Day 4, Today I set off for my final destination. A guide was sent to pick me up from Durban to take me to Mseleni, the plan was take a “taxi” all the way. Sounds pleasant enough however it transpires a taxi is actually a 12 seater van that is crammed full of people and possessions to the point where your position is fixed by the various Newtonian forces acting against you. The taxi rank was reminiscent of an Indian train station, hawkers flitting by trying to peddle their wares with strange nasally pitched voices. Some even had fake cds and dvds, my guide had a look through them briefly pausing at “Black Ass Candy” before hastily moving on (in case you’re wondering the colour of Candy’s rear was verifiable from the dvd cover).
The journey was uncomfortable on the knees and the stuffiness constantly sent me nodding off before jerking awake with the next bump on the road. The driver clearly had a penchant for R&B and we were provided Akon, Alicia Keys and Beyonce as a soundtrack to the rolling hills and rows of eucalyptus trees interspersed with the umbrella like acacias. Sugar cane and pineapple plantations also lined the pristinely maintained motorway.
We finally arrived at the hospital after 4 long hours where we were dumped at the gates. Set on a hill we trudged up with my baggage and met the general medical officer. I was then shown my lodgings. This is essentially a portacabin separated into compartments. My compartment contains a bed, a wardrobe and a mirror, the bare essentials. The pine effect wood paneling on the walls does add a touch of style, though it is from the seventies, designed by B and Q basics, and then put on sale.
A brief tour of the hospital was promised but the doctor got called to an emergency. I was invited to meet him in theatre whilst he intubated a 12yr old with an odeamatous throat. I was invited to assist in the possible tracheotomy, but luckily this was in jest. After having met my colleagues I was decidedly more positive about my upcoming time.
I was invited along to dinner at the Lighthouse, in Sodwana Bay, the local “cocktail lounge” as it professes on entry. Dinner involved a lot of what I could expect over the next weeks and months including the cursed reassurance of “you’ll be fine’. A short drive back and Pinotage is taking effect, must go to sleep now.
"This is essentially a portacabin separated into compartments. My compartment contains a bed, a wardrobe and a mirror, the bare essentials." - Have you returned to Ingleby?
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