Tse-Tse Flies in Kafue

[jorgjean]

I recently watched a youtube Video with people travelling in Kafue. Lots of Tse-Tse flies. This can actually put me off. What is your experience? Is this always like this or only in particular months?

Thanks.

[ortelius]

Kafue is huge, and those pests could not occupy it whole. We've been to Kafue three times, different parts of the park, and I really don't remember being ever molested by them. I do remember they have spray cans against them before you enter the Kasabushi camp, but that's all we have of them.

We were always there in August.

[Tony Weaver]

The tsetses are very bad in the miombo woodlands. They are attracted to moving vehicles and slipstream behind them, so the locals carry tins of Doom and the minute they stop, they zap the tsetses. Some of the camps also have tins of Doom at their entrances. The camps tend to be tsetse free and I have only really found them to be a big hassle when stopping the vehicle - another trick, taught to me by Chris McBride, is to hang a big tin (a big Ricoffy tin is a favourite up there) with holes punched in it with smouldering elephant dung inside from the back of the vehicle. That stops the tsetses from slipstreaming.
Repellant wise, the only thing that works is Avon Skin-So-Soft, although some people swear by a 50-50 Dettol and water mixture.
Oh, and this is the one time that you really want to wear khaki - tsetse are attracted to dark colours, especially dark blue and black.

[JLK]

Tsetse and horse flies are all over , but depends also the time of the year. Doom works perfect .

[Kalahari Safari]

I recently watched a youtube Video with people travelling in Kafue. Lots of Tse-Tse flies. This can actually put me off. What is your experience? Is this always like this or only in particular months?

Thanks.

Hallo nach Zurich, Gruesse aus Botswana.

As said Kafue is huge and the Tse-tse's are in the Miombo forest and don't fly far from the forested areas.
They follow moving objects like traveling cars or walking people but if you stop they disappear.
So rule number one, when driving into a camp site stop about 500meters before reaching destination and wait for 2 minutes with window closed, Then get out and spray the vehicle with Doom, and proceed to camp.
We never had them there and it was not an issue at all.

They go for dark colours so light coloured clothing helps a lot.

Don't be put off it is not as bad as the flies in Australia

[Wazungu Wawili]

The presence of tsetse flies in vast swathes of Africa is the very reason those places are wilderness areas.

[jorgjean]

Hallo nach Zurich, Gruesse aus Botswana.

As said Kafue is huge and the Tse-tse's are in the Miombo forest and don't fly far from the forested areas.
They follow moving objects like traveling cars or walking people but if you stop they disappear.
So rule number one, when driving into a camp site stop about 500meters before reaching destination and wait for 2 minutes with window closed, Then get out and spray the vehicle with Doom, and proceed to camp.
We never had them there and it was not an issue at all.

They go for dark colours so light coloured clothing helps a lot.

Don't be put off it is not as bad as the flies in Australia

Planning the North including Busenga Plains.

[Kalahari Safari]

Planning the North including Busenga Plains.

You won't have any Tse-tse's in Busanga plains, not their habitat.

Maybe except the tree islands and 100 m proximity.

[Phili]

Early in the morning they are not flying until approx. 0900 depending a bit of the weather. In June for ex. it is quite until 1000 am. If they have come in your car in great nummber put the air com. to the coldest and soon they would retreat and be almost inactifs. I use an old white shirt when driving in Kafue and a karate gui as a trouser if I have one available. In most of the cases they wont land on white cothes. As says earlier the number can varies. You find a lot of them in miombo and in tickets like in the area around Lufupa camp.
Personnally I prefer to drive with open windows and they are actually teritorials so after a while they fly out.
But in some areas it is to much then i close the window again and put the cold on.
Personnally I prefer to have flies around then to have to breath Doom...

[Shoogs]

The tsetses are very bad in the miombo woodlands. They are attracted to moving vehicles and slipstream behind them, so the locals carry tins of Doom and the minute they stop, they zap the tsetses. Some of the camps also have tins of Doom at their entrances. The camps tend to be tsetse free and I have only really found them to be a big hassle when stopping the vehicle - another trick, taught to me by Chris McBride, is to hang a big tin (a big Ricoffy tin is a favourite up there) with holes punched in it with smouldering elephant dung inside from the back of the vehicle. That stops the tsetses from slipstreaming.
Repellant wise, the only thing that works is Avon Skin-So-Soft, although some people swear by a 50-50 Dettol and water mixture.
Oh, and this is the one time that you really want to wear khaki - tsetse are attracted to dark colours, especially dark blue and black.

Everything Tony has said but add some clove oil to the Dettol mix, works a treat.