After our day at the beach, we were all a little tired, all a little hungry, and as we learned (while in the middle of nowhere) the car was totally out of gas. I say we "learned" this because it was information that Paul and JoAnna hid from Ryan and I .... the backseat sleepers. It was probably best....they did make the right decision as Ryan has a propensity to worry. This is good and bad depending on the circumstance. In this situation - worry would have done no good, so I'm glad we didn't know!
We learned about our low fuel just as Paul and JoAnna turned off the main highway and started down a less-traveled road. Signs of petrol and thoughts of cold sodas lightened their mood and they confessed we were low on fuel. You can imagine the collective sigh of relief as we came upon a one-street town with a gas station prominently featured.
I don't remember exactly, but I think the gas station was the only formal business in town. So I took the opportunity to boost the economy by purchasing Coca Cola "Light" some candy and gum. The gum was cool - you know the cool foreign packaging and all, so it was well worth the trip even if we hadn't needed to refuel.
Back on the road to St. Lucia we enjoyed the last of our treats and arrived in what was perhaps the most touristy stop on our trip to South Africa or Lesotho. Hotels were not much different maybe than they had been elsewhere, but they had swimming pools, slides, and all-night karaoke. Wahoo - but count me out. At least when I'm in Africa.
After our last housing disaster (narrowly saved by the Sea Moya) we were a little more tense about where we'd stay. This time though we seemed to have more options than before and after splitting up to cover more ground, and then getting together again, we settled on a very nice place that Paul and JoAnna found. It had a swimming pool, quiet patio out front, and a narrow path lined by tall grass that led to the river. The river, otherwise known as the "home of hippos and all things dangerous."
Paul set off down the path, me behind with Joey and Ryan dragging their feet.
It is difficult to tell from this photo, but Paul is entering grass that is a good 5 to 6 feet tall. To tall to see over. I thought nothing of the walk until Ryan started hollering from behind. I ran back to see what was causing the commotion. JoAnna looked rather afraid and Ryan looked very concerned. There was no immediate danger, but there was the *prospect* of danger (remember his propensity to worry?) and thus after a bit of mental deliberation, I decided to follow my husband's advice and not take the path further into the grass toward the river's edge.After all, as we had driven into town, we DID see several hippos in this very same river less than a 1/2 mile away. SO....better safe than sorry this time around. Paul and JoAnna decided to trek further - but I don't honestly know how far they got. JoAnna did look quite nervous so perhaps she convinced Paul to head back.
In no time we were all back at the room and ready for dinner. We donned our best clothing (safari skirt and chaco/flip-flop sandals for me) and started the walk to the center of town, about 1/4 mile away. The craft fair on the main street had closed up for the night and we saw ahead the thatched roof of the pizza and beer join we were hoping for. Pizza! Beer! Hooray!
Dinner was quite pleasant, made more enjoyable by the ultra-fun server. He had an impossible accent (maybe just to me) and a really good sense of humor. We liked him instantly. After eating our fill we enjoyed the warm night air and leisurely strolled back to our lodging. We greeted the guards in our parking lot, both of whom looked like they would rather be elsewhere - especially the one with the bandaged foot, and meandered to our room.
Our room had many great conveniences, the one I found most alluring was the television. It was however, somewhat oddly arranged. The entry to the lodging walked directly into a very narrow room with two twin beds. This "room" was separated from the remainder of the lodging by a short wall with windows made of glass louvers. This was nice for air flow and for other reasons I'll elaborate on momentarily Once you crossed from the twin-bed room into the remainder of the lodging (which of course you could see through the glass louvered windows) there was a nice full-size bed, a kitchen, cabinets with the TV, and also the bathroom. Oh - and a ceiling fan - this is ALWAYS important when A/C is not around.
Anyway - now that you have an idea of the lay out (don't forget those glass louvered windows...they're key) I should continue with the tale.I don't think anyone else was as excited about watching TV as I was, but everyone was happy to be back, and ready to prepare for bed because the next morning we would be picked up around 4:30 AM to go on a game drive.
