1st Sept REST

1st Sept. REST
Almost a week here now and the work is starting to fall in to some semblance of routine but with plenty of opportunities to diverge at any time.
Today, Wednesday, was offal collecting day when Maria toddles off to the next door game park to pick up the offal from the just killed donkeys or horses. The meat is fed to the cheetahs, lions and I think leopards on the park. Africats is the company and Ohjingwa is the name of the resort and park. They do considerable research into cheetahs as well as run one of the best resorts in Southern Africa.
We were denied the pleasure of seeing where guests pay from US$100-10,000 per night to stay, but turned left and went to the small abattoir where a bakkie was sitting there with its back filled with mellifluous offal. We had 6 garbage bins on the back of her bakkie with rubber gloves the only protection between this stomach churning (for the weak) pile. However the two employees of the abattoir got stuck in transferring it bare handed into our garbage bins.
Back at the restaurant it was another story. Martin, Maria’s fantastic manager, and the two girls Jackee and Lwaza were there waiting for us to arrive. It was a case of emptying a portion of each bin by hand as they were too full to just up end. That was when the fun started and before we finished I don’t think anyone was not sporting some ingredients of the donkey’s stomach on some part of their clothes.
Some of Joan’s work colleagues will be saying, ‘dealing in shit again’ no doubt, but she took it so very well.
This week has been an extreme case of stepping outside your comfort zone and has stretched Joan’s physical ability but we have loved it and the people we are working with. I have spoken about Maria before but her manager, Martin, is such a quiet, thoughtful man who can turn his hand to any task that comes up. He used to be a chef and we are looking forward to the spinach quiche he is making us tomorrow night. He is appreciating having me here to spread the workload as Maria is still getting this place set up and the jobs for him are never ending be they smoking out wasps, fixing water lines that the porcupines have pierced or meeting visitors arriving for a presentation.