Ok so the trip from Vic Falls to Harare was looooong. I took the over night bus with two other Americans and a guy from Harare, David. We left at ten pm drove for a couple hours then stopped on the side of the road for three hours for no apparent reason. After 16 hours sleeping on and off we finally arrived in Harare. The next step was finding a place to stay. The two Americans and I took a cab and luckily there was space at the only backpackers in town. I set up my tent and started meeting other travelers there, finding out about the music festival. Over the next four days I went to many shows at the international music festival. Some shows were free and others cost money so I of course had to pick carefully, which was difficult as I didn't know any of the artists. Luckily I only saw one performance that was terrible, and I do mean down right pathetic. It was a long few days though and on the last night as I was waiting for my last show to start I got really sick to my stomach and had to sit down. I thought I was ok but then I got a cold sweat and almost passed out! Luckily a woman came over and gave me some water and after a few minutes I was ok. Still not sure what happened as I had had plenty to eat that day with lots of water and no I hadn't had any alcohol in two days! Well the main point is that I am fine, well I have the sniffles at the moment as the weather has gotten colder here. Other than that no complaints.
On the last day of the festival I was able to obtain a place with at a couch surfers. If you don't know what that is it is a person who opens their home to fellow travelers around the world. The guy I am staying with is from Algeria and is just working here for the time being. He a very kind and generous man. I am very lucky to have such a nice place to stay here. The other day after lunch with a few of his friends we went to go pick up his friends dog and take care of him while he looks for a new place to live. When he found the dog, a gorgeous 9 month old bullmastiff, he was butt to butt with what looked like a young female black lab. Wellllll, they were stuck together!!! they obviously had tried to get un stuck but to no avail they were not coming apart. It was hilarious but also painful to watch. Finally the gardener was able to literally pull him out of her and they seemed ok. So this big guy is now staying with us and it is nice to have an animal around.
Houari, the man I am staying with, took me to dinner at a Chinese rest aunt last night and though I had the opportunity to try jelly fish and other such traditional foods I respectfully declined, I was curious though, next time. Today I made my way to the local market where I did my best to bargain for some items. I didn't do the best job but it is hard when the starting price seems so reasonable. I got some pretty dresses, some jewelry and a few heavy presents. All the other girls traveling around have all these nice clothes and after two months I was really starting to miss my skirts and pretty things so I am very happy with my purchases today.
I am obviously doing fine, sorry for the delay in update. Sometimes getting Internet can be tricky without a computer. Houari is letting me borrow a phone for now but I will be looking into buying one for the rest of my trip as calling taxis or other people locally has been important. If you have a good long distance plan go ahead and give me a call at 0735068223. Ok I have really gone on way to long. There is just always more to say!
No comments:
Post a Comment