The 1st Most Contagious Affliction in the Bush

The stomach virus that affected Tony and Carol was contagious, but not nearly as contagious as what has become known as Giggilous Maximus...or The Giggle Fit.

The root cause of the giggle fit is typically a coca-cola or glass of wine. A cup of hot coco also does the trick, and the effects of the giggle fit seem to be heightened when the coco is combined with some the african equivalent of bailey's cream (called amarula cream, which is made from the fruit of the native amarula tree).

The giggle fit most frequently manifests itself in carol first, typically following the combination of sugar and alcohol. It is always initiated with a light hearted exchange, such as this one from yesterday's drive:

Carol: "I think I'm going to call that giraffe 'Cuddly'"
Bea: "How cute. Is that because you want to cuddle it?"
Carol: "No, its because of the way it chews its cud."

This prompts a giggle from bea, which is met in kind with a chuckle from Carol. The chuckle is then matched by a chortle from Tony. By this point, grandma has picked up on the good times, and though she wasn't able to hear the joke, the site of three people laughing is more than enouh reason to laugh herself. The site of grandma laughing is extremely contagious, because no one enjoys a laugh more and it compels others to join in. By this point Tree gets a little snicker in, and before you know it I am in the midst of a full-on belly laugh. Our guides of African dissent had an immunity to the giggle fit, but that is fading fast. Our guide at Phida would elevate the affliction with his high pitched "hehehe" cackle while our tracker Toks let out a baritone "hahaha". The laughs would subside for a moment...and then a reoccurence would hit us like an aftershock as soon as someone repeated the line that kicked the fit off in the first place. I could initiate a giggle fit right now simply by wispering the hyper senstive word of "cud" right now. I dare not due it, for fear that the affliction would catch on to the rest of the camp.