Botswana - 6

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9/9/03
So - not much exciting been going on. Lots of staring at stupid games on the computer screen trying to avoid thinking about anything. But - life moves on.

The point of note was this year's Kalahari Hash House Harriers annual Ostrich Migration. (Pictures follow).

Spent the entire damn weekend running... man do I hurt. :) The annual Ostrich Migration - a 100k relay run, campout, and return (by car, thank god).

There were nine legs - different teams to run each of the legs, the split of the running to be decided by the team members. Cars drive alongside the runners and we go through all these small villages where the people come out to stare at these weird/bizarre makgoa.

Part of the run was alongside Madikwe game reserve (yes, the same place I was describing last time). So at one point when I was doing my fifth or sixth kilometer, I look over to my right and there's this elephant behind a fence just staring at me.

I was involved in 4 out of 9 legs of the relay (52k total) and ran between 10 and 15k on my own. The last stretch is this complete clusterfuck - all of the cars leapfrogging each other, you hop out, run 200 meters with the ostrich feather duster (served as our baton), pass it on to the next person, then hop into whatever car is closest (sometimes simply driving it) and get to the head of the line to start again. Wheee! All that for 16 k - took a surprisingly short time. Camped out at Molatedi damn for the night, everyone drank themselves silly (as the youngest hash member and the only American I was required to inaugurate the Mampuer bottle - 150 proof peach brandy.. waugh! Almost as bad as aquavit), slept in tents. Woke up with a mouthful of grit (the tent I slept in did not have any way to secure the flap.. So I kept waking up as it was blown inward and bashed me on the head.

At 8am we did our "liver ramble" - everyone walked instead of ran, then drove home. Pretty fun. But I am totally sore now and overtired. Not enough sleep when your tent flaps are going all night in the wind.

Yesterday - Monday - more Hashing. Ran in Gabs this time, and everyone was going pretty slow because we all HURT! But I'm going to be in such good shape by the time I get home. High altitude training - good for lung capacity. :) Went to dinner at this place that is situated right on a driving range, which is apparently heaven for the warthogs. The just hang out on the grass munching away, ignoring the ape-like creatures hitting balls in their directions with sticks.

Now - going to work on an International AIDS Trust conference. I think the topic is the gender problems and how lawmakers can have an impact on the stratification that means that women are being hit much harder by the epidemic. The woman who runs the IAT is Sandy Thurman (used to do Clinton's AIDS work) and is such a fun person. She's a complete aristocrat, Southern Belle (fox-hunting and all!) but can apparently drink my dad under the table. Real fun lady. Guess I better get going for that.

Love to everyone, and please please please get in touch and let me know what's going on. I need as much social support structure as I can get (even if it's thousands of miles across the ocean).

First Legs of the Ostrich Migration

From the Hash - this is the first pair of legs (ha!) we ran. 25k between the five of us. Fortunately there were two members of the USMC along who showed all the rest of us up. But meant we had to run less! Phew.

Sixth Leg

Third leg that I was involved in. Brian (the guy who appears in both pictures) and I were only supposed to do the first set (above) but we filled in where we could for the rest of the day. Thoroughly exhausting!

Duma being adorable

This is the cheetah that features on the next page... He's just a big kitten. Very satisfying and one of the loudest purrs I have ever heard!!! I want a cheetah when I'm all grown up and have a yard to keep him happy. :)