We know our costs. The flight to Dar Es Salaam: $2,000. Safari: $5,000-10,000, depending on length of time and level of coddling. Hotels: $100/night. We were not prepared, though, for the costs of The Bug War.

Africa has bugs, and bugs have bugs. We are told by various governments to come armed against all kinds of bugs. Thus, enter the “travel clinic.” Betsy shopped hard, bypassing the gold standards like Emory and Piedmont for an independent travel clinic. We saved hundreds of dollars between the 2 of us–and still spent $1,200 in arms. Well, shots in arms, both arms. I wasn’t willing to offer my butt. That includes pills, too. Immodium, cipro, electrolyte replacement, DEET 30, DEET 50, DEET 100, atovaquone-proguanil–do you really want all the names?

Like US taxpayers threatened with The War on Terrorism, we are willing to pay whatever it takes to prevail in The Bug War. Mosquitoes, ticks, gnats, yellow fever, malaria, dengue fever (oops, not covered), hep B, tetanus–we’re locked and loaded for whatever may come. Of course, there’s still the chance those little sappers will sneak in on us when we’re least expecting…..