Matopo National Park: Nine of us took the opportunity to go on a rhino safari approximately 25km away in Matopo National Park. We spent the morning exploring the "rhino cave" and then the "lion cave," looking at bushman paintings. The lion cave actually housed the most impressive cave paintings I've seen so far!
Our guide was a bit of a nutcase though and sort of rushed us up and down the hiking trails that led to and from the caves. On the way to one of the caves, he got lost. We're also pretty convinced that he poisoned us. (More on that in a bit...) Following a lunch that everyone seemed to enjoy except me, we set out on foot to stalk some rhinos. Two hours later, we were finally able to pick up their trail and spotted three of them at a distance. They eventually ran away, but we found them again and were able to get within 10 meters of them!
Finding rhino was cool but the rhino stalking itself involved a lot of bush walking (like what we did in the Okavango Delta) which, I've come to realize, I intensely dislike. My height is such that the tall weeds and grasses--that are pushed out of the way from the person in front of me--swing back and hit me square in the face. I spend my time navigating a rather menacing landscape of thorny bushes, spiky acacia trees, and presumptuous grasses. On this bush walk, a particularly nasty branch succeeded in drawing blood, giving me a couple cuts on my left cheek.
So bush walking sucks. What also sucks is waking up in the middle of night feeling horrible and not being able to make it out of your tent fast enough! Lying awake for the next few hours contemplating nausea is no fun either.... The night was rough, but there was some consolation when I woke up the next morning and found out that six other people were sick. Seven people afflicted, what could it be?! People spent the morning theorizing about what could have made everyone sick. Rather, some people continued to spew and healthy people theorized. The latter eventually came to the conclusion that all seven of us were on the rhino safari. Recall though that it was nine of us who went on safari and two were basically healthy (one girl fell of a horse and damaged her wrist). We then figured out that the seven of us had tried some berries handed to us by our nutcase guide - the two "healthy" ones had had the good sense not to eat them. So it could have been the berries, or it could have been dirt from the unwashed hands that handed us the berries. Really not sure what else it could be....
Bulawayo: Hate this place. To be fair, it was one asshole who tainted the whole city for me, but it just takes one. I was walking with Kat for a while in town and we had just split off to take care of different things. I heard a voice behind me say "don't hurry" and then I felt a hand grab my chest. I called him a "mother fucker," punched him, and immediately walked away. Then I started to cry. It wasn't so much feeling violated as feeling insulted, degraded, and wracked with anger. The incident put me off of everything I needed to take care of that morning and I went back to the truck trying to shake this feeling of utter disgust. In case anyone's wondering, I was wearing tennis shoes, baggy track pants, a zipped up fleece, and a jacket over the fleece. I guess even not showering and brushing my hair for days on top of wearing the most non-revealing clothing I own is just not enough! Hmpfh! Part of me wishes I hadn't walked away after one punch, but being without a passport in Zimbabwe probably means I should really avoid trouble...
On Passportlessness: Everyone on the truck was supposed to obtain a visa for Ethiopia while in Harare, Zimbabwe. We got word that the embassy in Harare was no longer issuing visas to non-residents of Zimbabwe as of last Friday. Ethiopian embassies have either implemented or started to enforce a rule in which you can only get a visa in the country of which you are a resident. After much frustration, deliberation, and research on the part of my mom, sister, and Theo, I have decided to send my passport home. Americans have a slightly more difficult time obtaining visas than Brits or Aussies because of shipping and processing time.... For example, our passports cannot go directly to the US from Africa, but have to go via Europe. I think the passports have already arrived in Australia and Europe and the US passports just have to make it a little further. I'm staying optimistic and hoping the passport arrives back in Harare by June 9th - that's when the truck leaves for Mozambique.
And now,dear reader, I must apologize for a) being too rant-y and b)the criminally slow $8/hour Internet in Botswana/Zimbabwe that has delayed picture posting. More cheery posts to follow and hopefully pictures too!
This blog post paints a rather bleak picture but its really not all bad: I Did get to see amazing cave paintings and rhino in Matopo National Park, I am pretty much fully recovered from whatever bacteria that was plaguing me, no further harm came to me in Bulawayo, and my Mom, being the best Mom in the world, is going to the Ethiopian consulate in LA on my behalf to take care of business. The truck is parked at Antelope Park for a couple days where I have elephant training and riding, horse riding, lion walking and feeding, and canoeing to look forward to. And! Two incredibly beautiful babies were born earlier this week and I couldn't be happier for the proud parents :) Spirits are relatively high on the African front! Hope everyone is doing well back at home :)
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