I’ve read a few blogs and often find that entries can be long winded, self indulgent and /or written by women who wish they were called Carrie and lived in New York. But there are many benefits to writing a blog; the main and most important one is being able to let those people who care about Martin and I keep up to date with our whereabouts. The second reason is wanting to bottle just a little bit of this once in a life time, 12 month holiday.

So I’ll attempt to refrain from rabbiting on too much and keep it punchy (postcard length) instead.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

The thing that horror movies are made of: giant bugs!

There was only one thing about this whole trip that I was dreading from the word go and that was bush camping.  The thought of camping in the middle of Africa with no more than a piece of flimsy nylon to shelter me from the bugs and wild animals that roam the length and breadth of this continent, filled me with fear.
As I mentioned previously, we were certainly eased into this trip gently.  We had been pitching our tents at pleasant campsites and each time we arrived to see a bright blue swimming pool sparkling at us, I was both surprised and happy!  But it was clearly time for some of those little luxuries to be removed and to 'rough it' once and for all.

Our 5th stop was little in the middle of nowhere.  Claudia battled along a bumpy dirt road, until we found a concrete platform surrounded by corrugated iron - this was our kitchen, lounge and dining room in one and well, that was the only sign that human beings had ever walked this land.
Preparing dinner in the 'kitchen'
It was with about 30 seconds of hopping out of Claudia that my heart sank as I encountered not 1, not 5 or 10 but about 15 gigantic bugs crawling along the corrugated iron shelter!
Getting up close and personal!
My worst nightmare had come true.  The whole ground was moving with taratula sized bugs.  Panic enveloped me.  We put our tent up at record speed, my jeans went on in a flash as did my trainers in attempt to cover as much flesh as possible.
Although completely plagued with fear for the entire evening, I could just about appreciate the beautiful landscape that surrounded us, the stunning sunset and the orchestra of insects that sang in their playground.
I barely slept a wink though as I vividly imagined the bugs opening the zips to our tent and slowly invading.  Yes, it would have been the perfect scene from a horror movie.Needless to say, I was thrilled when the sun rose up from the ground again and it was time to pack up and leave for Swakopmund: civilisation!
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