Zimbabwe

Tombi, Tawanda and me
Me and a lion cub
Ostrich
Head wound a few days ago
Head wound right after it happened

September 10, 2009

I have managed to give myself a Harry Potter like scar above my right eye. Although not exactly lightening bolt shaped it is about an inch and a half long and begins at my hairline. I was thinking about doing something different with my hair anyway. Why not bangs?

How did I manage to do this to myself? Fortunately for me I at least have a good story to back it up. Last Friday fourteen other volunteers and I loaded into the monster truck and started the long haul toward Antelope Park. We got as far as Miombo Lodge the first day where we went on a game drive. We saw a giraffe with her baby, an ostrich crossing the road in front of us, and a herd of elephants at the watering hole. That night a group of Zimbabwean dancers came to the lodge to entertain us with their singing, dancing and animal impressions.

After the dancers left I went back to my room for a short bit before heading back over to the campfire. Martin was the only one there but informed me that the rest were over by the huts watching some bull elephants at the watering hole. I joined them on the steps of a small, elevated hut. Four of the elephants finished drinking and continued on their way, but one particularly curious one stayed behind. He had one tusk and was most likely the weakest member of the group since he was drinking last. He knew we were there and turned toward us on numerous occasions, particularly when someone would get up and leave.

Soon only our driver, Chris, and I were left on the steps. A few other people had just left and the elephant had noticed. He took a few steps towards us and started flapping his ears and trumpeting. Chris saw these as warning signs that the elephant was going to charge and took off running. I froze for a second debating what to do. I could stay on the stairs and wait to see what happened. Michelle had told us that the elephant couldn’t distinguish us from the building and would not charge us as long as we stayed on the steps. But at the moment I did not want to stay and find out if that was true.

I jumped off the stairs and took off at full speed. I could see the vertical support column on the other side of the hut and aimed to go just around it. Unfortunately it was quite dark and I didn’t see the horizontal beam that stuck out a foot or so further than the edge of the hut. I hit it. Hard. I stumbled a bit then remembered why I was running. I ran a few more steps and put my hand up to my forehead. I could feel the blood on my hand and running down my face.

Michelle heard me hit the beam, as did many of the other people around the fire. I was soon seated next to the table with a napkin held firmly against the wound. People spread out looking for fellow medical volunteers that may have brought a medical kit with them. I was told that the cut was quite deep but that under the circumstances it would be very difficult to get me to a hospital. The nearest healthcare center was four hours away, it was late at night and travel was difficult.

Luckily, one of the fellow volunteers, Owen, had his first aid kit. He also had a job in a hospital back home and had experience with wound cleaning and stitches. The bleeding had pretty much stopped. Guess I bashed it in a good place and avoided the major arteries. We decided against stitches due to lack of proper equipment and instead closed the wound with steri-strips. I stayed up for another hour or so to make sure that the bleeding was under control and I did not have a concussion.

I slept well and when I woke up the next morning the bandage was clean, the swelling was gone and I did not have a headache. We drove to Antelope Park the next day and set up camp. The original plan was to head to the clinic that day but the wound was doing well and Roy, the coordinator of the lion-breeding project, said he would look at it in the morning. He dealt with wounds like this all the time.

The next morning he took a look at the wound but suggested we go into the clinic to get the steri-strips taken off just in case the wound opened again. Michelle and I went into town while the rest of the group went on elephant rides and saw a lion feeding. We went to a 24-hour clinic in downtown Gweru, which is where Michelle spent a lot of her childhood. The steri-strips came off nicely and the wound was closed. They put a fresh bandage on, gave me some antibiotics and we headed back to camp.

The rest of the time at Antelope Park was spent walking with lion cubs, seeing the lion-breeding program and going on a bush walk where we learned about the medicinal properties of the trees and bushes. I also had a chance to go on an elephant ride. This elephant had one tusk, just like the one we had seen at Miombo, but her name was Tombi and she was a very gentle giant. The elephant behind me kept giving me gifts such as rocks and sticks in exchange for food.

We slept in tents and were cooked three huge meals daily. Monday morning we drove to The Great Zimbabwe Ruins. The drive took about twice as long as expected (over 4 hours) but the ruins were really cool to see. Tuesday we headed back to Victoria Falls. The fifteen of us spent the night at a hostel called Shoestrings and spent the next morning seeing the falls from the Zimbabwean side.

It’s good to be back at the house. My head is healing nicely and it doesn’t hurt. I’m thankful that it wasn’t more serious than it was. All in all it was a very exciting weekend. A special shout out to Russ Peterson. I saw you were a follower of my blog. I have meant to email you. Just haven’t. Well, hope all is well with everyone who is reading this.