How Common Are Gastric Issues Post-African Hunt

Only Bottled or canned beverages for me when traveling. Been there, done that.

SCHUNTER73 said:

Only Bottled or canned beverages for me when traveling. Been there, done that.

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I assume all the larger/better outfitters and camps will have a large supply of bottled water or Gatorade on site for their hunters? .... Not filtered well water.

spike.t said:

Jacinda ardern probably....

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Very good ! Now we are stuck with her in Australia

I take a med kit that besides first aid supplies, also contains a broad spectrum antibiotic and a small tube of Ivermectin. My Doc said that if I was exposed to or exhibited symptoms of malaria, amoebic dysentery or parasitic infection that I was to take a dose of the Ivermectin immediately and another upon returning to the States. I have never needed it in Africa. I always tell the outfitter to include traditional African cuisine and game meat with all meals. I mostly drink only bottled water in the field and coffee, tea or beer in the lodge. I am not particularly careful about showers or brushing of teeth and used the tap water for both. Even at time indulge in gas station meat pies which are delicious if not a bit dangerous, lol.

The one bout of nausea, vomiting and intestinal distress was on my last Safari where I was exposed to excessive amounts of Bourbon, and Scotch during an over zealous DG hunt celebration. I could claim that the bartender over served me but I know better.

Drink beer and bottled water and avoid raw fruits and vegis and you are not likely to get ill.

Jack Stevens said:

I assume all the larger/better outfitters and camps will have a large supply of bottled water or Gatorade on site for their hunters? .... Not filtered well water.

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That should be the case.

PCC600 said:

Very good ! Now we are stuck with her in Australia

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So I read....unfortunate

jpr9954 said:

Towards the end of my July hunt in KwaZulu Natal, I had a bout of diarrhea accompanied with vomiting. Throwing up is exceedingly rare for me so it took me by surprise. I had a couple more episodes of vomiting a couple of days later including one in the airport which was quite embarrassing.

In retrospect, I put these issues down to the camp's water which came from the river and was purified by reverse osmosis. I usually drank bottled water but would drink water from the pitcher on the table at meals. Maybe yes, maybe no.

Since I've been home, I've felt bloated with lots of stomach gas with constant belching. I went to my family practice doc yesterday and they are running some tests for parasites and bacteria.

Given this was my fourth hunt in S. Africa, it has taken me a bit by surprise. I'm wondering if others have run into the same gastric issues and how common it is.

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Had something similar happen to me, stayed with me for months, turned out to be H Pylori. On the off chance that your Dr's didn't test for that it might be worth getting it checked.

Jack Stevens said:

I assume all the larger/better outfitters and camps will have a large supply of bottled water or Gatorade on site for their hunters? .... Not filtered well water.

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Every outfitter Ive hunted with.. and every camp Ive ever been at anywhere in the developing world (middle east, africa, asia, latin america, etc) has had a healthy supply of bottled water on hand.. this includes places like Somalia, Liberia, rural Indonesia, El Salvador, Haiti, etc..

where you have to be careful (in my experience) is out on the local economy.. if eating in a restaurant, I avoid anything other than canned / bottled fluids.. nothing in a cup with local ice.. no raw vegetables or salads, etc.. everything gets cooked until completely done, etc..

I haven’t been careful in the past, but I guess I’ve been lucky? My first PH said that the water was good, so I trusted him. Maybe I should tell our group to watch out next week...

csmcclain said:

I haven’t been careful in the past, but I guess I’ve been lucky? My first PH said that the water was good, so I trusted him. Maybe I should tell our group to watch out next week...

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Same here, but what is ok to the locals can still impact the health of visitors. Our bodies adapt to whatever we are regularly exposed to and while the water might not affect your PH and his staff, it can still knock you on your butt if your gut is the least bit susceptible. We spend too much for a safari to risk having it all mucked up by intestinal issues. One of my friends went to Namibia two years ago on his 2nd safari and got ill from a meal in one of the airport restaurants after eating a side salad with his meal. He was in country for 8 days and for 6 of them he was incapacitated with vomiting and diarrhea and was only able to eat ramen noodles for the entire trip. That will put a damper on a vacation and depending on severity it can be life threatening. Stick to beer, wine and bottle water and fully cooked foods.

A good PH will ask for dietary requirements. Spell this out clearly and you will save yourself from being tempted.

Moody808 said:

Had something similar happen to me, stayed with me for months, turned out to be H Pylori. On the off chance that your Dr's didn't test for that it might be worth getting it checked.

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Any idea how you caught that?

JG26Irish_2 said:

I take a med kit that besides first aid supplies, also contains a broad spectrum antibiotic and a small tube of Ivermectin. My Doc said that if I was exposed to or exhibited symptoms of malaria, amoebic dysentery or parasitic infection that I was to take a dose of the Ivermectin immediately and another upon returning to the States. I have never needed it in Africa. I always tell the outfitter to include traditional African cuisine and game meat with all meals. I mostly drink only bottled water in the field and coffee, tea or beer in the lodge.
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Drink beer and bottled water and avoid raw fruits and vegis and you are not likely to get ill.

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Just curious, but do the outfitters make the coffee or tea using bottled water? Hope so.

Jack Stevens said:

Any idea how you caught that?

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He can say how he caught it personally. Generally speaking, it comes from contaminated water, or bad handwashing from someone who has it (fecal remnants to you eating it when they prepare your food or drink etc), or from mouth to mouth contact (kissing) with someone who has it.

It can also just be in your stomach from when you were a kid and came into contact with it and then something changes in your gut biome and causes it to run rampant and require treatment.

csmcclain said:

I haven’t been careful in the past, but I guess I’ve been lucky? My first PH said that the water was good, so I trusted him. Maybe I should tell our group to watch out next week...

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Outfitters and PHs aren’t in the business of getting their clients sick. I’ve always eaten anything in camp and drank the water my PH said was good. If you want to be a tourist on your own I’d be careful what you eat and drink.

Jack Stevens said:

I assume all the larger/better outfitters and camps will have a large supply of bottled water or Gatorade on site for their hunters? .... Not filtered well water.

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In Zim they tell you, don’t drink the water and I 100% believed them once I smelled the water. I’m not sure there is a filter that could pull all of the nasty out of that water. I drank probably 2-3 cases of water during my 14 days in camp and every one of them was brand new, so yes they always keep lots of water on hand.

You could have eaten some tainted food and got a bout of salmonella. That happened to me in Costa Rica once as well as Saudi Arabia.

Everything in my stool tests came back negative for parasites, salmonella, e. coli, H. Pylori, and C. Dif.

I will be doing the breath test for H. Pylori in a couple of weeks. I have to be off of Protonix for a couple of weeks before I can do that test. My PA thinks the breath test is more accurate.