get on their time zone as quick as possible, go to bed that first night, and especially the second night, jet lag isn't a problem, like everyone else said the coming back and going back to work is the bad part

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

I use to work in Angola on what is known in the oil industry as a 28 & 28 rotational job. I lived in the US and would fly to Luanda, Angola from Houston, work 28 days and then fly home and was off for 28 days. Did it for 5-1/2 years, so about 40 trips back and forth over that time period. The flight was a charter, non-stop, business class flight that was around 13 hours. Would depart Houston around noon time and arrive Luanda around 7 or 8 am the next morning

As several people have mentioned, as soon as you take off, set your watch to the arrival location time zone. I would also get up extra early the day of my departure. I'd get up at 3am, which would be 9am Angola time. This helped to transition to West Africa Time. It also made me very tired once the flight took off and I slept better during the flight. Ear plugs and eye shades help too. Get a seat where people don't have to climb over to get up. I always perferred the center aisle in the wide body jets, with a 2-2-2 seat configuration.

On a safety note, flying these long flights can be hazardous to your health. DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis), sometimes referred to as "Economy Class Syndrome" is one of the more serious things that can happen. Basically a bloot clot in your leg from inactivity. Get up and move around during the flight. If you have ever noticed that your feet swell during long flights, you might consider wearing compression socks. I had DVT once and it gounded me for about 3 months. Not fun and potentially life threatening.

 

[Red Leg]

In the military, we planned on one day of reduced performance for every two hours of time change. In many decades of banging around the world, I find it a pretty accurate planning equation.

 

[bluey]

It is always worse on the way back.

I never get in the way their.
but when I get home after , it usually gets ,pretty good
don't know if its phycological or not , but I always find if im flying somewhwere ,where the times zone is foreward on my normal time , that's when I get the lag.
most places ,I go I wind the clock back to get there , and its never an issue,
but to the way home where I have to add time , that's when it knocks me around.

then again it could just be the excitement of going , and the dread of returning , to normal that does it too