Today was pretty stressful. Basically we stopped for lunch beside the first river we’d seen for days. Only problem was the truck got bogged. No problems plenty of trucks were passing on the road, one would surely stop and help us. Except that the first truck to help got bogged and bogged our truck even deeper into the mud. We had lunch, expecting to be rescued soon. The heat was starting to get to us all. A lack of shade and drinking water were the real killers. Matt and Ellen worked tirelessly, digging into the mud to get the sand mats they carry for these situations under the tyres. Our local guide Max was busy on the highway trying to get help and also went on a mercy run for water. It got to the point that the truck was in an unsafe position and toppling over was a real problem.
Bogged
Ellen assured us we’d camp here overnight and be 4WDed across the border in the worst case situation the next day. Eventually a caterpillar digger arrived at first it tried pulling with some progress but not much. then it just latched the scoop onto the back of the truck (which weighs 14 Tonnes) and literally pulled the truck out. Matt assured us his record of 3 days bogged was not under threat, however that was due to lack of help and that this was the worst bogging he’d been in for a while.
A big hole
A lot of tired people then carried everything that was unpacked off the truck the 100m or so to load the truck and we moved to a better campsite down the road. I’d like to say I had a great night’s sleep after a tiring day, but that would be lying. I spent the night dealing with vomiting and diarrhea, most likely due to the dehydration I suffered in the 45C heat. OK ladies and those with sensitive ears please go to the next blog entry, the rest of this entry is rather graphic.
I woke up during the night feeling like I needed to vomit. I got out of the tent and made for some bushes, where I vomited everywhere. However why just vomit, when you can shit it out too. This is where the real problem was. Under the pitch black skies in the middle of a desert with a small trowel, I dug a hole and squatted the best I could. The diarrhea was so bad, I missed the hole by a few meters. Yes charming, projectile diarrhea! I then did my best to cover up a trail of shit with sand. Repeat this a few times until sunrise and one can imagine the lack of sleep I managed that night.