Africa Self Guided Safari Series Part 2: Water Purification and Responsible Tourism

Don't Drink The Water!
This sad little one liner about traveling has become watchword to some. We get asked a lot of questions when we travel about a variety of topics. One of the questions we get asked the most is, "Do you drink the water?" The answer is "yes," but with qualifiers.

Do Drink the Water?
Some of the countries we are visiting in southern Africa have tap water purified to international health standards. Do your research before you go.

Bottled Water and Traveler Trash
Without being preachy, one of the things that is of top importance to most travelers is the ability to be able to drink water and feel that is not going to make you ill. Seems like many turn to bottled water as their primary defense. The problem for me arises when you have to buy bottled water in plastic containers, drink it and then have few options of what to do with the container! The infrastructure of many countries we have traveled in are not equipped to handle all the plastic trash that is left behind by we travelers. Rather than be part of the problem and rely on bottle water totally, Robert and I have used some type water purification system for the last 10 years of travel with good results.

SteriPEN
We have experimented with several different types with varying results. The one we have used the past two trips to Africa, Panama, and Belize is the SteriPen. This "pen" is a pocket UV-powered water purifier. You use 4 AA batteries to power it and swish it around in the water until the light goes out--one to two minutes depending on the size of your container. We carry rechargeable batteries to power the pen and so this is also another way to cut down on adding to the various countries' landfill problems.

Katadyn Base Camp hanging filter
For this coming trip to South Africa, Zambia, Namibia, and Botswana, and for our recent trip to Belize and Guatemala, we have added another level: purify large amounts of water using a Katadyn gravity filtration system. According to the manufacturer : "The Base Camp comes with the cleanable, AntiClog Hiker Pro Microfilter Cartridge that removes bacteria, Giardia, and Cryptosporidium to EPA Standards." This is a bladder that is hung from a position high enough to allow the water to move from the bladder through the filter into a gallon container. No more pumping, though that is at least some exercise. The water seems to taste better when we use this, and we will use this water for cooking, etc. After it has gone through this container we then will probably still use the SteriPEN for our drinking water for good measure. Probably overkill, though.

Sweetwater Drops
We will be going on some very long bus rides on this trip to Africa. For this trip, we are trying out a new purification idea for our long bus rides where pulling out the rig at bus stops will be problematic. We bought Sweetwater chlorine drops at REI to refill our water bottles on the 8-12 hour bus rides we will be going on. According to the instructions, you put 3-5 drops into your water, wait five minutes and the water is ready. We will see how this goes.

One Last Word on Traveler Trash
Another hint for travelers not related to water issues. Just a suggestion: somewhere in your baggage, fold up or roll up one of your cloth grocery bags from home. These have so many uses besides just the usual one for carrying out your groceries. One of the things that impressed me in some stores In South Africa, Namibia and Botswana is the practice of charging you for the plastic bags for your groceries! I also usually fill a quart baggie with several plastic bags from home and find them very useful as we travel along.