Sunday, 30 April – Pam, Erikka, and I head back to Rehoboth to spend the night before the Intercape bus departs at 5pm the next day for Victoria Falls. After getting my first scary hike (speed, level of attentiveness to the road), we arrive in Reho close behind Chester, Chad and Silas (who are planning to hike Fish River Canyon.) We walk to the flat and immediately I sense something is not quite right. Chester is talking with some woman, both the doors are swung open (we only need to open one to get in) and as I walk in to greet Chad and Silas and to welcome Pam and Erikka to our flat, I find myself in a somewhat surreal setting. The flat is a mess- the floor is covered in footprints as though someone played barefoot in the mud and then ran all over the flat. There are chip wrappers, open cans of beans, and candy wrappers thrown about. In the kitchen, there is an attempt at cooking porridge, opened packages of anything we had in the cabinet, and just stains of whatever. In the bathroom, the toilet is clogged with a special treat. Things are thrown all about my room and I find things of Chester’s and his room, definitely worse off than mine, has things from my room. I am speechless, a bit angry, and feel very violated. I am unable to really articulate anything and all I can manage is an apology to our guests who were looking forward to spending some time in Rehoboth. I am attempting to formulate some sort of a coherent thought as my mind races with thoughts about what I need to do, who I need to call, what this all means, and who that woman was. After a few phone calls, Waldo arrives and is an incredible help in sorting through everything. Erikka and I clean while the rest graciously and in good spirits prepare a Mexican fiesta which we are able to enjoy completely.

It turns out that two of Chester’s 12 year-old learners we able to climb through the burglar bars on the window and proceed to use the flat as a fun house for however long. Some of the things that were stolen have been recovered and anything else we are convinced has been pawned off somewhere. We are currently in the process of taking measures to make the flat more secure with the advice and assistance of PC.