This might be it…

We returned to Muheza for the briefest of stopovers – a night and a morning. After much debate about where to spend Christmas we decided on a beach resort. This was not an easy decision as Hill View has very much become our home and we all definitely sleep best here. However, we thought it prudent to prevent any chance of me being drawn into a Christmas medical disaster (reassuringly, I guess, all four of my lovely ladies seem keen to have me present for the whole of Christmas)! It also appears to be a good decision as a power surge whilst we were away seems to have fried a number of our electrical goods. I will take proper stock of this on our return and begin the process of fixing….

Hospital Decorations!

Unbeknown to me, last night Kate had laid a Christmasy breakfast table complete with African Stockings that she had had made here. A great way to wake up and left me very intrigued as I went out for a run before the rest of the house had stirred. After that, I popped into the hospital to see my one remaining inpatient – a laparotomy from a few weeks ago that had a (predictable) wound infection. In the UK she would have been discharged 2 or 3 weeks ago with a VAC dressing, here the only place we can manage her wound is as an inpatient. There is no such thing as district (or even practice) nurses. She is the lady who had a small bowel fistula following gynae surgery and I am just delighted with how well she is doing (not least because she also had a new diagnosis of HIV). To be honest, she is very lucky to be alive. The wound continues to heal well, albeit slowly, and she is in excellent sprits. I offered her home leave for Christmas, but as a Muslim she was more than happy to remain. My token gift of a couple of packets of sweets brought a massive smile to her face!

Then to pick up the hospice car…. Finding the keys was slightly more problematic than I had hoped – a change of key rings – and whilst my Swahili can just about follow the conversations, it is frustrating not to be more in control of them. Anyhow, eventually all sorted and I got it home. We loaded it up, stuffed with a surprisingly heavy bag of Christmas paraphernalia (credit to ‘Kate-Wife’ again). We gave our housekeeper(s) a Christmas bonus, as well as a number of cards made by the girls which they could not have been more grateful for. I am still a little undecided about the whole ‘housekeeper thing’ but they are beautiful people and moments like these certainly weigh heavily in their favour. They are very much part of the household family now and they adore the children.

Ferry - safe?!?

And so we headed off once again, this time south, to the coastal beach resort of The Tides. It was another exciting journey. Getting to Pengani was fairly straight forward, albeit 42Km on mud / dust roads. But we then had to cross the river on a ferry. I had some reservations about this as we watched it veer from side to side in the current. Up close, it was a bit like a rusted smaller version of the Cornish King Harry Ferry or the Poole Chain Ferry, just without the chains (probably why it’s unstable). I rationalised that we had watched it get to the other side and back safely and it seemed popular and well used so on we got. It was of course absolutely fine and ‘safely’ transported us to the other side! 

Moto-goats

There we found the new holder of the ‘ridiculous boda boda (motorcycle) load’, four goats! Quite remarkable. I am constantly amazed by how much can be fitted onto and transported by these two wheeled wonders (I hasten to add I wouldn’t go near one – the safety record is also widely acknowledged as being decidedly questionable!).

The road from the ferry was fine, until we turned off towards the resort itself. Now, we have subsequently found out that the ‘old road’ has been extensively repaired, should now be considered the ‘new road’, and would have been a much better option. Had we been told. We of course followed the signs – why wouldn’t you! Probably the best way of looking at it was that I got an early Christmas present of a 4x4 adventure. 5km of… I don’t know quite how to describe it, certainly exciting. The track was unbelievably rutted in places and with some massive ‘water features’ to navigate too. The freshly washed hospice car was put through its paces and I certainly earned my beer at the end. Fortunately, we neither got stuck, crashed or broke any parts of the vehicle, which at times felt like quite a close call. So overall, another great result.

And we arrived in paradise. This place is quite something. We have got the resorts ‘family house’, which is massive and luxurious (all the more surprising given the price). I think the food might be better in Peponi (judging by lunch), but this place might just be it. From a family perspective. We have oodles of our own space, a beautiful beach, lots of toys (beach, board) for the chidlers and amazingly friendly staff. What a great way to start Christmas.

Panoramic of our 'mansion'

Our 'room' for our stay!