INSECT REPELLENTS

We’re running low on insect repellent. This is a problem. I’ve waxed lyrical about Uganda having the perfect climate. And, believe me, it does. It’s also perfect for mosquito’s, safari ants and, more worryingly, tsetse flies. All of which pack a powerful punch. Tsetse can even get you through jeans. We’ve used up the supply of insect repellent we brought from the UK and have only, so far, found more in muzungu supermarkets in Kampala. My particular favourite is OFF!, which is fragrance free and repels absolutely everything. It stings a bit when you put it on, mind, but with 15% deet what else can you expect? Sadly, we finished that last week after a particularly savage attack in Queen Elizabeth National Park, which left us both with over 100 bites and itching like mad all night even after taking piriton. So now we’re down to Citronella. It smells nice and smarts when you put it on but, frankly, it isn’t up to the job. Mark bought some insect spray (DOOM!) which he uses to keep the ants out of the house. And we’ve got mosquito coils (TOX!). After some intensive research on the internet M concluded that they were only ‘a bit OK’ (aside – local vernacular – things or people can be described, in descending order as – fine, somehow OK, a bit OK, fair, somehow fair, a bit fair, not fair).
So now we only use them when we’re not in the room. I’m not sure there’s a scientific basis for this strategy. We move to Kampala in three weeks. I know what my first purchase will be…..