The end of a magical adventure....plus a disgustingly gross mess!

Mambo vipi,

It's me (Ro) starting off, after some much needed time off. I have lots to update you on but very tired so will do my best (Irfan may continue if I start to fall asleep). Firstly, those mild side effects Irfan was referring to in the last post were actually more serious then we thought, had blurred vision and really bad sensitivity to light! Had to remove the scopolamine patch entirely and pray to god that gravol and some stupid wrist bands (waste of time) would work to keep me nausea free for the last day of the safari! Nausea free ME didn't last for more than half an hour! Just to clarify for those of you who have NOT been on a safari, you are basically bouncing around 24/7 in a land rover on bumpy dirt roads and are stop and go the entire time! So when you combine that with blurry vision, extreme heat and probably some dehydration = disgustingly gross mess! Although I tried to keep it together for the 6-hour drive back to Arusha, it was hopeless. Was probably the second worst day ever (the worst is yet to come). I'll let Irfan take over from here. Lala salama.

So Ro was in bad shape by the time we got back to Arusha. Nothing that some water, a bite to eat and some rest couldn't fix...or so I thought. She couldn't eat or drink anything without it coming right back out! She tried to sleep it off, but still felt horrible the next morning...not a good sign considering we were going to be flying to Dar es salaam on a local airline. She was like a zombie walking through the airport security and boarding the plane. As soon as we started to move, it was the beginning of the end. Take-off - vomit - land - vomit - take off - vomit - land - dry-heaving/collapsing into a wheelchair at the baggage carousel. I've never seen anyone actually use the vomit bags on a plane before. The flight attendant didn't even want to take them to throw away so I had to do it myself. Random people would walk by and ask if she malaria. Barely made it out of the airport, but the driver and I both agreed that a stop at a hospital should preceed hotel check-in.

Went to a local hospital in downtown :S Got her some IV fluid and anti-vomiting meds. I had to deal with registration, paying for everything they did, including 2000 shillings for the porters to carry her up the stairs to the observation ward. WTF! After her second bolus of fluid, we got out of there and finally settled into our hotel. She felt a bit better but still not very well. She basically just needed sleep, some food, and maxeran to recover. No malaria! Just a combination of heat stroke, terrible motion sickness, dehydration, and probably hypoglyemia. A scary situation but now much better and back to normal. p.s. the driver was amazing! Acted as a driver, translator, bodyguard, and friend!

That's quite enough for now. We will tell you about our experiences in downtown Dar and visiting the local hospitals next...culture shock is an understatement!

Until next time!

Roshena and Irfan