The Stuff of Dreams

So we went caving. I've been sitting here a while trying to think of something to follow that sentence. We started off around half four, us three, Courtney (who works at the hostel, Chris' girlfriend, originally from St Louis, US), a South African couple from Joburg, Charle (without an 's') and Catherine, and our two guides, Mseni and Sipho. We were decked out in Ghost Buster jumpsuits (in white, so that we can be seen easier), helmets (that didn't quite fit), belts with battery and light on a wire (which clips onto the front of the helmet).

There was a 45min walk through the forest before we get to the cave, I was glad we didn't do biking and caving in the same day because my joints were still stiff. Felt uncomfortably warm in the jumpsuits, though the sunset was very pretty. Was in high spirits considering I was apprehensive in committing myself to caving in the first place, I was looking forward to pizza and hotsprings after the caving (part of the same package by Swazi Trails), but I wouldn't say I was looking forward to the caving part. Not when I was already struggling to keep up with the group's pace during the walk there with my awkward joints.

I don't have words for how scary some of the caving was to me. I have a fear of falling, and I am also a bit claustrophobic, so it wasn't looking good to start off with. The bats were adorable though, they would often fly around, and I even got a photo of me very close to one and pointing at it, as requested by Sipho who lead us through the cave. He took so many photos, I mean MANY. Before caving, during, and after, many when we were at very awkward places too. At the end of the 7m crawl for example, I was in the smallest place I have ever been in (in memory anyway, I'm sure my birth was similar) and I was so fatigued that I could barely drag myself the last few inches. Still, I had to lift up my head for a flash to go off in my face. Looking through the photos in the combi on the way to hotsprings though, I could appreciate them better, but back in the caves, no one was particular happy about the continuous snapping. Alice said she had a couple of mini breakdowns, and at one time, 'my bum is stuck' was heard in varying degrees of loudness until we fell about laughing. At one point, all Courtney could see were my kneecaps downwards, hanging out of a hole in the wall with no light around it.

We stopped to have a good look at the stalactites. Water carrying minerals would periodically flow down these stalactites in a shimmery wave. I was probably the slowest one of the group, my joints didn't help but my hearing isn't perfect either and down in a cave, it's hard to lip-read. I tend to scramble words when I'm feel stressed anyway. Still, I was doing alright up until near the end, we needed to scale a smooth rock with the help of Sipho. High enough to definitely fracture something, we had to wedge our left foot as high as possible into a vertical rock crevice, hold onto Sipho's hand, and on a count of 3, pull on his hand to swing the right foot upwards to gain footing onto the rock. 

Two people had gone before me, but I knew my knee was going to be a problem. I remember the count down. I remember almost making it and then both of my legs dangling into thin air - I was literally hanging on by one arm. Everything got a bit blurry after this because I started crying from fright, but I was apparently hauled upwards by both guides pulling on my arm. Charle spoke to me as though I was a wounded animal and gave me his hand to help me get to somewhere I could sit on a rock.  Alice said afterwards that she was so worried they were going to dislocate my arm, I joked that I almost died, but at the time, words could not describe how scary it was. There was another tricky part, where my helmet fell off and crashed a few feet below by Alice's feet - she thought my head had fallen off. 

I have never been so glad to see water bottles, we left them near the entrance to the cave, and I knew the sky was not far away. We still had the walk back to the combi but it was amazing. The stars blazed white in the inky sky, seen in between almost impossibly tall sap trees rising straight up into the night.  Sipho showed us different types of vegetation and tried a couple of strange berries (red, green and then white ones), and how the angelsis tree is becoming extinct because Swazi people loved making bowls out of them. He pointed out a young scorpion, scuttling to the shelter of a rock, and told us that baboons eat them. The forest was filled with sounds of the night, some made by bats (different to the ones in the cave, bigger and more owl-sized), crickets and birds. Apparently bush babies are in the area, but they like trees that are closer together - Sipho's impressions of bush babies made me laugh. Judging by how close his impression of bats was, I'm sure that's exactly what they do sound like.

