Love in the time of Dysentery

A quick update on how Tony and Carol earned the Zulu nickname "MAFAVUKA"...

On our last night in Zim, Tony left dinner early with some stomach problems. By the time we had reached the room Tony was feeling faint and in the process of plunging head first into the wall as he exited the rest room. We peeled him off the floor and got him to bed. After losing about 5 pounds of water weight during the night after an impressive display of projectile vomitting, Tony felt better but weakened. He insisted that he get on the plane with us to South Africa, so we put him in a wheelchair along with Grandma and Bea and wheeled him onto the plane. He may not have been pleased about the wheelchair, but let me assure you, John Wayne has nothing on Tony when it comes to toughness. He was feeling better after 24 hours and eating like his old self within 36.

Shortly after arriving in Phinda forrest for the second leg of our Safari, Carol got the affliction. Despite the intense level of gastro-intestinal distress, she still managed to fold her sick bags neatly and sealed them with a smiley face sticker and ribbon before the cleaning crew stopped by to pick it up. OK, that may not be true, but you know Carol would have done that if she had stickers, glitter, and ribbon at her disposal. No way a little stomach virus is going to get Carol down!

After 24 hours, she was weakened but back in action. We took her into town where we took a tour that featured a visit to a "Sangoma", which is a traditional healer in the Zulu culture. We went into her hut, she got some insence blazing, and she began channelling some ancestors through a series of dance steps and drum beats - imagine james brown at the appollo, only in a smokey hut with a much more forgiving crowd. So the healer/medicine woman/priestess/pharmacist/psychic did her thing, and Carol said "You know what? I Feel better!" And she did. She was laughing and yuckin' it up with the rest of us by the end of the night. The affliction had passed! We celebrated with a thanksgiving feast featuring dry toast and Sprite.

And this is how Tony and Carol earned the Zulu nickname "MAFAVUKA", or in English..."BACK FROM THE DEAD". Proof once again that the couple that "sprays" together, stays together.