Mosquitoes Part 2

I promised to get in touch with the lodge manager in the Mara regarding the mosquitoes and the necessity of mozzie nets and he has some good news!

Does camp can provide mosquito nets?
Yes the camp will provide mosquito nets.

If we bring our own, is there a way of fastening them to the ceiling?
The lodge will also have them fixed for you.

How well sealed are the tents?
The tents are well sealed. We also spray all the occupied guest tents every evening while the guests are out for dinner with an environmentally friendly insecticide and we further provide in each occupied guest tent an environmentally friendly odorless burning insect repellent to ward off any insects which may enter the tent. We do also stock for sale to guests insect repellent body lotions in the Camp shop.

The Maasai Mara has not been known to have mosquitoes besides this one time when it happened this year. We hope there will be no mosquitoes, but have taken necessary measure incase of such event.

Nairobi is not malarial, is it?
No its not. We do provide mosquito nets though in all the rooms.

So you won't need mosquito nets just for the Mara but if you are going elsewhere afterwards, you may still want to buy one. I would still urge you to go out and get good insect repellant though, particularly on the coast!!

Mozzies

Although I am sure you will be taking precautions against Malaria, there may be some mozzies in the Mara. It looks like the Camp doesn't provide nets (though I will ask and they do provide other preventatives) so it is worth getting a good insect repellent and you may also wish to invest in a mosquito net. These should be £15-£20 for a double from Amazon or somewhere like Millets (make sure if you find something cheaper that you're not just buying a head net or fixing kit). Some nets come with the paraphernalia to fix them to the ceiling, bed head etc.

STOP PRESS: Change of flight times

Morning all

I have just been advised that the flight times of the Virgin Group flights has changed. Please find details below:

Outbound:
Friday 30-Oct-09
Virgin Atlantic Flight: VS671
Depart: London Heathrow Apt at 21:20
Arrive: Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta Intl 31-Oct-09 at 09:05

Inbound:
Saturday 14-Nov-09
Virgin Atlantic Flight: VS672
Depart: Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta Intl at 12:50
Arrive:London Heathrow Apt 14-Nov-09 at 19:05

Since the flight from London now leaves at 21.20, it should mean that most people won't need to take the Friday afternoon off work :)

Update on costs and exchange rates

I mentioned a while ago in my post about park fees that these might increase. I'm sorry to inform you that they have - fees are up now to $60US per day. This is unfortunate and will add about £45 to £50 in total to the cost of the trip.

However, the greenback is currently getting weaker - this weekend was at a 10 month low against the pound - so all is not lost. It is expected to get even weaker over the next three months so hopefully the increase in park fees will at least be slightly offset by the decrease in everything else. Also the shilling has got a tad weaker too.