Written on Friday 4 October

Thought I should show willing and write something. It’s been a very long day. We were up at 4.50am this morning to get to the ferry back from Stonetown at 7am.

The ferry was interesting, it was a bit bouncy but not what I would call rough, there were a few roller-coaster moments were you left your stomach behind, but as far as I was concerned those were just fun!

However, many of the other ferry passengers didn’t feel the same way. Dozing in my seat I opened my eyes when a baby started screaming and my space was overwhelmed with an overbearing smell of BO to find two women laid in the isle beside my seat.

Conscious of the Islamic culture all the Oasis passengers had covered up, but this didn’t stop the lady laid on the floor flopping out her boobs and attaching the screaming baby. As he fed he stared at me, which was mildly unnerving. Although my attention was soon grabbed by the very loud retching of another lady laid in the isle. Her mouth was buried in a sick bag and she was retching as though she was trying to bring up her lungs. When her sickness abated she wrapped one hand around the top of the bag and rested her forehead on its liquid contents until the next wave of nausea overtook her.

In front of her a man in her party, who’d managed to stay in his seat, was busy vomiting into another bag and outside a man was throwing up over the side of the boat. Looking around me everyone seemed to be feeling or being sick. I felt as though I was surrounded by puke. With nowhere to go my only option was to try and block it out, I closed my eyes and hoped sleep would consume me and remove me from the sick corner for another half an hour!

Back on dry land and away from the spewing we were back on the truck for a 12 hour drive to a bush camp at Mikumi. I’m now sat inside the truck thinking about bed (it’s 9.30pm). Outside half the camp are getting ready for bed. The boys are drinking rum.

It is another night of clearing food out of the tent and checking for eyes in the darkness if toileting in the middle of the night as Our camp is near Mikumi National Park which is unfenced. I’ve already come across a spider whose eyes lit up in the torch light, that’s enough intimidating wildlife for one night.