| Hi Wobble, well you've moved to a part of the world with fabulous diving, which should compensate for Moresby not being the easiest city to live in! We went to PNG last September despite all our Aussie mates (we were leaving Sydney after 3 years) telling us we were mad to go there, it's so dangerous, etc... had a great time and found the locals (in New Britain anyway, where we based ourselves) to be the friendliest we'd met travelling anywhere.
But I digress...
Re: malaria drugs, none of the expats we met over there were taking them - too dangerous to take long term as you said. Everyone said they just treated it when (note: not IF!) they got malaria - some people swore by a Chinese herbal remedy called Artemether which I think you can buy at pharmacies there - they said it cleared up pretty quickly. This was from the people who run a dive resort in Kimbe Bay and have been there for years and years. Can't comment from personal experience though!
Some people take an antibiotic instead of malaria tablets, but again it can't be good to take antibiotics long term (as they kill off all the good bacteria as well as the bad) and they also make your skin very light-sensitive - you can often spot the travellers taking this option by their bright pink noses!
By the way, I got your PM asking about dive sites so will respond directly. Happy to post the response here too if that helps.  |