I’m not crazy... it’s the Malaria Pills I swear! (June 30th and July 1st)

Yesterday morning when I awoke at 7:00am the last thing I wanted to do was haul myself out of bed to run laps around the camp... but perseverance got the best of me so I once again adorned my running shoes and headed outside. The workout yesterday morning was a huge improvement from the day before, in part by the fact that I decided not to take my malaria pill before starting my workout. I have followed the instructions on the malaria prescription quite adamantly and since it said nothing about exercising I figured I would be okay, which it was clearly not based on the symptoms I experienced. After exercising for the first time I was so light headed I could have possibly fainted, light colours were intense and blinding. But the second day of boot camp was a completely different story, it felt great to actually move my legs and after 15 minutes of running I did 15 more minutes of sit-ups and push-ups.

Now, since exercising whilst taking malaria pills, my knowledge of the side effects has expanded greatly... but I have yet to mention the other interesting effects of this medication. Sure, my liver and physical body have been completely protected from the wrath of the nasty mosquito (which I might add are nonexistent here because it is in fact winter...) but my mind has definitely not been. I am confident that I have not experienced vivid hallucinations, but at times, maybe even due to the sun, I swear I have spotted elephants within the thicket that aren’t actually there. During the day my mind is usually sound, but during the night the effects of the medication are released. And they are fantastic. Naturally, I tend to have quite vivid dreams and remember most of them, especially when I have high doses of sugar before I fall asleep. On a normal basis I may remember 2 or 3 dreams a week, or at least the remnants. But now, oh yes, I dream and remember every night and have yet to have a repeating dream. The most memorable dreams so far have included being transformed into a renowned dolphin trainer. Of course, the dream turned out to be terrible; the opening show was a disaster as our dolphins were too dumb to actually be trained. The night before I was attending a very classy party in dreamland that happened to take place in a huge mansion. The guest list included none other than Orlando Bloom, and yes, we were best friends, no big deal.

The malaria pill bottle also warns that they will make your skin more sensitive to the sun. This is another set-back as I am very pale and already susceptible to unpleasant burns and heat rash. Luckily, I have packed handy dandy 55 SPF for the very hot days, but so far 15 SPF has been sufficient in keeping my skin protected. I would also like to add that I have almost tanned enough to have a normal skin tone! My legs haven’t seen the sun for eight months and the extra vitamin D has been wonderful.

In terms of data collection yesterday we did quite poorly as the elephants we were focaling couldn’t manage to stay in view for the 15 minutes. We started out at 8:30am and made our way west to find Ngani and Kohlewe. We were only able to take a 30-minute scan sample and a partial focal. After watching them disappear into the acacia thicket we decided to head south to see the main herd. This also turned out to be a disappointment as we were unsuccessful in finding any elephants other than Ntini’s very large tail-end sticking slightly out into the open. We were back at camp by 5:00pm, made supper, and were informed that today (July 1^st) was a day off!! After dinner we decided to stay up extra late, to 11:00pm to be exact, and watch a movie. K had gone to bed early so the four of us piled onto one of the single beds and watched our first movie since arriving at the Loose Mongoose.

This morning I woke up around 8:30am to the sound of cawing birds that I can only describe as the sound of a squeaky swing. This sound is made by the something-breasted Franklin and wakes me up every morning between 6:00am and 7:00am to my distaste. The birds here have turned out to make the most incredible noises, the most amusing being the sound of the something-or-other bird that I can’t remember the name of. If anyone has ever seen the short film before Monsters Inc. it will be very easy to describe. In the flick there is a great number of short, fat, little birds, and one very tall stork like thing. Anyways, the sound that those short, fat birds make throughout the footage is exactly the same sound that manages to be created in the voice box of the birds here.  It cracks me up every time, especially because when you do hear it the birds make such a racket it sounds like they are all bickering.

My day off will most likely be spent sitting in the sun and reading my book (and blogging of course). It comes as a relief not to be rushed in the morning and I even had a chance to make a fully-loaded omelette (minus the cheese) for breakfast this morning. It is also Canada Day! Giving us a reason to have a celebration and have a few extra drinks with dinner. Canada is 144 years old today, which is incredibly young considering everyone else here is British, and well Europe has been in existence forever compared to Canada.

This may be the first blog in weeks that has caught up with me in terms of time; I have finally reached present time exactly. Since it is now ideal for me to bask in the sun until I am burnt to a crisp I will leave it at that and maybe even blog a little more this afternoon.