Yesterday I  was in total crisis.  I am on holiday from school and  although I have a lot to do I thought I could spend a happy hour looking at our photos from our incredible trip to Uganda and Tanzania 3 years ago. (More about that some other time). For the last three years I haven’t actually had time to look at all our photos – too many and all on the computer which I don’t have access to, for various reasons,  when I have spare time. So yesterday seemed an ideal opportunity.

But disaster struck.

All the files from the Uganda trip had been corrupted by a virus. I  went into melt-down. The disappointment was more than I could bear and for about an hour I just wandered about the house indulging in regrets that I hadn’t looked before, that I hadn’t printed them all off, etc, etc.  But I  had to go out, however, so I pulled myself together, came to the conclusion that Africa was still in situ, and that although it was a pity, no-one had died and you can see pictures of animals all over the place.  Not our pictures maybe, but pictures nevertheless.

Yet one image irked me.  I remember asking Jacek to take a picture of a particular tree because it was so unusual, even in that area.   The Sausage Tree, as it is commonly known or Kigelia africana. Unusual and ugly, to be honest. But amusing to look at and considerably rare. Used a lot for medical purposes apparently – it would have to be medicine because the fruit tastes revolting by all accounts.

So last night when he came home from work, I told Jacek about the photos and was over the moon when he said he knew what the problem was – and how to fix it.  Which he did. An hour or so later all the photos were restored and this morning I was in seventh heaven, reliving our holiday ( and some of the attendant anxieties) and able to find the photos of this tree.  So here you are – enjoy, admire and hope that I have the energy to write about the rest.  It will take a few years at the rate I’m going, but at least I will never run out of material!