Mkurugumbo

For my Intrepid families past and present, and for those who have lived as part of an Intrepid family this one's for you...

Life on the road is precious time when you leave the routine and comfort of home and swap it for a life way more adventurous. It usually involves lots of animals in their natural environment, villages, townships and experiences you just don't get at home. You meet amazing people from all corners of the globe with a variety of backgrounds and all in all, everyone just gets on with doing what the itinerary has on it for the day and the other responsibilities that being part of a participatory camping tour requires of you.

As with any part of life though, life on the road can also be challenging in more ways than one. I have my own set of challenges that I am about to share, these may not have bothered others and things I haven't listed may have been the biggest for others. I am keen to hear your lists as well!

1. Getting a good nights' sleep

The deep, wake up refreshed kind of sleep. It seems such a natural part of the day but over the past 4 weeks there have been some hurdles to overcome (or not) in order to get some good sleep. Things like, leaving your tent zip slightly and I mean slightly undone and spending the night listening to a swarm of mosquitoes who shacked up all around me. Going to sleep in one layer of clothing only to discover that Africa in winter is freezing to the bone and your bladder decides it's ready for a short call at 1.34am. Your 2nd mattress you so smugly displayed on day 1 is a fraction of the size of the main one and you keep rolling off, particularly if over inflated and when you phone dies in the middle of the night and your alarm doesn't go off at 4.30am for a 5am roll out, leaving around 10 mins for a total pack down and a cup of tea before another long drive to do it all again.
I have at times chosen to upgrade to a room. On that, I have absolutely no regrets.

2. Hot Showers

Each day our guide gives us information about where we are staying and it goes pretty much like this ... Jambo Jambo, welcome to Paradise Valley Campsite. Tonight we have facilities with hot showers, wifi and a human watering hole where you can buy your..........drinks. We then pitch the tents and head off to enjoy the facilities with the following chorus shortly being sung back from the crowd. Does anyone one know which tap is the hot one? Can anyone get the wifi to work? Does anyone know where the bar man has gone? I jagged a hot shower the other night after several fellow campers told me of their ice cold experience. I felt a little bit guilty and like a lottery winner all in one. We stayed at the Habitation of Hope campsite last night. Unfortunately all hope ran out at the same time as the gas for the hot water.

3. African wifi

See above. Buy a sim. Pray.

4. Physical inactivity

Nothing creates the need to snack more than physical inactivity. Several hours of sitting on the truck moving only your bum cheeks to remind you they are still there sets off the part of the brain that tells you if you don't immediately eat a bag of salt and vinegar chips and wash it down with a ginger beer you might not make it to dinner. It's life and death, therefore you snack.

5. Mental inactivity.

A big one for me. I have practiced being in the moment by looking out the window and counting any trees with coloured flowers, trying to spot animals (even when in places where there are no animals), and being generally appreciative that I am staring at something other than Microsoft Outlook. My iPod has gone around the playlist so often it sounds like commercial radio and it was on one of these drives that myself and two fellow passengers decided we need to up the game.

We are now involved in several personal challenges that need to be achieved each day or in the case of the "most interesting photo of a clip on kangaroo" challenge, this is to be judged in Victoria Falls by the trip matriarch Rose.

The list is long but some of the challenges include, the "Octo flap" this is the skill of being able to effectively flap 8 coffee mugs dry at the same time. This one was proudly achieved this morning.

We have the Masai blanket challenge and that is for any one of us to be able to get Pato to willingly offer us his Masai blanket. Not achieved.

The Flap Lap, a mental and physical challenge of running one lap around the truck while flapping two plates without another passenger making a comment about what you are doing, coming to a campsite near you tonight, and ...

The Jambo Fact, standing up on the truck and commanding the attention of the rest of the truck by confidently hollering Jambo Jambo, something about Bulawayo .... and sharing a historical fact.

If nothing else it is keeping us insanely amused. We giggle like school girls and the days seem to go faster. Now does anyone have any salt and vinegar chips?Read more