Day 12 Dec. 24 Wednesday
We both slept well last night but woke up feeling tired and just a bit abnormal; nervous, anxious, no appetite …. but didn’t give it much thought. I had been highly anticipating this day – a visit to one of the villages of the Himba, a “semi-nomadic tribe living in scattered settlements……whose women are noted for their unusual beauty and intricate hairstyles and traditional dress…..they rub their skins with dark red ochre….” (notes taken from Kiboko’s notes). Our crew told us that they typically will shop for food for the village being visited as a sign of respect and gratitude for allowing us a glimpse into their lives. In addition, we collected more money from each of group members to add to the pot and ended up with lots of groceries ….. big bags of their staple, maize, and oil and …… I am unable to remember what else we bought. We also picked up a Himba guide who spoke some English and who was to be our translator in the village.
When we were finally ready to go, groceries packed into the ttruck, guide already in narrative mode, I started to feel sick and had to stop the bus, thinking I was going to start with what Mike had. There was absolutely no way I was going to sit on the bus and go through what he had the day before so when the offer was made to drive me back to camp, I accepted. I missed the visit but dear Claire took my iPhone and took some pictures for me …. and here they are.
Mikal’s point of view:
Woke up feeling much improved … Compared to yesterday I would say resurrected would not be too exaggerated.
Today was to be a visit to a Himba village… But on the drive Tilly started feeling symptoms similar to how I began yesterday… at least she had a choice to return to camp … Which we did…
Tilly wanted me to go with the rest of the group but NO WAY was I leaving her after the care she took for me.
At least she didn’t suffer the indignities of puking and shitting roadside…
I never did get sick the way Mike did …. just some extreme nausea but after resting in the tent until everyone came back, we were both more or less back to normal and with the others, trooped over to the lodge for an afternoon of poolside R & R.
It was Christmas Eve and we had planned an evening of “Secret Santa”and so, after a relaxing afternoon, we headed back to camp to decorate our tree, wrap the presents and stash them in the tree. We poured wine and ate sparingly of the nuts and chips on offer while we entertained each other with Secret Santa antics. Dumi, Richard and Mandhla had never played it before so it was just that much more fun. They had prepared a Christmas dinner of gammon (pork), corn on the cob and a cheese bake. We didn’t eat much but what we did eat was very fine!!
Richard told us a Christmas story about growing up with very little money …. so little that they had only bread and peanut butter for their Christmas dinner! How fortunate were we this Christmas?
ENIGMAS 