Jet lag

[Gemsbok Gangsta]

New plan leave May 21 hunt with KMG till the 30th. Not going back to work until July 5. Add 10 days in Hawaii in there and screw jet lag!!!

 

[Philip Glass]

Going East the jet lag is not so bad but going West it has been bad for me. I usually take melatonin the first night and it helps reset your sleep clock. However I think I need to take the advice from other experienced hunters and that is to take a sleeping pill (prescription) on the plane at the right time to be bed time in Africa. I have slept well with the melatonin but still tired for first 3 days. I think I'll do both this time and see how it goes.
Philip

 

[Christina Nyczepir]

I have to agree with the others: no problem with jet lag going to Africa. But coming home, my body is completely out of whack. Turns our to be a great weight loss program, as I have no appetite for about a week. In the long run, who cares. Hunting in Africa is totally worth any minor discomfort.

 

[Waterguy631]

My flight leaves at 6 pm gets into Jburg at 4 pm I'm thinking I'll sleep on the first leg to dankar then try and stay awake on the second leg so I can sleep that first night in Jburg. what do you who have been before think. Or am I looking at this wrong.

 

[cpr0312]

Waterguy, sounds like a good plan to me, at least your sleeping on your own time, then you can adjust once you get there. You will be so pumped up once you start to hunt you will be floating on cloud 9

 

[Royal27]

My flight leaves at 6 pm gets into Jburg at 4 pm I'm thinking I'll sleep on the first leg to dankar then try and stay awake on the second leg so I can sleep that first night in Jburg. what do you who have been before think. Or am I looking at this wrong.

Yup!

Try and adjust to the time, so the sooner you can get to sleep the better.

 

[CAustin]

I fly Delta and get up regular time 6am! Catch the 10Am flight to Atlanta. Have lunch and go to the club and finish emails for work and do a few calls! Then 7 PM board up and take off. Have a bourbon, eat dinner, watch two movies and by then your five or so hours into the flight! I go to sleep and wake up a couple of hours outside Joberg. Have a little breakfast watch a little tv and we land at OR Tambo! Go through customs get the guns and head to camp! By this time it's dark and you have a couple of bourbons sit around the fire a bit eat a small dinner and go to sleep.
Frankly it doesn't bother me that much.....but I'm blessed with the ability to sleep almost anywhere. The key for me is staying up as long as I can after take off from Atlanta.

 

[Bert the Turtle]

It is easier if you get the good seats and get at least some sleep on the way over. I usually save my $$, travel coach, and can't sleep worth a damn and end up getting a few low quality hours. Watching my wife and son sleep as if they were on a brand new posturepedic doesn't make it any better. BUT, even if you think you are tough, or actually are tough, lack of sleep or poor sleep relative to your usual means your performance is degraded whether you feel like it is or not. It may be good enough, but it isn't optimal. There are plenty of worthwhile and enjoyable things to do on the first day that don't involve a loaded firearm and it is probably not a bad idea to do them, settle in, get a good night's sleep and then get at it.

The particulars of the route can matter as well. Overnight US to Germany, layover all day, night flight with morning to Namibia can be rough if you don't sleep well on planes because it is two nights in a row on a plane. But there is plenty to do for the day in Frankfurt and if you really push it all day and stay awake, it is easier to sleep on the plane the next night. I find the return leg easier particularly because I am by nature a night person but my job starts early in the morning, so I try to stay on Africa time as long as possible which makes the first week back pretty easy for me- I can sleep in and still be up early!

US straight to Johannesburg is about 18 hours on a plane, which is enough to try the sanity of ordinary humans. But it is a night in a proper bed and then you are good to go more or less the next morning and more or less on Africa time.

 

[Wheels]

It is always worse on the way back.

It is just the opposite for me. Going east 9 hours makes it tough going to sleep. The first night, going to bed at 2300 in Africa is like going to bed at 1400 at home. I can't go to sleep in the middle of the afternoon.

Coming home is easier. I force myself into sleep deprivation by staying awake 24+ hours. This gets me back on schedule faster. I also watch more movies on the trip home than I do the other 364 days of the year combined.



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