Travel advice

The University of Louisville International Travel Clinic recommends even the Crescent Hill folks who have visited Guatemala before to take eight doses - one per week starting two weeks before departure - of the anti-malaria drug chloroquine, because El Estor is in the malaria risk zone. (The travel clinic simply called me in a prescription to my local CVS pharmacy.) Stephanie did not need to take this in November, because the church camp she visited, and Guatemala City, were not in this zone. Folks who stay in Guatemala for a long time - like former mission co-worker Ellen, now part of our congregation - do not take chloroquine because the side effects/risks mount with prolonged usage. Taking chloroquine can prevent malaria for people who malaria-carrying mosquitoes have bitten. Malaria prevention strategies include applying permetrin to your clothes and bags before leaving, applying DEET bug spray to all your exposed skin several times a day, and wearing long pants, long shirts, and light-colored clothing. We'll have to talk about whether bringing mosquito nets to our host family houses makes sense. Folks who did not go to Guatemala in 2007 or did not load up on medication at the time the clinic will advice to be sure to be up-to-date on hepatitis and tetanus vaccinations - especially in case of the off-chance that one of us would need to get a dangerous blood transfusion in Guatemala. The travel clinic also recommends that folks take some prescription antibiotics such as Cipro (and they'll write the prescriptions) for the inevitable stomach problems that most on the trip will face for a few hours at one point or another. More on all of this later.

-- Perry