A Night Out In The Bushes

Sleep- we all need it from the newly born who spend their days unoccupied to the aged who spend their time retrospectively. I had never gone a day without sleep in my life until my family and I went on holiday and by family I mean the entire clan. We went to Masvingo, a tourist attraction well known for the Great Zimbabwe Ruins. It was such a refreshing excursion spent touring the monuments, game viewing, canoeing, sight seeing and taking it easy by and large. Four days later, it was time to go back home. On our way back, I made myself comfortable in the most popular ride- ‘Robert’s car’ with the other youngsters of a comparable age.

We were thrilled about being all by ourselves in what was meant to be a five hour drive but what ended up as a two day journey. We set off well with the rest of the crew all split up into different cars. As it really was not a race Robert was extra cautious and avoided over ‘speeding’. After some time we stopped over for some refreshments for a few minutes. Alas the car would not start. No it was just a false alarm. After a second attempt we were rearing to go. This was actually a premonition of what lay ahead. Thirty minutes later we had a puncture right in the middle of nowhere and by then the first few stars had appeared.

There was no way Robert could continue driving, it was just too risky. We found comfort in the saying ‘there is safety in numbers’. The seven of us- young, energetic, strong could fight any attacker. We parked the car for the night and slept in the bushes. Actually we did not sleep- we needed to be awake. For the first time in my life I did not sleep. How amusing!. Most of the times I had resorted to coffee and other caffeine products but failed to stay up past midnight yet it happened naturally in the middle of nowhere. Fortunately we lit a fire after we were tired of sitting and that keep us warm. We could not help but sing along with Lester Bowie, Oh what a night!!.