JO PLUMRIDGE IN AFRICA - HOUSE SITTING IN THE BUSH

• Jo Plumridge - all photos and text

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Things are as busy as ever here. Ooh, before I forget: I am house sitting from Friday for a couple of weeks (until 17th February) Tthe house is lovely and there are four Alsatians living there as well which is rather nice. I am looking forward to a bit of luxury for a while!
The weather here has been horrendously hot and temperatures has been well over 100F for the last couple of weeks. Last Monday it was 115F (46C) I honestly thought I would just pass out from the heat! We have had very little rain and the animals are beginning to suffer from the drought. The rhino were up at front gate the other day, looking for water which was slightly un-nerving.

Seargeant the Rhino

The main event on the park was Puso, the Park Manager's wedding last Saturday. It was quite an event, with the President and various VIPs attending, the bridal party even arrived escorted by the elephants. Stupidly, I agreed to take the photographs and then spent most of the day being extremely stressed and nervous about doing the job well enough. Never ever be a wedding photographer it is just too much of a responsibility! Fortunately, the family seem to be pleased with the results. The wedding started at 5.30pm and I didn't finish photographing till 10.30pm, by which point I was dying for a drink. Unfortunately, everyone else was plastered by this stage so I decided I needed to do some serious catching up. Big mistake! Cheap white wine and I do not mix. I have serious memory lapses from the whole event. Although I have since been informed that I passed out in the Kirbys library and danced with a string of unsuitable Americans oh the shame! I was not the only one though. Camille had to be carried home by her long-suffering boyfriend because she couldn't actually walk anymore, and other Jo was last seen wandering off into the bushes clutching a bottle of wine and mumbling that she had no way to get home. She has been off this week so no one is sure if she did get home.
Anyway a normal Saturday night for all concerned!

Jo with Cheetah

The hot weather is bringing all the snakes out, although I have still yet to see one yippee! But Neil and James ran over a black mamba the other day and no, it didn't attach itself to the axle and bite them. A boomslang was also bought in the other day, a nasty snake, very venomous. I am steering well clear. Jamie is continuing to do himself as much damage as is humanly possible. Having recovered from his tick bite fever, and the fact that his foot had nearly gone septic as a result, he went to house-sit for Puso and promptly got spat at in the eye by an Egyptian cobra. So he got rushed off to hospital but fortunately there was no damage done to his eye. However, within about a day he had contracted some very nasty stomach bug and has spent the last week in bed. He has lost about a stone! Whilst lying around in bed, he also managed to get three different spider bites, which promptly swelled up and went bright red. As you can imagine, he is looking at his most attractive!

Jo with elephant

We have a new volunteer here called Barty (great name hey) who has just left Harrow. He is actually surprisingly normal! His poor brother was killed by lions in the Masadonna last year whilst working as a guide, so I think he is very brave to come out here really. We also have two Swedes arriving tomorrow so the house will be horrendously crowded. Possibly time to quit I feel. Good thing I won't be there for a while!

I am off up to the Okavango Delta in February when my friend Biba comes to visit and I can't wait. We are going on a two day mokoro trip. Mokoros are very small dugout canoes. And we are camping out in the middle of nowhere overnight. Tthose of you who know my distain for camping will know why this is a big deal! The game viewing should be good at this time of year. Although it is the rainy season, there has been very little rain, and as the Delta is a swamp area the game will be congregating. I am hoping to see lions although from a distance would be preferable.

Despite the trials and tribulations of trying to get the graphic work and admin done for the adoption scheme before we come back to the UK, Mokolodi continues to enchant. On Saturday, at the wedding, there were all kinds of traditional dancers and pipers performing and it was a real African event. There is something very special about the people and the atmosphere here that is quite different to anything English. Perhaps it is the lack of formalities and stiff upper lip! You can listen to the beat of African music and find yourself swaying quite unconsciously, it really is a carnival atmosphere!

Right, I am off to design some t-shirts for the park. I fear they will be quite cheesy, due to Puso's desire to create crap merchandise. Oh well, what can you do?!


Missed the last missive from Africa? Try these

© Photo Jo Plumridge
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