I was glad to be out of the jumpsuit, which by now was looking less white. We drove to Cuddle Puddle, silly name, but essentially a giant hotsprings bath under the stars. It was amazing beyond words, floating on my back looking up at these stars as I moved through the water by making angels. We had our pizza and beers balanced on a stone island and it was awesome! Never thought I would be doing anything like this. We got there about half ten and stayed until gone midnight, definitely another mental picture moment lying there in the water. We were telling Sipho about the pot of gold on the end of the rainbow - a leprechaun sounds pretty ridiculous when you're trying to describe one. Sipho loved learning about space, and his face lit up when we explained the moon cycle and why there is a shadow, light as a waveform, red-shift, seeing into the past through a telescope as light from distant galaxies take so long to reach us, black holes, gravity and the conspiracy theory of the US moon landing. We even got onto talking about Guy Fawkes Night. The hotsprings done wonders for my aches and I kept wondering if it all really happened, even as I looked back at the pool.

So today has been a lazy day, none of us were up to biking after all the exercise in the last few days. Revisited craft shops to get a few keyrings, was sensible about not getting a beautiful sterling giraffe hair bangle that would have burned a hole in my account, and then we went to Royal Swazi Hotel Spa by combi and then shuttle. Courtney told us that as long as we buy a drink, we can just turn up and have a swim. Lizzie had Pimms and I had a cocktail with ginger beer, passion fruit cordial and angostura bitters. The sun was shining, there were mountains, and we were lying in lounge chairs under a big umbrella drinking cocktails, it was great. We were joined by Courtney and eventually, we went for a swim. The water was pretty cold in comparison, but Lizzie and I stayed in a bit longer, and did a doggy paddle race (I won), we also spent a long time racing as plankton, though we didn't get far and it was really funny for some reason. It basically involved tucking your knees up to your chest in the water, and paddling madly with your hands by your side, seeing how far you can go without sinking. A monkey watched from the roof and snatched a ping-pong ball mid game from some kids, tried to eat it and was bouncing it as the young boys below protested.

The sky was looking more and more grey, we knew a storm was coming by forecast but my, it happened so fast. A gale rose suddenly, leaves were blowing everywhere, and out of nowhere, our waitress (who made us add up our own bill earlier) was running towards me as I was quickly packing my bag.

'Madam! Madam! You need to come out of there!'

As I looked back, I realised that the umbrella was blowing over and almost collapsed onto me.

On the way home in the combi, I was offered 17 cows for my hand apparently, I wasn't paying attention at the time, but the girls refused on my behalf. I only cottoned on when Alice said 'Nah, she's expensive, more like 200 cows.'

Anyhow, leaving early tomorrow to get back to Tim and Anna's, really tired now! Sorry about typos, will correct later.

Sheba's Breast

So we went on the hike on Saturday as mentioned in the last blog post. My knees were stiff that morning and I was cursing her boob for much of the ascent. There were a few Gollum scrambles, a Total Wipeout log crossing, and a couple of cartoon style slip-ups. Most notable of which was on the way down, rate by Lizzie as 10/10 for comedy factor and salvage. Chris, who works at Legends Backpackers, said his record was 37 minutes to the top. Not that he would recommend it. It took us 2hrs to the top, magnificent views that made me forgive Sheba somewhat, and then 1hr to come down. Well, technically Lizzie and I didn't get to the post at the very top, but sat a couple of meters below on the second highest boulder, as there was an actual chasm leap across to the other side. Alice 'Mountain Goat' lived to tell the tale, though she said she saw her life flash across her eyes when she tried to leap back across. 

My nickname on this trip is a bit less impressive, 'Jelly Legs', courtesy of Paul from Nelspruit Backpackers. It goes back to when we had a day at the Blyde River Canyon and swam at the top of Lisbon falls. I got a bit swept away by the current trying to cross the second of the pools. I was laughing all the time, and he thought I was doing alright, until he realised I wasn't even trying to hold on. He had to grab onto me but my legs were all over the place, and I never stopped laughing.  

'Well, at least if she died, I could tell her mum that she died having the time of her life!'

Anyhow, that was slightly off topic. I wish I could put down in words how I felt on those magical two days we had with Paul as our guide. All those animals on the safari drive, swimming in a salty pool before the night drive, a hearty braai under a sky full of stars, camping in Kruger, the panoramic views of the canyon, the Potholes, the waterfalls, the swimming and generally the fun we had. I don't think I have words to express how I felt. 

