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Mellow

It has been a fairly mellow day and there can be only one reason. I haven’t been working at the hospital. I have been visiting one of our outlying clinics at the settlement of KwaMsane. It is one of our busiest – even more so this week of all weeks: National Polio Vaccination week. Just as I was about to leave the hospital site this morning the Transport department shoved 2 nurses, 3 cool boxes of vaccine, numerous needles, syringes and sharp bins into the Department of Health vehicle I was using. It was complete mayhem at the clinic: hordes of children for vaccinations, hordes attending the anti-retroviral clinics and about 20 for me.

I drive back to the hospital through the game park at dusk. The sun is blinding red on the horizon in front of me. The animals are out in force this evening. A herd of zebra grazes on the roadside to my left. A few minutes later a herd of buffalo on the right. Then I spot a small group of cars stopped in the road. I round the corner and there, busy destroying the “Beware of the Elephant” sign is an elephant. The driver opposite gives me a big smile and a thumbs up before driving away.

The elephant continues adjusting the sign to a more pleasing 45 degree angle before filing his tusks on the barrier and moving on across the road.

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