Having spent five days feeling sorry for myself while HeeHoo has been away fishing, I have had time to reflect on life in Zimbabwe. The small things have enveloped me, things like the unexpected power cuts, which always appear worst when one is alone (and not the most courageous person in the world!) Small things like the absence of municipal water for four days out of every week....
One learns to be disciplined. Lock up early before sundown, not only to keep out any burglars, but also to keep out the mosquitoes... Keep ones torch in a safe place for when the power goes unexpectedly. Fill buckets with water for when one needs to flush the loo. Yes some of the more fortunate amongst us, have all the generators, tanks, boreholes that have become necessary in Zimbabwe, but remember the borehole needs power to work and I am too cowardly to make the journey into the pitch black garage to turn on the generator... To console myself I salivate at the thought of fresh bream fillets with slices of lemon that HeeHoo will hopefully bring home.
On the flip side of the coin, the sun has been shining non stop, we definitely have one of the best climates in the world. The birds clamour to be heard, a bevy of Arrow Marked Babblers has taken to knocking on the bronzed bathroom window, furious with their adversaries in the mirrored refection. The sky is typically grey as the rain clouds thrust around in the very, very, very upper levels. Sundown is enchanting as the sun catches the purple canopy of our now legendary Jacarandas. The municipality has filled the potholes in our road with sand, a brief respite before the rains, of cars thundering and clattering along the bumpy road.
One needs to change one's mindset I persuade myself. 'I pretend I am not in Suburbia as I once knew it, I am camping at Tashinga on the banks of the Zambezi'. HeeHoo would get a crowd of us young marrieds to Tashinga every year. An eight hour road trip to Kariba, a five hour trawl across Lake Kariba in the ancient tub 'The Desmond', followed by hilarious times hauling all the camping equipment, including the beer fridge and baby formula, onto dry land.
Babies in prams and all!! This was not 'glamping' quite the opposite. Bare earth underfoot, a tarpaulin stretched between the trees. Nothing between you and the elephants, buffalo and lions!! One is invincible when in ones early thirties.... An open fire on which to cook, water fetched from the Zambezi in a bucket, never mind the crocs and hippos.
With all that behind me, surely I can deal with a couple of mosquitoes on my own!!