We went to House on Fire in the evening for live music by Polochar, the place was so funky. Took a while to get started and so after browsing the gallery and taking photos, we grabbed a cider and headed for a balcony table. Polochar's music varied from mellow to trance, upbeat and sunny to power ballads. There was one particular fan who was at the front, dancing right by the stage the whole night. There was slow-motion running, kneeling on the floor with hands to heaven, manic hopping, and facial expressions that Orlando Bloom can only dream of having. He made it to the stage, and suddenly his shirt made sense - 'Zero to Hero' is one of Polochar's songs. The dancer certainly entertained the audience, whilst a man next to him was trying to outdo him by strumming his beer belly. We made our way down to the dance floor to show them, white people style. My legs definitely got a work out that day.

It's funny how time works in Africa, getting up early and going to sleep early. We left at 12:15 in the morning, got stopped twice by police, looking to catch people drinking and driving, and asking if we thought Polochar was handsome. The Belgium girls are so lovely, Charlotte and Evelien,cousins. Charlotte is working at an orphanage in Drakensburg after her Psychology degree, she helped to build it a few years ago. Evelien is doing a masters in Accountancy and Auditing, and currently visiting Charlotte. I decided not to go White Water Rafting on Sunday, and basically spent the whole day with the Belgium girls. 

Lizzie and Alice had a great day too, though I still don't regret not going. Just didn't think I could afford both caving and rafting, at R650 and R850 respectively (R11 to pound). That and my old GP lost his son White Water Rafting on his gap year before uni, that was always at the back of my mind. 

So I spent Easter Sunday in the company of very pleasant people, walked to the Swazi culture village, had a tour and then watched the dancing. The women and men sit in separate huts in the day, and the women kneel to give their husbands' food. Polygamy is the norm, and women were not allowed to eat heads, tongues or feet. Heads because eating brains will make them intelligent, tongues that will make them talkative, and feet that will help them run away. What a life. 

The dancing and singing was so good though. I even joined in, they basically picked the white girls sitting in the audience.There were some disgusting tourists at the back, looked American but their accent was strange. Disgusting as in they turned up to the same tour as we did, but wanted the guide to run off and find them beers before we start. Didn't have the beer they wanted in stock and the guide ran back, because we were running late already, he told the guide to get them some other beers and to hurry. I felt so ashamed of being a tourist myself. They were all overweight, and the men couldn't even fit into the huts, didn't seem interested in anything. They had more beers whilst waiting for the dance, urgh.

After a long walk trying to find the waterfall with an alternative route that lead us steeply uphill, we gave up and doubled back to the sign. Had a nice sit down at the site before walking back to the hostel to have a quick lunch. We meant to go to the glass-blowing place, but it was 3pm and it shuts at 4pm, taking 30-45minutes to drive there. In the end, we decided to visit House on Fire again, as the craft shops were closed the night before. This turned out to be a good choice, there were places we had missed in the dark, and details we hadn't taken in. I asked if I could take a photo of some painted chairs they had in a craft store, and the woman said I could, the man asked if he could take a photo of me. At least he asked, there was another man blatantly pointing a video camera at us whilst we wanted for the cultural village tour. We finished with a drink in the outdoor garden of the pub before returning to Legends. 

All five of us went out for a traditional meal in the evening, had a lovely time. I am still full, four of us went for the taster menu for R150 each, so much food. Beef with mushrooms, shredded peppers, five different types of carbs, fried banana, peanut chicken, sweet pork ribs, homemade chilli.. the food just kept on coming. The waiter was so cute. Cute as in looking bewildered at being asked his opinion, and being really shy. I had to ask at one point if that was the last dish, he thought I was joking at first. We sent our compliments to the chief and had an excellent dinner, sharing a nice bottle of red wine between four (Charlotte was driving). Stories during dinner emerged, most notably of the one where Alice lost her trousers and the ferry left without her. Then the waiter brought out chocolate cake with ice cream on the house. Before I could stop myself, I found myself saying:

'But you said that was the last dish! You lied!'

Think he got a few laughs too.

