go to a quack and get some doxycycline, its an anti-malarial antibiotic. it makes some people a bit more sensititve to the sun but i have used it plenty of times and had no dramas.
or stock up on the rid...

Malaria is a prob there ...

Think you might be going a bit early, as the trades don't kick in there till later than Bali they reckon.

Again, check Jankies site www.bali-indokitesurfing.com or www.bali-kitesurfing.org for info...

cheers,
Buzz

hey duke,
i have spent about 1 and a half years surfing sumbawa back when there was no surf camps,restaurants ect. pitch a tent and go ferral,aahhhh the good old days,surfing lakey peak and perriscopes to ourselves.

my last trip there where about 20 other surfers camped there,all being carefull of the dreaded malaria till a big night on the local drop.

woke up in the morning with drunken,pasted out crew with no shirts on scatted in the bush everywhere.

out of the 20 crew,16 got malaria from that night.
was sort of good cause i didnt get it and everyone else that was crook bailed out..... empty waves for me

Take your tablets,cover up and you will be fine.

ps. can i come

SERIOUS HEALTH INFORMATION

2 years ago i was amazed to find most ot the crew at Lakeys wer not taking any malaria prophylaxis including felix [he went feral so long ago he is probably immune].

The risk is real.
Bertrand Fleury got a serious hit of malaria there and nearly died late last year. There is long list of early surf explorers who died of malaria, including American, Mike Boyum who found G Land. One in 5 Sumbanese kids don't make 5 mostly because of malaria. The problem is present year round but less at the end of the dry [when kitesurfers are at Lakeys]. Day flying mozzies can give you Dengue fever so they are best avoided at all times.

Take Malaria prophylaxis. Doxycycline works really well but can lead to sunburn [just ask Andy Cooksey]if you are fair and not using good UV protection. Malarone [atovaquone /proguanil]is nice but super expensive. Lariam [mefloquine] works and is just once weekly. its cheap but occasionally [less than 1%] spin out mentally, so it is best tried at least a week before you go [as i heard that the mental hospital in Sumbawa makes medieval look charming]

Hello guys,
you know malaria you can avoid it. Been in Sumbawa with many mates for the last 4 years and never had a problem, we even take there wife and kids,,,,, but we all take our precautions:

1- stay in a clean place, with room that have air conditioning and mosquito net. The best and cleanest hotel there is Amangati.

2- the bad mozzy bite from sunset till about 10 pm, use long sleeve shirts,long pants and plenty of Autan or any other mosquito repellent.

3- don't go to camp or sleep on the beach at night....

4- if you are still afraid take anti malaria pills but usually they make you feel very sick till you stop to take them and then you are exposed as everybody else.

5- incubation period is about 2 to maximum 6 weeks so if after coming back from a trip you start to feel bad with constant fever, bones hurting and headache go to make blood test. Do not wait...

In 4 years I have been bitten by mosquitos no more then 3 times in all.
Note that I spent quite sometime living in Africa where Malaria was a much more serious problem! but with this few and easy to follow advice you

If you go in two weeks bring your surfboard as you are not going to get any wind.... Season there start in August.
Bye Jankie

hey duke massive call saying you're "pumped"to surf sumbawa last time i heard you were sh#@tting yourself to the point of crying and talking about maybe not even taking a board but perhaps just doing a bit of snorkelling.
as for malaria i wouldnt worry mate by the time your finished "befriending" the local monkeys its fair to say malaria will seem like a cold compared to a dose of primate v.d

Give larium a miss - have heard of at least three people who have had psychological side effects from it, one who says it ruined his stay at G-land.

Maybe that, or it was all the mushies and psuedoephedrine "cold tablets" you can buy at the chemist...who knows

1. should see a travel dr prior to going

2.can get some updated information on Doxy resistant malaria from MASTA- it is important to make sure the malarial strain in the area (worst is P. falciparum) is not the doxycycline resistant malaria.

3. doxycycline is a safe antibiotic, but can cause photosensitivity, and gastric upset.
need to start 2 days before, and continue 2 weeks after

4. can soak clothes in DEET from a camping store prior to leaving- o/w can still be bitten through clothes- the deet will last on the clothes for up to 5 washes.

5. stay covered with an insect repellant with at least 7% deet concentration- e.g. tropical strength aeroguard. kids can't use this though.

6. darker clothes attract mossies- wear light longs, and sleep under a mozzie net- always better to spray the room with insecticide before sleeping.

7. usually get shaking chills, and quotidian fevers- i.e a fever which comes in regular relapses- related to the flooding of the blood with the malarias progeny ( =trophozooites)

8. testing is by antigens to the malaria, and also daily thick, and thin blood smears, for 3 consecutive days.

9. if any febrile or flu symptoms- some are told for up to 1 year after visiting malarial area -go to a dr who is experienced in malaria- usually the travel dr's- they do an extra certification in tropical medicine (= malaria mostly)

Hello again,
Is not that I'm against prophylaxis but I still think that the best way is to try to avoid as mush as possible to be biten by a mozzie...
No bite no malaria... as simple as that.
I don't see things in different prospective, just recently I had 3 friends in hospital with dengue.. I had a friend in Kenya that took malaria twice in 4 months.
Locals die of Malaria more then tourist that come prepared.
My prospective is to try to minimize the risk.
When I see people in Lakey at dinner time in board short a singlet, flip flop with no trace of mosquito repellent I get the chill....
I even saw people falling asleep drank on the beach.
But hey that is your choice....
Just keep it safe.
Bye Jankie

I have used doxycycline, artesunate and dihydroartemisinin (which may have a shorter name) in West Africa, and they all seemed to work. The one night I didn't take something I got hit, and I would thoroughly recommend never getting malaria. It sucks bigtime.

I got malaria in Sumbawa while taking doxycycline...so my confidence in that stuff is pretty low...in fact when I was there last ( a fair time ago now) a lot of guys went down with malaria.
Indo was the start of our surf travels round the world and our next stop was Europe. I went down like a bag of sh1te in Portugal spent a week in hospital and had all the boys visiting me ....letting me know of the insane point break firing at 8ft every day I was in there , video+ photos to prove it as well...sucked big time!!!