The Midnight Donkey Whisperer

So there we were, a mixed group of us—Igor, the former water polo player from Croatia, Mihao, the miner from the nearby village of Mgusu, Jean Louis, the gold mining investor, and me, all gathered in the small village of Namba Moja, near Mgusu. Captain Ngowi, the former pilot for Tanzania’s ex-President Nyerere, had brought us all together.

It was pretty late, around 11 pm, and we were sitting in front of a simple mud house. The air was a bit humid, making it feel heavy. In the dark, all we could see were some donkeys and cows. We were having a good time, laughing and joking around.

Suddenly, we heard a strange, scary noise from the darkness. We weren’t sure if it came from the donkeys or something else. It gave us all a bad feeling.

A few minutes later, Mihao walked up to us, clearly drunk. He sat down with us, and we realized he had come from the direction of the strange noise.

Igor asked, “Mihao, did you hear that weird noise from the dark? We couldn’t figure out what it was.”

Mihao smiled and said, “That was me.”

We were all surprised. “What do you mean, it was you?” Jean Louis asked.

Mihao laughed and said, “I was checking the oil.”

“Checking the oil of what?” Igor asked, confused.

Mihao pointed at the donkeys and said, “The oil of my ‘transport machine’.” Then he raised his middle finger.

We all started laughing, finally understanding why the female donkey was making that noise in the dark. It was one of those funny moments that made our time in Namba Moja really memorable. We kept laughing and talking, enjoying the night together.