I woke up at 3am and couldn't go back to sleep and so sat outside by the braai, where we had our Earth Day celebrations, and watched the stars. Even wished on a shooting star. Lizzie has just emerged in her pyjamas, and then disappeared to nurse her 'fried, crispy skin'. I'm going to take a look at the craft stores nearby whilst Alice and Lizzie go to the cultural village. Caving at 4pm, then hotsprings and pizza. Planning on mountain biking tomorrow before returning to Tim and Anna's on Wednesday.

I also seem to have an extra elbow, got bitten and now it is really swollen. Caving on hands and knees might prove interesting. 

The Valley of Heaven

Also known as Ezulwini Valley. We left Nelspruit in the morning, luckily didn't have to wait so long for the mini-taxi to leave (as it was already almost full when we got to the rank, and they don't leave until it is full). Waiting to cross the border into Swaziland was another matter, we stood in the queue for 2hrs, in the cold. Lizzie was only wearing a t-shirt, so she definitely felt it the most.

An angel in the form of a nursing student by the name of Lindelwa helped us find our feet. She was getting picked up from Mbabane, the capital of Swarziland, by her taxi driver friend. She ended up going to the hostel, Legends Backpackers with us to see us off, and she was calling hostels for us on the bus. So incredibly sweet of her, we have met some really helpful and nice people on our travels so far. We also took Tulan's number in case we needed a taxi. It has worked out pretty well, considering we didn't get a car, and were told by various people that we won't get there. 

So it was Earth Day yesterday and we had a braai (or barbeque) at the hostel. We managed to get food from the supermarket before it shut, a man from Thailand who was also staying at Legends created a diversion whilst we ran in. The security guard was being difficult. Anyhow, we were walking down there with a young architect who has been on the road for 2 years now since he left uni. He sleeps in a floating hammock (his own design and making), works via the internet, and cycles his way around Africa. Balthazar Sieders (what a name) was from Holland originally, studied in Switzerland and moved around the world a lot when he was a child. His dad was a scientist, and his mum, an environmental activist. I was in awe of his nomadic lifestyle, he takes only one shirt and one pair of trousers when he is travelling. He stays in a place for 4-6months at a time, and buys clothes for that time, donates them when he leaves on his trusty bicycle. It was his last day at the hostel yesterday, and he got us beers, it was lovely to meet him. Such a nice guy. Must get lonely though, he doesn't have a home to call his own, his parents are always on the move, and so is his sister.

So we had a great Earth Day, eating by candlelight outside, music playing, people laughing. The man from Thailand kept cutting us pork chops. Balthazar teased me about how many photos I took of the fire. Someone else joked that I was on drugs because I said that the fire was talking to me.  Never had banana with energy bar on the fire before either - we all had a wonderful evening. I got up at 6.30am this morning, but I think I have just missed him leave. Managed to make tea, and then spill tea all over my hand and all over the floor this morning. Man from Thailand now laughs every time he sees me. Gave up on keeping a banana count, because I eat them more than I drink water over here. Ok, maybe not quite true, but I do eat a lot of bananas.

Plan of action today, going for a hike to see Sheba's Breast, named after the Queen of Sheba who supposedly seduced King Solomon. Then we're getting more food to cook tonight, before going to House on Fire for live music (two girls from the hostel were going and have a car). Also there's Going Rural in the evening, selling crafts made by local women, so we will have a look at that also. Must have will-power. 

Anyhow, caving, white water rafting, cultural tours are some of the things we will get up to in the next few days. Got to go now and get ready for the hike. 

To Lizzie's mum, Lizzie says not to worry about the credit card!, Thank you very much for asking. 

Update

The little baby sadly died later in the day, as expected, but the lady with eclampsia is doing much better so that's positive. The lady who was assaulted by the boyfriend refused to be transferred yesterday, I don't think she told anyone she was coming to hospital. Not sure what happened to her, it's just gone 8am so may find out later.

We ended up teaching nurses at 7am this morning, or a bit after, about seizures. Now we know what it is like when no one contributes to discussion or volunteers. Bottom line, the longer a seizure goes on, the higher the chance of patient dying, or having brain damage. Clear airway, recovery position, 100% oxygen, IV access, send off bloods and do a blood glucose, give Diazepam. It was a bit weird doing it in the casualty department, with the nurses sitting in garden chairs. We must be the only medical students who taught nurses and did a night shift.

