We had to use bottled water for bathing in .....
You’d honestly think that with all the recent rains we’ve been having, that we would have an endless supply of water at the moment, wouldn’t you ? But that is not the case. We have elephant on the farm again, who’ve broken through our water pipes (water runs through these pipes – off Kilimanjaro mountain – to our farm) and coupled with this, so much silt/mud has run into the pipes with all the torrential rain, that many of them have become completely blocked.
Aside from the bottled water, this was the only water we had in the house for 2 days !
So, we were without water at the house for 2 days this week whilst the pipes were being very s-l-o-w-l-y (‘oh let’s stop for a tea break now and a lunch break an hour later, there’s no hurry’) repaired. Hubby was off the farm for a day so no one was here to ‘chase up’ on the repair work, either. So things were delayed even further. And I threw my toys out of the cot - or should I say, I threw an adult tantrum. (In grand style too, I may add.)
Yes – I ranted and raved and threw things (random tins of baked beans, and recipe books) .... I know this must sound terrible, but there’s only so much a girl can take you know, and I am DONE with roughing it in Africa. I have lived (when we ran camps here many years ago) with no food, no water, no electricity, no money, no roads out and – often – no hope (all - mostly - at different times though, of course !) and I refuse to do without any of these things now that we have children. I simply refuse. (Because I reckon that I’ve more than paid my dues to Life In Africa !)
The lack of water reminded me of my days spent living in the Tarangire area of Tanzania - where we had to dig for water from the dry Tarangire river bed .... and transport it carefully back to camp
So … on the first waterless day, I was patient. I calmly boiled pots of bottled water on the stove for the kid’s (and our) baths. Afterwards, I scooped the dirty bath water into the toilet cisterns to flush the loo’s. I made a great game of brushing teeth with a bottle of water with our daughter. On the second day …. with my temper wearing a bit thin upon waking up to the sound of air coming out of the taps once again … and upon hearing that it was a ‘major job’ and that ‘there may not be any water for another day or so’ I threatened …. to take the kids and book into a hotel in the city ….. and still no water ….. ‘Go up the mountain’ I said to my husband ‘And see what they are doing for yourself, because it’s taking too damn long’ but hubby assured me he had it under control ‘and I have an urgent problem with a planter on the farm at the moment which I need to attend to’ … so I told him to get his priorities right. And threatened divorce (‘I’m going to find myself a nice husband who works a 9 to 5 job in a European city in the 1st world somewhere’).
And threw a few more things at him for good measure.
And still, there was no water.
The water had to be carried uphill before being placed in the back of the vehicle - to avoid spilling even a single precious drop !
So I decided to hit him where it hurts a man the most (well, um … one of the places). His stomach. He came home for lunch, famished. Only to find a bare kitchen table. ‘Sorry’ I said ‘No water. No food. I can’t possibly be expected to cook with no water, keep the kitchen clean, wash dishes etc.’ (I had given the kids lunch a bit earlier, unknown to him !) He stormed off, and about an hour later I heard the water slowly trickling into the cisterns and through the taps. Ah ! Bliss ! Hubby had finally realised that the situation was dire and had got into his vehicle, driven up the mountain as far as he could go, walked the rest of the way on foot, and got to the root of the problem.
How happy do I look in this photo ? He he .... with no water on tap whilst we were building the camp, I had to bath, wash my hair and shave my legs in (dirty) river water out of a bucket
Which is what he should have done 2 days previously. But anyway. We have water now, (and hubby has food !) and that’s the main thing.
Who says us woman are hard to please, ‘eh ?!
The water had to be carried uphill before being placed in the back of the vehicle - to avoid spilling even a single precious drop !
How happy do I look in this photo ? He he .... with no water on tap whilst we were building the camp, I had to bath, wash my hair and shave my legs in (dirty) river water out of a bucket
