The Curse of the Mazunga

I knew it was too good to be true, escape Africa without feeling the total wrath of her beauty. Maybe I was being too cheeky - drinking tap water in SA and in Zambia, breaking my food rules while away, brushing my teeth with tap water and maybe the straw that broke the camels back - the sugar cane juice from the street vendor in Stone Town. Either way, I don't know how or where I got sick, but boy did I ever get sick.

Everything was going great - we are in a small town in Zanzibar soaking up the rays and drinking by our plunge pool (we will tell you more about Zanzibar soon) and then I woke up the other morning far too early and feeling pretty rough. Borrowing the term from Shantaram - I had loose motions and then came the puking. Finally 9am rolls around and I tell Arnold that we should go eat and maybe it will make me feel better. I try and keep down a piece of toast, but I know its never going to happen. We are both taking Malarone (to prevent Malaria) and I know that it has to stay in my system for an hour in order for it to work - so I keep asking the time, praying that I can last an hour without puking. But it doesn't happen.

The problem with getting sick in Africa is you have no idea what you are sick with and if its going to be harmful. You don't want to jump to conclusions, but at the same time you don't want to risk things. I think Arnold decided not to risk things and asked the hotel to call the doctor. By this point, it was clear that I wasn't getting better and I wouldn't be able to keep anything down. It was a pretty rough 6 hours for me and just after 11am the doctor shows up. After a couple questions and a few quick tests, he thinks that I have a bacterial infection - which is very common when it comes to us mazunga's. I think he told Arnold that 9 times out of 10 when he comes to the resort, its because of this.

So the next thing I know, I am being hooked up to an IV and have three different types of antibiotics prescribed for me. I left Arnold to deal with the doctor and the medication instructions after I was finished with the IV. I was really exhausted and just wanted to sleep by that point. I spent the rest of the day sleeping and woke up at dinner so I could have another piece of toast (which I managed to keep down). Arnold figures that I slept for 18 hours that day - I was completely done for.

As it turns out, I am allergic to the meds he gave me, so we had to call him back today and I have new meds for my rash and some cream as well. Hopefully, I will be back in to normal soon, but for now, its lots of water and rest - as per my new Doctor, Dr. Lee. The one great thing that came out of this, is that I got to see an amazing sunrise, but I think that's about it haha.

Off to sleep now.

Love Melissa and Arnold