I have white Canadian winter skin, and I took doxy for 7 weeks and suffered no side effects what so ever. It is an antibiotic, as mentioned by Doffcocker, and as such has other benefits!! I did use a 30 spf sunscreen, although in a shamefully haphazard way! Personally, I would consider this right up there in importance as drinking bottled water. Why take the risk? Sunburn heals...
Edited by: franandbrian
Take the antimalarials it's just not worth the risk, malaria is not be be messed with. You're in the privileged sitution of being able to afford the drugs so take advantage of that. I've taken dox before I had vomiting and mouth ulcers. However I had but no food poisoning unlike my malarone taking friends! Some people find that when they get back home it becomes difficult to keep remembering to take the tablets for a month and they don't complete the course. My current prefernce is malarone (or malanil in Kenya) as only needs one week after and one day before so handy for spur of the moment trips up country. I've had no side-effects.
If you are travelling through Nairobi, or any major town, then most pharmacies will stock it at around Ksh180 a tablet, which a believe is cheaper than in europe so you can pick it up here. If you can afford to go to lamu and on safari then you can have your pick of drugs - as alsacienne above says 'Bite the bullet. Pay up'.
Please do take malaria medication when you are in places where it's prevalent. i do not only say that as a pharmacist, but also as someone who had an adventurous friend who also opted to not take these pills dying from malaria she got in ghana.
There is no way you can see what the risk is ... anywhere. Use the professional travel health sites to determine that, not your eyes. You don't work there as a doctor ... Do you?
Also one morepieco of advice: while you can get the malaria medication in kenya as well, it has been shown, there is a big problem with counterfight (wrong) medication ... Up to 40% of the medication you buy there does not include the right (or right amount of) medicine. It's also something you can't see for yourself.
I amalso travelling to kenya this summer. I will take the medication, and buying it at home.
Goid travels to you!