Traveller’s Tales

There is nothing more irritating than the buzz of a pesky mosquito in my ear. On hearing the unmistakable sound, sleep is impossible until…SWAT!

As a frequent visitor to Mexico, I have to admit it’s been a while since I’ve taken anti-malarial tablets.

Mosquito

I do not take my health for granted, but I do allow for complacency to get the better of me – the same condition that organisers of Malaria Awareness Week warn could spell trouble ahead for others like me.

Last year around 5m Britons travelled to malaria risk areas, but 60 per cent did not take the right health advice before they set out. Consequently, around 2,000 get malaria each year; deaths are low but rising.

There is a small risk of contracting the disease when visiting Mexico’s malaria belt – mainly along the coasts of southern states – Campeche, Chiapas, Guerrero, Michoacan, Oaxaca, Quintana Roo, Tabasco and Veracruz. This is especially true for rural areas not often visited by tourists.

According to Professor Peter Chiodini, Director of the Health Protection Agency’s Malaria Reference Laboratory, in the last ten years five people have returned to the UK from Mexico having contracted malaria.

In 2004, there was a single case of malaria among the estimated 400,000 Britons who visited Mexico. That’s reassuring.

Although I often see the little blighters in the mountainous central region of the country (that’s mosquitoes, not tourists), there is, apparently, little risk of malaria at altitudes above 1000 m (which includes a great deal of the country, including Mexico City). That’s more reassuring.

There are two possible choices of anti-malarial drugs for your trip: Chloroquine or Proguanil, both of which you can purchase (in the UK) ‘over-the-counter’ (without a prescription). The Preventing Malaria website is a useful first stop for this sort of information.

Bear in mind that an infant dose of chloroquine varies according to weight. Your doctor will advise on the exact dosage requirement for an infant. I would urge any parent considering taking their child to Mexico to consult their doctor’s surgery or Travel Health Clinic for expert advice.

When in Mexico, I do take some practical steps to get mosquitoes to buzz off and so reduce the chance of being bitten.

If I feel the conditions warrant it, I will use a mosquito net in the bedroom. Gicela and I bought some mosquito netting – pabellón or mosquitero in Spanish – from a haberdasher’s store at the start of our extended visit in 2002/3 and now always carry this with us.

A net is very useful for draping across the top of a baby’s travel cot, or over a buggy while a young child naps. If using on a bed, check there are no holes in the net and tuck it in carefully under the mattress.

There is more you can do to reduce harassment from mozzies.

• Take steps to avoid mosquitoes when they most like to come out and play, between dusk and dawn.
• Use a safe and effective repellent on exposed skin.
• Cover up with long sleeves, trousers and socks between dusk and dawn.
• If you will be staying in a room without air conditioning, try to get hold of a mosquito bed net.

And don’t forget to take the preventative medication, or get lazy like me and take it in a half-hearted way.

If you take these sensible precautions your risk of getting malaria is very low indeed, so enjoy your travels.

Malaria Awareness Week

And finally…

If you do want to get closer to the enemy, I thoroughly recommend Andrew Spielman and Michael D’Antonio’s book, Mosquito: The Story of Man’s Deadliest Foe. Available from Amazon UK, US.

** IMPORTANT **
I am not a doctor. Always consult your healthcare professional before departure.

Some anniversaries are best forgotten, and for me personally, December 1994 is one of the most forgettable. Exactly ten years ago my wife and I were among those hit by the collapse of the Mexican peso.

A week earlier we had booked our one-way flight back to London (payable in US dollars) from an agency in Lázaro Cárdenas, but had chosen not to settle in full until a week or two later. A bad move. A planned exchange rate correction of the Mexican Peso to the US Dollar, triggered a massive financial meltdown, unleashing the ‘Tequila’ effect on global financial markets. Two year’s savings shrank to a beggarly £444 on our arrival at Heathrow Airport on a dank and dingy January morning. I’m still resentful. In time we recovered and grasped the new opportunities of the early internet…

Following yesterday’s story, BBC News Online report on all the kerfuffle created by the new entry procedures: US to fingerprint all UK visitors. They have also posted a useful Q & A piece.

Many Europeans travelling to Mexico do so by first flying to the United States and from there catch a connecting flight to a regional airport in Mexico. From the end of this month, they will have their fingerprints and photos taken on entry into the US.

On 2 April the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it would extend US-VISIT arrival procedures to all passengers, including those from the 27 Visa Waiver Programme (VWP) countries – which include many European countries, Australia and Japan. This means that from Thursday 30 September, arriving passengers will have a digital photograph taken, and have inkless digital scans taken of their index fingers. Canadians will be the only foreign nationals able to enter the US without the new checks.

Delays at US gateway airports are not anticipated. The US-VISIT ‘flash-and-scan’ procedure will add an average 15 seconds onto the security screening process.

Also, from 26 October, anyone wishing to visit the USA (or in transit) must have either: 1. a Machine Readable Passport and a Visa Waiver form (obtained at the airport on departure) or 2. a valid visa which must be obtained before travel from the US authorities.

Note that if you want your child to travel with a Visa Waiver form, they must hold their own Machine Readable Passport.

