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Well folks, today is another blog about a personal story where I made a mistake, which you can hopefully learn from and not do yourself next time you’re abroad.
This blog relates back to some common diseases and illnesses you can get abroad, to read more about that check out this blog.
Today I’m sharing the comical yet unfortunate time I drank bad water, and puked in front of a handful of rhinos. Remember if you prefer to watch and listen you can always check out my Youtube channel.
How I got too comfortable
In South Africa I spent two months volunteering at a wildlife reserve. During my stay there I had been drinking the kitchen tap water with no issues. This comfort allowed me to forget that not all water is the same.
Myself and a few other volunteers decided to coordinate a few days visiting Kruger National Park (if you are ever near I seriously recommend visiting!) and stayed at a hostel outside one of the entrances to the park.
Forgetting about the inequality of water sources among different places, I didn’t think twice about drinking the tap water from the hostel we were staying at.
A few days later, nausea over, and I found myself puking outside of the car…. I actually don’t remember how many times it was exactly. Possibly ten?
We happened to have many rhino sightings that day, and every time we went from the motion of driving to a stop, my stomach was unable to keep it’s contents inside. The running joke was that I was sickened by the sight of rhinos.
Puking outside of the car was embarrassing of course, but the bigger issue was that a few times I was a little too close for comfort. Being about 100 metres from an animal that size is rather intimidating.
A few other people who had drank the water got sick after I did, however their issues were coming out the other end mostly. Personally I would have much preferred my sickness if stuck in a vehicle all day.
What can we learn from this?
In terms of acquiring disease and illness abroad, the two major culprits of contracting them are either A) the things you consume, or B) mosquitoes. To learn more about some common travel related illnesses and vaccines check out this blog.
Obviously in this instance I made a mistake in what I consumed.
Being careful with what water you drink is important. Even if you don’t come across a very serious illness via water, the different bacteria present in it may cause some upset. The composition of bacteria varies from place to place, and your gut might not like that.
I’m a very anti-bottled water kind of person, but I do think buying bottled water in places where you are unsure (and don’t have the opportunity to ask someone) is a quick and easy solution.
Even still, if you go somewhere very remote, bottled water might not even be an option, which brings me to two different things which I have used during my adventures.
Chlorine and High Heat
One option you could consider is using something like chlorine tablets to clean water in desperate situations. I used these tablets while walking through some very remote villages in Nepal.
I know there are filters online you could get your hands on as well. These would also be a good option if you know you won’t be able to get your hands on reliable clean water.
The other thing I can suggest is boiling water before drinking it.
While I was volunteering in another small village in Nepal, I was told the water from their spring was perfectly fine to drink, which it was for the other volunteers. The problem was that I was post Delhi belly (check out this blog post for the story) so my system was sensitive.
What ended up saving me fevers and stomach problems was boiling their spring water before drinking it. This worked like a charm, and also saved me from using plastic water bottles (I don’t think there were any available in any shops in town anyway).
In a nutshell folks, be careful of what water you are drinking, and ask for advice wherever you go—even if it’s in the same country!
Ask for advice, use your own filtering methods, or buy bottle water if you must.
If you found this blog funny and insightful, let me know in the comments, and make sure to subscribe to my email list so you don’t miss out on any new travel stories and tips!
Thanks so much for reading, I hope you have an amazing week.
Much love,
Dee
