So 12 years ago this week I flew out of New Zealand heading to Africa for my second Africa adventure.
The plan was to ride from Cairo to Cape Town with a company that I don’t want to associate with any more.
Yes that’s right a 12,000 kilometres cycling adventure, But only managed to ride to Khartoum, Northern Sudan (2,000 kilometres).
We (3 or was it 4 Ladies and myself) went shopping in one of the shopping malls for the day, had dinner and then headed back to camp all good.
Except I was exhausted having shopped with the ladies for the day, so slept extremely well that night.
Unfortunately, the next morning when I was looking forward to the upcoming dirt road’s/tracks I woke up to massive chest pain, and after the two medics on the trip pulled straws to which to take me to hospital to see what was wrong with me unfortunately, the medic that took me to the hospital, took me to the wrong international hospital!
They did not listen to me! and thought that I had something wrong with my stomach despite he not complaining about any problems with my stomach and it was chest pain! They ended x-raying again and again! x-ray of my stomach?
They finally got 2 pints of male blood because they believed that you didn’t need the right blood type if you got male blood!
During this time I deteriorated considerably, ending up having an amazing sleep waking up to the second medic from the trip, giving me CPR!
They still wanted to do surgery to my stomach and we’re not listening to the A&E nurse from Australia that was the second medic on the trip, She had also talked with the Doctors in Australia, that was part of my travel Insurance.
They all thought there was something else wrong with me?
The travel insurance company, arranged a medical support plane to fly me down to Nairobi, Kenya and one of the best International Hospitals in Africa.
Unfortunately again the hospital in Khartoum would not let me leave without having surgery first to my stomach!
Luckily the Australian A&E nurse real realize there was something wrong with this hospital and planned a kidnapping. She kidnapped me straight out of the hospital got me to the airport to meet the medical airlift to Kenya and once there they used a very special tool to work out what was wrong with me?
That tool was a stethoscope!
Straightaway they diagnosed me with Pneumonia, and then started treatment, which started with the first painkillers and medication, thank goodness I started to recover after five weeks Plus in hospital I was released to a hotel across the road. where then spent another couple of weeks recovering unfortunately, the tour company that I was cycling with decided that I was too ill, despite having completed a one and a half hour fitness treadmill, test!
I spent some of this time sightseeing, going to the Elephant Orphanage, and just walking about the City of Nairobi.
Then it was time to fly home again to New Zealand, remembering not all adventures turn out as planned.