The airlines appear to be trying hard to educate their customers about the new regulations and explanatory cards in different languages will also be distributed to in-flight passengers. British Midland has a particularly clear explanation of the new rules on its website.

You may also watch a video of the entry and exit process in English or other languages on the DHS website.

That’s not the end of it. After 26 October next year, travellers will be required to carry a biometric passport – containing an electronic scan of the fingerprint, iris, hand or face.

Disclaimer: I am not an expert in these things; the situation is complex and can change. Always consult ‘official’ sources such as your nearest US Embassy.

To mark the opening of the world’s first internet café – Café Cyberia in London’s West End – 10 years ago today, Yahoo UK has unveiled the best places in the world to ‘surf the net’. Judges of the first Yahoo! Mail Internet Cafe Awards received more than 1,000 nominations from travellers for internet cafés in 111 different countries. The winning cafés, along with the best of the rest, also feature in a special edition 64-page Rough Guides e-book, available as a free download.

No internet cafés in Mexico made the judges final selection. Nevertheless, internet cafés are now ubiquitous throughout the country, with new ones constantly opening, rendering any directory fairly obsolete and unnecessary. Many guidebooks list a handful of alternatives in most locations, but you can be rest assured you will never be far away from a place to email people back home – something research shows 69 per cent of us do within days of landing on foreign soil.

Mexican Spanish phrasebook

So, a quarter of Brits spend less than two hours deciding on where to go on holiday – less time than it takes to check in at the airport, according to the ‘Holiday Habits’ study from Norwich Union released today.

Furthermore, one in ten book a holiday with no prior research about the resort or country they will be visiting. Depressingly, many don’t seem to care, with ‘experiencing another culture’ seen to be the least important consideration when booking their holiday. Almost one third admit to travelling without knowing the local customs or bothering to learn the basics of how to say “hello”, “please”, “thank-you” and “goodbye” when holidaying in a non-English speaking country.

Chances are, if you’re reading this, you are not one of their number. However, seven out of ten tourists also admit they regularly travel without the recommended medical jabs or any travel insurance. This is less hard to believe, but ill-advised. Trust me, Know Before You Go.

“Aztec Two Step”, Turista… it can strike even the most seasoned traveller. Diarrhoea is the most frequent health-problem affecting travellers to ‘high risk’ countries, but clinical trials will shortly begin in Britain on an oral vaccine that could help prevent almost two thirds of the more than 400 million cases of diarrhoea each year.

The research is being carried out by scientists at a UK-based company Microscience, and about 40 healthy volunteers will soon be taking the new pill – the Travellers’ Diarrhoea (ETEC) Vaccine – to test its effectiveness and safety.

Most ‘over-the-counter’ rehydration solutions (e.g. Pepto-Bismol, Imodium, Lomotil) can help reduce the number of bowel movements and effectively relieve diarrhoea and cramps, but they may prolong the time it takes the body to rid itself of the toxin.

In Mexico, my mother-in-law will prescribe a traditional remedy like rosemary tea or agua de guava. Also effective if you suffer an upset stomach on the road or feel dehydrated is to mix refresco de manzana (an apple-flavoured soda) with agua de Tehuacan – a widely available mineral water. Almost any small store will prepare this for you on the spot (ask for the nearest ‘tienda de abarrotes’).

For well-balanced advice from The People’s Guide to Mexico, read Staying Healthy in Mexico

Alternatively, if you’re preparing for a trip, take a peek at the Pepto-Bismol Travelling Healthy Guide.

Mexico sets the clock forward one hour at 2:00am on Sunday 6th April.

Mexico began to observe Daylight Saving Time (DST) in 1996 since funcionarios in Mexico City wanted to save the country an estimated 2 million barrels of oil a day because of the increase in daylight. Still somewhat controversially, when clocks in the US “spring forward”, Mexico’s will do the same.

So, after being 7 hours behind UK time this past week (DST started in Europe and ended in Australia on March 30th) most of Mexico will revert to the usual 6 hour time difference.

A self-indulgent post. This is me, receiving the “Lente de Plata” Award from Tourism Secretary Leticia Navarro Ochoa in Acapulco on Wednesday. The Governor of Guerrero, René Juárez Cisneros, stands on her left while the richest man in Latin America, Carlos Slim Helu beams at me over her right shoulder. Disappointingly (for me), President Fox was unable to attend following back surgery last month. We wish him a speedy recovery.

Acapulco: Breezed in yesterday on a 45 minute Mexicana flight from Mexico City. No April Fool’s, but tomorrow at the Tianguis Turistico we will be presented with a ‘Lente de Plata’ (Silver Lens) Award by President Vicente Fox in recognition of our role in “educating and encouraging travellers to visit Mexico.” We’re being put up at the Acapulco Princess (pictured), where Howard Hughes once lived in seclusion in a penthouse suite. It is rather grandiose and reminiscent of the Mayan pyramids we’ve been visiting in Yucatan over recent weeks. Oh, and as I’m writing this, Tourism Secretary Leticia Navarro Ochoa has popped in to the Media Centre to give all us gathered journalists a pat on the back. Very nice.