Joie de Vivre & a Dead tyre
This is one of those - “It was just so inspiring to meet someone with such a joy for life and the admirable ability to laugh at certain challenges", stories - that I just had to write something.
In November 2015 I found myself waiting at the pick-up point for Wilderness Safari’s Desert Rhino Camp; waiting to be collected, but also as I found out from my guide when he arrived, waiting for three other people to join us. Glen and Piotr arrived after a short while and as we were swapping names and stories on how we got to be at that particular location on that particular day Aurelia rolled in. In fact chauffeured in from the lodge next door where it turns out her vehicle was waiting for a new spare tyre.
Her story, we all quickly agreed, appeared to be way more interesting than all of ours so we proceeded to pry it out of her. As it turns out no coaxing was necessary and she regaled with absolute glee the events leading up her joining us on that particular day.
Aurelia is originally from Paris, France, had spent some time working in the travel business in Cape Town, but wanted to do her own thing. So naturally she just up’d and opened a travel agency in Harare, Zimbabwe. I mean, that’s just the most obvious place for a single female Parisian to look to do something like that, isn’t it? Well, after having spent six months there previously working at an orphanage it was clearly the most obvious place for her - a gutsy move I thought.
Anyway, she was on a three week overland trip in her ruddy great big black Range Rover getting to know the Namibian lodges better when, just a few kilometres out from the previous lodge she experienced a flat tyre. Of course being only a few kilometres out she decided to just drive on.
And as she put it in her French accent, “Wat’s a little gal lak me going tu du trying to chenge a tyre out in ve middle of novhe? Av yu sien ve size of vose wills”.
And then, “Yu shud av sien my tyre ven I finally got vere. I keeled it”, and she breaks into an amazingly contagious laugh, clearly not the slightest bit perturbed by the fact that it had cost her a few days, a few thousand Namibian Dollars and missing seeing one or two lodges through having to wait for a new tyre to be sent up from Windhoek.
Needless to say we all enjoyed having Aurelia around and a lot of fun and laughter was shared on that particular game viewing vehicle over the next two days. She is a petit lady who carries with her a very large and likeable personality - together with an incredible joie de vivre.
Good luck with everything Aurelia … I am sure Zazu Voyage can only do well.
