Just a little prick sir...

Obviously, travelling to more exotic places than the Costa del Evesham brings with it the increased risk of catching some rather nasty diseases and illnesses (only marginally mind, as someone who has had a takeaway from Snappy Pizza will testify).

The Gambia is a hot and humid place, built up around a river (Gambia river, from which the country gets its name), so naturally this is a malaria hot zone, but it is also a country which yellow fever is prevalent, and so the need to go and have some injections is not so much a recommendation but a necessity. 

Those who know me will realise that I am rather adverse to injections - there is just something about voluntarily putting a disease into yourself which makes me wonder if I am a little bit crazy really, but I am assured it is for the greater good!! 

As far as I can tell it is wise to get yourself protected from practically everything while you are out there - malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever, rabies, typhoid, tetenus, diphtheria, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, meningitis and speaking to the nurse about all this as she runs through her menu of innoculations suddenly makes you realise the hidden cost of a holiday to exotic places. Thankfully I had some vaccinations done prior to my Asian adventure, which meant I only needed boosters (and one less injection than Sarah) so I was pretty happy really. So I am getting injected, which I hate, am having a live virus inserted into my arm (Yellow fever) , which is crazy and worst of all I am having to pay for the privilege!!! I decided not to get the rabies jabs (which is a course of 3 seperate injections) and have resolved to avoid any foaming mouthed St Bernards on my trip...

Total cost of jabs and medications so far: £111.00

Decisions, decisions *hic* decided!!

After a brief hiatus on the tour front owing to a house move, I am pleased to say that this year Sarah and I have resolved to get away and see some more of the world.

It has been an eventful year since the last trip away, and has seen me get engaged, move house (and into a place with Sarah). We have also been on a bit of a fitness drive which was going swimmingly until Sarah broke her ankle playing squash with me, and then following that, she unfortunately had a blood clot in her leg too.

To get around the blues of January both of us enjoy spending the month talking about and arranging our next adventure. A sort of post-Christmas pick-me-up. The options were varied, between a trip to the equator (Kenya to be precise) so we can enjoy the white sandy beaches and go out looking at grey, leg-faced men (Elephants), or going to the other side of Africa and visit The Gambia or staying a bit closer to home and visit Cyprus. With Sarah's blood clot, we decided it was sensible to not go too far on the plane (I am sort of fond of her!!) so we limited flight times to about six hours max.

There was a lot of pontificating going on but after a boozy Saturday in the pub (yesterday) we had, as alcoholics call it, a moment of clarity and eventually (and tipsily) plumped for a trip to The Gambia at the beginning of April. The temperatures are consistently in the 30s all year around, so we are guaranteed some nice sunshine, and to add an element of luxury we have gone all inclusive, so we don't spend insane sums on booze again.

There are a few medical downsides to going here though, namely I will need to get spiked at the doctors again to prevent me from getting all sorts of African nasties (which could limit future blogging opportunities). Reading the FCO country advice page is enough to scare the bejesus out of anyone, with stories ranging from "bumsters" (locals hassling you to part with your cash for very little in return) to reading up about Dengue and Yellow fever. It is a wonder we ever leave this sceptred isle! Still, precautions will need to be taken, it is a savagely hot country that is mainly next to a river - therefore it is a malaria hot zone, so I will need to bring my can of Hofmeister once again.....

Anyway, this is just a post to say that a tour is coming and i will be blogging our adventures when we do.........only 9 weeks away......