My Kit Bag

My kit bag continues to have a fairly low-tech feel (ridiculed in some quarters) but the last thing you need in this part of the world is to be up all night trying to repair your nuclear-powered wireless nose trimmers. Anyway, there have been a few additions since the last time…

• Sonim XP1 – testing out super tough phone. Came with instructions suggesting I do my damnedest to break it. So far it has stood up to life in my pocket pretty well (which is more than can be said for most of the phones I’ve been using). Should be giving it a better work out in the days to come
• Prescription sunglasses – why did I not get these sooner? Can look cool and, erm, see stuff in sunny places, such as Africa. Particularly useful in places where putting contact lenses in your eyes is like shovelling sand directly into your cornea
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  Nivea moisturiser (for men, obviously) – there comes a time in every foreign correspondent’s career when they suddenly realise that spending any more time in the sun runs the risk of turning their facial features into those of Sandy Gall quicksmart. And that’s just the women. Boom boom. Anyway, clearly I wouldn’t fall for any anti-aging marketing nonsense… but after a long day in the sun, it can’t hurt, right?