Car hire is still up in the air, we are preparing ourselves for not having a car this weekend, which will be interesting. Hopefully get by on public transport, but hmm. Going to collect data for our project today in the HIV clinic. So tired, we were planning the teaching last night as well as packing, and stressing about car hire.

Anyhow, Happy Easter!

Edit: Car hire is still up in the air, stress. The doctor who can give us a lift is leaving in half an hour. We can't hire a car in Nelspruit, where we are getting dropped off as we don't have a credit card. The lady I mentioned above who refused to transfer to Nelspruit is currently on the ward here. HIV clinic was interesting, it was heaving. Will write more later when I get back. May not post again for a few days.

42

..is not the meaning of Life here, but the average life expectancy out here. It's not yet noon but I had to get away for a bit because it all got pretty heavy.

Yesterday I managed to get IV access in an emaciated man in his early 40s, he was very dehydrated, breathing very infrequently but with a deep gasp for air when he does (Cheyne Stoke breathing). Essentially, there wasn't much we could do but to make him comfortable as he was slowly dying. The way his body was wrapped up in that vast dirty blanket he was brought in, it almost looked like he had been mummified.

I spent a large proportion of yesterday looking after Mr S, who was a wanderer. By that, I mean everyone spent a lot of time making sure he wouldn't run off. He wasn't the easiest of patients to get a line in, even harder to convince him not to pull it out. Some of the staff were quite rough-handed with him, and he fought hard when they tried to restrain him. There were five people holding him down for the LP at one point, but it was clear it really wasn't going to happen as he was threshing around. Line was torn out in the tassle and someone said, 'just explain to him what is happening and he'll stop.' Gee, didn't think of that. He's confused, likely to have infection, and a chronic alcoholic. I had to stop one of porters trying one end of his hand bandage to the bedstead.

I had to inject him with Haloperidol to sedate him, didn't really make a difference due to the low dose, the nurse wouldn't give it herself, or let me give the full dose. Mr S cursed me a bit, in between giggling and singing 'I'm free, I'm free' to himself. In the end, he was transferred to the ward.

Then there was that Mr J, who looked like he was expecting triplets. I asked if the doctor wanted a bag to collect the acitic fluid into as it was draining but she asked me to change the small theatre kidney-shaped bowl when it got full. Hmm, interesting.

I was also told by the patient (who at this point was in less pain and therefore getting bossy) to fetch his wife. He said she's got a little one with her, and that she's fat. I found her, and then Mr J ordered me to change his bowl. The nurse got me a bucket, which I was grateful for.

As we were about to leave, there was a girl who got hit by a car. We knew nothing about her and though she was still breathing, and had a pulse, it was clear she was in a bad way. One eye was dilated, the other was drifting upward and outward. She made a constant stream of sound, and looked younger in her school uniform, but it turned out she was 19. I was shaving her hair to look for a source of bleeding on her head, other than the deep wound on her forehead, and the gravel burns. She was transferred to Nelspruit, but as I left, I couldn't help thinking how she was just coming home from school.

This morning, there were lots of pregnant women. There was one with eclampsia, high blood pressure, her baby was 28 weeks old and she had a one day history of headache and vomitting. In UK, you don't normally see eclampsia as it would be picked up earlier. The mum had a seizure this morning and the baby is going to have to come out. The mum was only 18, the dad looked on anxiously by her bedside.

(Just heard from Anna that the baby is alive, but it's early days, mum is in high care at the moment.)

Then I saw a 14 year old girl, pregnant and in a great deal of pain. She gave birth to her 22 week old baby literally as I was trying to get blood from her.

The baby was wrapped up in the blue cloth that the theatre pack came in. So tiny but perfectly formed. He took a breath and gave a cry. The girl didn't speak any English, but I asked if she wanted to hold the little one. Tim later said that we had to make sure she wanted this, as there's a big cultural difference here. Some people will completely reject it, some grandparents won't speak to the child until they are 5 years old because the mortality rate is so high.