I don't know how the ruckus began, but I am pretty confident JoAnna was the first to spot the large flying object. Large, black, flying object. Large, black, object flying a figure-eight pattern. I t seems like someone screamed (probably JoAnna....we learned that she tends to scream when cockroaches and other creepy-crawlies are around) and the next thing we knew, all four of us were in the main room with the door to the twin-room closed. All of us watching the black thing fly figure eights through the glass louvered windows. I'd like to say that I'm the hero of this story, but I'm not. In fact, I'm the one who almost wet my pants because I was laughing so hard.
That big black figure-eight flying object was a bat. And do you know that bats with rabies can infect you merely by touch? Well, that's what JoAnna told us. Even worse, (and this is from JoAnna who is a medical doctor therefore I trust her with my life) if you are infected with rabies and are not treated in 24-48 hours, you will probably die. According to JoAnna, no human has ever survived a case w/out treatment. How's that for a warm welcome to St. Lucia?
So, Paul volunteered to suit up and kill the bat for us while we watched from behind the glass louvers. I will mention that I shut the louvers to prevent a bat-escape into the main room, this was my only act of heroism. Protecting the innocent bystanders.
There wasn't much that Paul could do to guard himself against a potential brush with the bat other than to wear long sleeves, carry a tall broom, and of course, wear a head net that my loving husband bought for our honeymoon. His planning paid off.
Paul boldly, or maybe not so boldly went into the twin-bed room ducking and squatting his way to the front door. With the front door opened, we hoped the bat would get wise and fly on out. Surely his sonar/radar whatever he uses to guide himself would help him realize there was a 6 foot by 3 foot opening in the room! No luck.
So, Paul did the only possible thing. He stood up and began to swing the broom up and down, hoping to hit the bat in flight. There was no aim involved, just swinging and hoping that destiny strike in our favor.
JoAnna of course is gripped with fear, visions of her rabid husband being rushed via the Volkswagen to the nearest hospital. Ryan was splitting his side in the hardest laughter I've ever witnessed by him, and I was trying to give reporter-like updates and keep JoAnna calm. Finally, it became too much for me. The swinging, the headnet, the laughter - it was all so overwhelming. I had to quickly excuse myself to empty my bladder. Thank goodness I wasn't trapped in the other room.
The next thing I knew (my view was hindered by the bathroom walls) there was a loud cheering a dropping of the broom, and then, another blood curdling scream. Paul had managed to strike the bat, but instead of falling to the floor, he fell somewhere MUCH worse. That poor bat landed right on JoAnna's pillow.
If I hadn't seen it myself, I wouldn't have believed it for a moment. The irony was far too great. Paul gave it a big flick which must have stirred the poor little guy and somehow it wound up outside again. Paul returned a triumphant victor, and proudly displayed his bat-smashing uniform for the camera.
We did a thorough check of the room - rafters, corners, inside cabinets, under beds and anywhere else another bat could hide. After JoAnna and I were satisfied, we turned our talk to the morning. The early morning so dark it looked like night.
The alarm came early - around 4:00 AM and we stuffed our bags, put on clothes and ventured into the darkness. The range rover arrived (open air - save a canopy on top) and Jeff our guide gave us a warm welcome.
We hadn't expected company on the game drive, but there were two men in the rear of the vehicle. Neither seemed too keen to greet us so I climbed on in after Paul and JoAnna got settled. The drive was really windy with rushing air felt only in convertibles and safari trucks, and as we made our way to Hluhluwe Umfolozi (the game park...see a map here) the sun started to rise in the distance.
It was a fabulous way to start the morning, but nothing compared to the animals we'd see, and the company we would enjoy on the drive. Stay tuned!!
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1 comment:
So jealous...I want to go to Africa tomorrow!
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