Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
“Sure Rolland, with pleasure I will do that, and if you want I will paint that door too; I see
it was never painted before, but what is a puka?”
“Oh oh oh dat's one hole bra, we say puka for da hole. You no speak local yet, bra?”
“No, but I'm learning.”
“Please bra, dat would be good. But wait, I get one more proposition. You know da public
toilets over dere.” He pointed to where I showered and used the bathroom. “I like you think
about cleaning dem after da tourists leave every day. You can do dat bra, and we call it one
month rent.”
“Wow, that's a deal Rolland. I'll do that for sure.”
As it turned out, this was a grim job. There were only four latrines for the sixty some wo-
men all day, and two for the men, as well as the urinal. It was a ghastly job, and I gagged
every day. Fortunately for me, as the weeks went by I had a replacement janitor that thank-
fully took over my “post,” and I was able to breathe more easily.
At least I am able to state that I have been a janitor in my life and have a great respect for
the men and women who do this nasty but necessary job every day for a living. The upshot
of this brief janitorial post came in the form of more tourist abandoned property: towels,
sunglasses, soaps, and shampoos etc. Plus, I got to stay in Manele bay for working an hour
a day. I'm not too convinced that I got the better part of the deal! But I didn't mind all that
much.
Seven o' clock finally came around, and as I was finishing up a delicious sundowner of
fresh lime juice, rum and coke served cool, Dee drove up with a flourish. I waved and threw
back the last of my drink, got up, and walked over to her truck.
“Taxi!” I joked. She giggled good naturedly and slapped my arm. She was fond of doing
that.
“I hope you like Kalamungai chicken,” she said as she reversed the truck around.
“What on earth is Kalamungai chicken? Is it dead when we eat it?”
“Yes!” She laughed out loud, “It's very dead, but it is seasoned with leaves from the Kal-
amungai tree. It has a fantastic taste, you'll see. I have one growing in my back garden. It
has great healing properties too.”
“Obviously not enough for the chicken, if it's still dead,” I grinned wickedly at her. She
roared with laughter and slapped my leg this time. “Oh, you are a funny South African,”
she teased.
