As you may know, week 12 has been a write off. We were meant to be starting our Etosha adventure right about now, but instead we remain exactly where you left us last week: sick and frustrated. As our delightful Afrikaans doctor told us - “These Africa bugs. They’ll wipe you out. These are the big big ones. They’ll make your pommy doctor’s eyes pop right out of his head if they sees them!” And he wasn’t exaggerating, we were hit by the big ones. So much so that Naomi spent two stints in hospital on a drip to try and kick the big old African parasite’s ass.
As ever in these situations, it’s the kindness, generosity and infectious humour of those that step in to help, that we will remember. We were supposed to be spending just two nights at Hakusembe River Lodge, but instead they happily put us up and looked after us for six. All the while making food we thought we could handle; driving us to and from the hospital; and, generally trying to cheer us up.
The doctors at the hospital took care of everything, ensuring we were properly settled and looked after on the ward and making sure that our insurance company couldn’t wriggle out of reimbursing us for medical fees. The doctor even provided an email address and telephone number in case we hit problems further along the road. The only negative was that when filling in a patient form, he guessed Naomi’s height at 4’6” (perhaps dysentery shrinks people? Or maybe it was the doubled up stooping? Or maybe it’s just that he was 7’Massive) However, no amount of charming doctors and bowls of soup can take away the dismay of watching our carefully crafted schedule fall apart. Of whiling days away in a haze of fevers and sickness instead of peddling furiously in pursuit of new adventures. Each day hoping to wake up with a hint of freshness indicating the clouds lifting, dashed by the fact of still being awake and poorly at 2am. It has been horrid. Being ill is one thing, but fearing that it might put a stop to even small parts of our plans has been unbearable.
So a week has passed. And we’ve had to re-jig, rework and rethink things. But, today the fog has marginally cleared. And we aren’t going to let some parasite, not matter how big and African and beastly, stop us. And there is one major positive - you can absolutely give me all the hills, tired legs and hot long days in the saddle over this past week. THREE GREAT REASONS TO DONATE 1. The kilometres, hills and even animal gauntlets haven’t made you believe in the toughness of this journey - but a couple stints in hospital have finally persuaded you to sponsor 2. You’ve finally read our blogs from VAP, ACE and LICO and can see that The Egmont Trust and it’s partners does the most amazing work, and that’s worthy of at least a penny or two 3. You’ve liked at least 10 of our Instagram posts and commented once: those few minutes of mild entertainment deserve a donation EVERY PENNY GOES TO THE EGMONT TRUST - donate and learn more here: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/equatortocape
