Calendar   Home
Previous Day

December 27, 2001

Next Day
Norm passed another rough night out of breath and in a sweat; he's lost all color in his face. Worse yet, another member of our group has contracted malaria. This time it's the hard drinking, always cheerful, and seemingly indestructible Mayori, a graphic designer from Japan. She chose to get malaria like the natives do, miles away from any hospital or doctor. Our truck wasn't doing much better, the rough roads have broken a front suspension spring. Dragoman has delivered a true African experience: malaria and a broken truck in a setting of remote bush and small villages without any basic amenities. We couldn't ask for more. Our driver fixed the truck in a few short hours. We loaded the sick people and rode another 140 kilometers closer to, we hoped, the more developed towns on the coast.
We have to learn how to do this hands-free transport.
These spectators do not know how long it takes me to move. Without TV nearby you can get kids interested in anything.