I Can't Really Speak Right Now

I’ve spent the last several days snacking vigorously on a local treat called biltong. This treat is similar to beef jerky, only it’s made from various types of game such as Oryx, Kudu, and Springbok. It comes in 1 foot strips about 2 inches in diameter and it’s juicy, well spiced, and incredibly chewy. The problem with biltong – or rather, the problem with me – is that I’m an amateur eater. Every 5 minutes of chewing biltong is equivalent to about 1 hard bite of my tongue, or 2 soft bites. During our drive into Rundu last night I was feeling a little tired and I let my mind wander a bit as I chewed. Huge mistake. I almost bit off the side of my tongue. Every time I speak, awesome bursts of pain course through the side of my mouth, so I’m now communicating to my travelmates via a pocket notebook. Every time I want to say something, I take out the notebook and scribble down a few thoughts. Every time I want to eat biltong, I take out the notebook and ask my friends to cut me a fresh piece.

Today was a day that brought us all closer together. We spent the night in a small lodge in the town of Rundu on the Kavango river. Across the river is Angola. Mariano and I took a short canoe trip across the river to Angola where we were greeted by a group of screaming Angola children, as well as a few babies. The babies smiled and wobbled their heads, whereas the kids threw rocks at us. Luckily, I’m a great canoe captain and I yelled at Mariano to row as fast as he could while I took a video of the incoming volley. Our invasion of Angola was unplanned. In fact, the only reason these kids were able to playt target practice with us is because we blew out the clutch of the truck on the highway as we left town this morning. A couple of the guys had to head back into town to find a sturdy rope that we could use to tow the car to a mechanic. The towing experience was pretty fun. We parked on the side of the highway, took out our camping chairs, and started brewing some tea. A few local children walked up to us and we shook their hands. A few local cows did the same and we gave them some tea.

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