….the one with the machete….
....so.... while I know there are a more than a few weeks missing between my last post and this one, I didn't feel right about writing about floating down the canals on a houseboat and playing with lemurs just yet. I will come back to those because the photos are beautiful, and they really were amazing adventures. But for now, we are coming forward in time for you and back 4 weeks today for me.
Monday of week 25 had been a busy day for both Merryl and I. It was her first day back in the office after a week of travelling overseas for Mercy ships and a very long and draining week for me - I will explain in a future post. Suffice it to say that by the time 5pm rolled around we were ready for the workday to be over. After looking at the dinner menu and not being enthused about having rice and chicken again, we decided to go out for pizza at a local restaurant [less than 1.5km from the port]. I was running late, trying to get some last-minute things done, so by the time I got back to my cabin I had approx. 5 mins to get ready.
I tossed everything in my bag, including both phones [mine and the work mobile], my umbrella, my wallet with my drivers license & a credit card and a stack of money in a plastic bag [I couldn't be bothered checking the wallet to see how much cash I was carrying] so I just put it all in to cover me...something I have never done before.
We just managed to catch the shuttle, before it left on its next loop and headed to the port gate. I convinced Merryl to take a tuk tuk as it was raining, and we made it to the restaurant a little after 6pm. Dinner was great! We caught up about what had been happening in the week that we had been apart and enjoyed some gelato before leaving the restaurant to head back to the ship just after 8pm. The decision was made to walk, so we started making our way back to the port gate. The road is a well-worn path for Mercy Shippers, and to this point, had been a safer part of town to traverse.
We were on the opposite side to the beach and after making it nearly halfway back to the ship we noticed two men on the opposite of the road [beach side]. They said something loudly in Malagasy and Merryl waved them off saying something like "no, no, Mercy Ships". It's not unusual for locals to beg for money anytime we are out. We kept walking and next thing; we noticed them walking towards us across the road. It's at this point where some things become less clear and other things very focused. The next thing I know I had been separated from Merryl. I could hear her yelling but have no idea as to what she was saying. I was also aware that she was hitting her guy with her umbrella. To my mind at that time this indicated that he didn't have a weapon [I’ve since been advised he had a stick].
I do remember walking backwards until I was close to the wall, planting my feet apart, grabbing the strap of my bag with my left arm and holding my right arm out to defend myself. I don't recall feeling fear or panic. The next thing that I do recall is a flash of something coming at me and something hitting my arm.
The brain is a fascinating thing. There were a flood of thoughts that went through my head in a time that felt like a while but was probably only seconds.
...."I'm in shock," "I can't believe I have lost my arm over my phone I know better than that," "how is Merryl going to get me to a hospital before I lose too much blood," "I don't want to go to a local hospital" [I had spent every day the previous week in one - will cover this in a later post - suffice it to say I didn't want to end up there], "why don't I see any blood," 'this is going to really hurt......"
I would like to mention at this point, that my guardian angel should be earning hazard pay given the situations I have been in during my life. I truly believe this time they put themselves in front of me because when I looked down, I can't describe to you the shock I felt when I realised there was no blood, and I still had my arm. I looked up and saw my shock reflected on my attacker’s face.
He recovered quicker than I did. It was at this stage I put my hands up and yelled "Merryl stop he has a machete". The next thing he removed the bag from across my body [Merryl's bag had broken at this stage] then they both just calmly walked back across the road towards the beach. I admit I then started to have a panic attack and poor Merryl had to pull my arm to start walking. Unbeknown to me there had been two men who had come out from houses behind us but hadn't done anything.
I recall walking back towards the restaurant we had just left and apologizing to Merryl the whole way. I don't know why but that seemed to be the only thing I said. We made it back to the restaurant without any further incident, although at this point, we had nothing else to take....
After a complicated process of trying to reach the ship, the ship security officer arrived to take us back. He was a very welcome sight I can tell you!
The next morning, we completed a police report with our ship security officer….the rest of the week however is a bit of a blur. I do know I wasn’t working and there were lots of tears.
The following Tuesday I flew to reunion and then onto Mauritius for a two-week break.
Observations from week 25 & 26:
Reminder – don’t walk after dark, no matter what everyone else does!
My ship family are an amazing group of people. I even had gifts of chocolate left at my cabin door!
The East side of Mauritius gets a lot of wind!!!!
I wish someone had told me how many Aussie snacks there would be in Mauritius! I would have taken an empty suitcase.
There is nothing quite like the sound of the ocean.
Music! I am so eternally grateful for music