No sleep. Sit up at 5am. Pack last things, eat, my bowels tap dance about 5 times in the next half an hour in anticipation of a flight I really don’t want to take but have to to get to where I want to go asap. The extra set of keys I made for the Ex (who is coming to feed the cats) don’t actually open the door and so I drive to Melkbos at 6am to drop my set at his house.
Back home Rox is waiting. My bowels do the jig one more time before I take a Spasmend and hop in the car. Traffic fucking traffic. Drop and go. The Spasmend hasn’t touched sides and as my spirit once tried to climb out of my body whilst in transit on a plane I’m only slightly concerned. Find airport clinic and have a Valium shot which makes everything just dandy. Lovely flight. Picked up by friend going the same way at OR Thambo Airport, Johannesburg, and hit the road to Botswana. Still calm as a cucumber even though she overtakes like a racing car driver.
Arrive at borderpost five hours later, just as the rain sets in. Huge dubble decker grey clouds that resemble the oros man merge overhead. Thunder. Lightning. Damn I missed this place! The air smells fresh, it’s still warm even though it’s pouring with rain. Instant homecoming party. By 7pm we arrive on the farm and the Valium finally wears off. Greet everyone, have some tea. Carry belongings down to the lodge in the rain. Mud splatters up my legs and within half an hour of being there I’m already filthy. This will be a consistent state of affairs for the rest of the week.
Pass out at 9pm in a mudhut at the bottom of a farm in one of the most beautiful countries I’ve ever visited, thankful for the discovery of a mosquito net. Water spiders sit flush against the wall. A small oil lamp burns deep into the night and I fall asleep to the sound of frogs gurgling their songs in a dam on the farm next door.
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