The e-mails from South African, Thea, just keep on coming. Each more unbelievable and outlandish than the other and she really should really have her own “adventure/reality series.” These are just a few of Thea’s (paraphrased) notes from the Democratic Republic of Congo:

…”There are some things in the Congo that I just cannot understand….

– A man carrying a string of beautiful birds hanging upside down and half dead…

– Over 100 cattle were blasted to pieces with handgrenades and machine guns, because the people believed that the Rwandans were cows in disguise…

– A little old lady brought a stork into the zoo and asked if they would please look after it since the witch doctor had turned her husband into a stork…

- Baby Chimps were burnt to death in the sanctionary next to the zoo. They didnt want the chimps protected as they are bush meat!..”

one of the better Congo roads
Thea recently visited a crocodile farm on the Umi River that borders Lake Kariba on the west. Lake Kariba, a man-made lake, stretches along Zambia and Zimbabwe and can turn extremely rough in bad weather as Thea discovered. Lake Kariba acted up the day she left for a return back to DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo). Big waves buffeted her little boat around while the African skipper headed straight into the waves drenching everybody. All Thea could picture was being thrown into the water with the super-abundant Nile crocodiles that call Lake Kariba home, and was so scared, she doubled over in pain with “gypo guts.” (I’m going to assume that means stomach pains leading to diarrhea.)

Her friend told the skipper to stop at an island for Thea to do her business. The skipper stopped in knee-deep water with lots of grass, and crocodiles began jumping into the water around the little boat. So much for that island! Gave that one a miss and motored over to the next island, where Thea climbed into the water, and literally s…t her brains out from crocodile fright. It was then back on board for another two hours of rough riding. Talk about being a “bit shaken.”

Thea then went to say…“…But the wonderful days at Kariba were all worth it, amazing sunsets….getting so close to elephants drinking water, one lifted up his trunk flapped his ears and pretended to charge us… Its what africa is all about..”

No, Thea, it’s you who is the epitome of what “A Gutsy Woman Who Travels” is all about.