She looked at him before he was taken away to the nursery. Baby is still currently alive, but on supportive care. Tim said even with the best care in the UK, mortality for a baby that young is almost 100%. Currently, baby is still alive. He weighed so little when I held him.

I left after a 27 year old lady came in after being assaulted by her drunk boyfriend. Not the first time. He punched her, and then kicked her in the face when she was down.

Sigh. Lunch time. What's wrong with the world, eh?

You are having a giraffe!

I would put more up, but it has taken so long just to load this one! Makes me smile anyway. Taken at Kruger National Park. I keep going on about this day being the best day of my life.

Edit: Had more time than I thought, here's a photo of Bunny at Lisbon Falls. We went swimming at the top of this waterfall.

Lions eating a giraffe. Not the same one, obviously. We were so lucky to see so much on my very first safari, all of the Big Five, except the elusive leopard. Best day ever. 

Glorious sunrise as we waited to enter Kruger National Park.

Night shift

Have seen something pretty grim at hospital, but I'm not sure this blog is the best place to say. Let's just say there were maggots where there should not be maggots. It was my joyful task as a medical student to cut open the specimen and look for them. Dream of dreams. 

It has been raining elephants and hippos overnight and much of today, which is unusual. Have been catching spacepans of water from the thatch roof leaks. Maybe that kept people away from the pubs and therefore fights, because it was so quiet on-call. Though I was sewing someone's head together at 1am, and he kept moving his head to see what was going on. Gave me a bit of a fright when I was putting the local in, and the needle moved clean out of his head, and stuff squirted everywhere. Luckily not on my face, over half of patients are HIV positive around here. The nurse who was supposed to be helping me ended up almost cutting my hair instead of the thread ends. I was not happy, the scissors were covered in blood. In my hair, for crying out loud. After that, she stopped assisting me all together, and was giggling with the two other nurses in the outpatient theatre. 


I'm beginning to see how Tim and Anna have changed their mind about staying in Tintswalo hospital, where it is no one's job to do anything, but there's always time to stand around and chat. They actually earn more here than they do in the UK, their beautiful, massive home costs them less to rent than what they get from renting out a 4 bedroom house in Selly Oak. I live there, and it is universally known as 'the dump'. They were saying that some doctors go private in SA, even though their pay then goes down by 40% reduction, just so that they can get on with their jobs instead of chasing up why there are 'no antibiotics' when the pharmacist couldn't be bothered to get it from the other room. 

Oh, it's also hilarious trying to get a psychiatric history from someone with a language barrier. Explaining terms such as self-harm, suicide, voices required a bit of arm flapping on our part. There was nothing physically wrong with him, his breathing problem is likely to be psychosomatic, and it was fun again to explain this to him. The nurse told us he was on a drip because his blood pressure was high, and giving him fluid would bring it down. Hmm, we just took it out in the end. There was also a young woman from the air force who came in with abdo pain, white cells in her urine but none of the appendicitis symptoms, and for some unknown reason, the air force medic shoved in a urinary catheter for a simple urinary tract infection. Hmm.


Five nurses slept in a row whilst we worked. Work ethic is poor in SA, often find people asleep in the day in various rooms. Doctors not even turning up. Nurses disappearing off. 

I spent the rest of the hours trying to get sleep on a sofa, whilst everyone else had beds. I now have 4 new bites overnight, all on my back. We went for a safari drive in the afternoon, saw a brown snake eagle carry a lizard or snake in its talons. Warthogs are so shy, and so quick. I hope to get a good face-on picture before I leave SA. 

I want to talk more about the BEST day of my life, i.e. when we first went on safari, but it's hard without putting photos up. I haven't worked out how to do this yet. The photo files are too big, and I don't often have enough time on the computer to do this. Those two days of safari, camping in Kruger Park, the long panoramic drive by mountains, swimming at the top of Lisbon Falls, truly are some of the happiest days of my life that I will always remember. Photos can never show how those places made me feel. Though I got a couple of videos that will helpfully give a better gist than the stills.

Anyhow, it's not my turn to cook tonight (I made chicken, butternut squash risotto the other night). We have been playing 'Settlers of Catan', it's funny how competitive some people can be. Good game. Body clock is a bit confused, but I will have an early night. Speak soon!