We left Singida 1 week early to meet up with a lot of our friends in Moshi. Some people hiked Mt. Kilimanjaro and the rest of us went on safari to Ngorongoro Crater. We arrived on Thursday, on Friday we went to a coffee shop in town. I ordered a drink and some food and almost instantly didn't feel well. That night we sat around the dinner table telling poop stories (on this trip one has some pretty interesting bathroom experiences). I confidently said, "I have yet to poop in a squatty potty." Everyone was astonished at how I've made it this long. Well, I went to bed feeling sick and woke up even sicker. I slept all morning, ran an errand, then got dropped off at the hospital. Julia went with me. We were checking for malaria. After they pricked my finger, we were sitting outside waiting for the test results. I was feeling worse and worse. I tried to find the bathroom to throw up, instead it was just a shower. I didn't want to throw up there. So I came back out to the veranda area, fell down from dizziness, and knew I wanted to throw up in the garden, but couldn't. Then a man walked over and grabbed me by the shoulders to stand me up. Julia came over to get him away from me and sit me down. It was at about this point that I fainted. I woke up while being carried, asked where I was, and thought a middle-aged white nurse say, "A hospital." I had NO idea where I was; I had no idea I was in Africa!!! They laid me down on a bed to rest. Julia had been there all along getting peoples attention. They made sure everything was okay; sent Julia to get me some juice. I was laying there and realized I was scraped up, dirty, and was missing my glasses and shoes! I started to move to check and see if my sandals were by the bed. The other man in the room made a sound and motioned for me to lie back down; exhausted, I consented. Julia got back with apple juice, I asked her, "What happened to me? I'm a mess!" She laughed and relayed the whole story to me, filling in the blanks. She said the Masaai people told her "sorry" in Swahili on her way to get me juice.
I had a high fever, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, and dizziness. Luckily though, NO MALARIA, NO PARASITES!!! Haha You know it's bad when one celebrates the stomach flu/food poisoning! There was a couple moments when I was on my hand and knees in the squatty potty, without my mom, unsure if I could go on safari, and feeling awful. I thought, if I have to go through all of this without my mom and NOT go on a safari in Africa…I was going home! I am so blessed to have wonderful, caring squadmates! Some girls I haven't really talked to yet washed my hair, got water for me to soak my feet, rubbed my back while I was throwing up, and put a chair in the shower for me when I was too tired to stand up and shower. Some checked on me all the time and looked after me while I was sleeping.
Long story short, I went on the safari feeling about 70% better. The first day wasn't that great. Our dinner that night on the crater was zucchini soup. I haven't eaten anything better in all of Africa! After that though, I was exhausted so I went to bed. The next morning we woke up for the sunrise. It was absolutely breathtaking! That day was THE BEST!!! We had the best driver and a Swiss man named Thomas in our truck who had a very nice camera and binoculars – those came in handy! We saw the lioness kill the wildebeast, a hawk dive bomb Thomas, a cheetah kill a baby gazelle, and elephants crossing the road about 1 foot in front of our truck! After this time, I didn't feel sick anymore!!!
Once we left Moshi it took us 1 week of travel to reach Maputo, Mozambique. There are lots of things I could say about these buses. Border crossing was always long and annoying, buses were uncomfortable, there is no personal space, and I always seemed to be in the back with all the locals. In the end, I NEVER WANT TO DO IT AGAIN! I'm just so happy to be in Maputo!
After this whole experience, I have a newfound appreciation for my squadmates. Before, I sort of stayed in my group of friends, forever a creature of habit. They kept me sane, and ultimately, on the Race. It's not easy being away from home and sick, but the great thing about this community is that we all get sick and know how significant it is to be taken care of. I would like to send out a special thank you to: Peyton Runnels, Katie Lossner, Jillian Mangoni, and Julia Waterman. My time on the Race drastically changed because of the love y'all showed me while I was so sick. You gave me new goals and a drive to make sure I'm one of the persons who makes sure the sick person around me is cared for. So, Thank you! I'm also so grateful to the people on my squad and in Moshi who sent me kind words, prayed for me, and always checked on me. The World Race wouldn't be possible without such a strong community of people surrounding each other and supporting each other, no matter what!
