Malaria in Senegal?

I wake up dazed, nothing major just feeling slightly dizzy as you sometimes do in the morning. I was part of the IT team of the summit and hence had some tasks to do. Today: Putting all the presentations and important files on memory sticks that would be shared out to the participants. This monotone task kept me busy for a few hours. Selecting files, dragging them onto the stick, waiting for the transfer to finish and repeat. Again, again and again - the dizziness didn't fade, but how could it under these circumstances. After all I was staring at a screen for most of the day. I don't feel much appetite during lunch and halfheartedly poke into the fish that they had placed in front of me. Next to the fish they had placed about 5 french fries and small heap of greens that was so miniscule that it could hardly be called a salad. Again, again and again they had served this meal throughout the conference - I was getting tired of it and only with some pain I manage to eat a few of the leaves and some fries. Luckily I manage to get a short break afterwards, to enjoy the hot sun on the hotel pier. The cold waves of the sea leave me feeling refreshed every time they spray into my face after breaking on the stones below. I return to my desk and screen to continue with the last of the memory sticks. After finishing I rest my heavy head into my arm and try to sleep. Why is it that I am feeling such exhaustion? "I'll be resting in my room, I don't feel so good." I mumble as I pass one of the organisers with a dizzy head and walk into the direction of my room. I feel hot and cold, shivers go through my body while I am trying to wrap the blanket over my body to keep warm and throw it off the next second to cool down again. Darkness follows. I hear loud laughter coming from the main conference hall and lift my hot head from the pillow. The room had transformed into a sauna from the heat radiating from my body. I had to get out. I had to get fresh air. Maybe someone knows what is going on with me. I walk into the main conference hall and fall into the first chair I see. My head bobs dangerously from side to side and I feel the throbbing of blood in my head. Every time my heart beats I get a stinging sensation from my temples, from the corner of my view I see Lua approaching me with an expression of worry masking her face. "How are you Noah?" She asks as she takes my head into her arms. "Not so well, feeling hot and cold sometimes. I can't really think straight." I say softly. Mongy from Egypt now comes to join us. "I think you might have malaria, you better get yourself checked." Lua says worriedly. "I'll try to get hold of Dr. Kabre, you should keep moving Noah - it'll keep you awake." Mongy adds and hurries off. I stand up and head down to the swimming pool, no one was there and I started walking around the swimming pool. I was in a state of trance, I take one step after the other in religious determination to keep myself awake, the dark starts to creep over the sea in front of me. "There you are Noah, come with me." I hear Dr. Kabre say from the stairs leading up to the hotel. I take heavy steps up into the courtyard to follow him to the road. We pass a taxi and after a brief conversation Kabre decides the guy is ripping us off and continues walking. The taxi follows the two of us and with his head peeking out of the window the driver continues the argument until giving in to Kabre's bargaining. "Don't fall asleep Noah. Just follow me to my clinic, it's not far now." Kabre says as my feet slowly wade through the thin layer of sand on the tar road. Why does my head have to feel so heavy? A few more steps and we reach the clinic. Kabre knocks twice and a young woman let's us in - we go straight to the little room that is his office. He takes out a thermometer and measures my temperature. I see his face in a worried expression as he looks at the result, 39.6. Could be worse, I think. He takes my pulse and we go out again. He doesn't seem to be able to come to any decisive conclusion. "Just walk to the pharmacy - we get some medicine." Kabre says in his french accent as he pushes onwards. We walk along the road in direction of the large cross that is clearly visible in the dark with its neon lights blinking. My head feels like it is drowning in the noise and dust from the road. At the same time a little gnome must've been hitting a nail through my ear. We reach the pharmacy and a long queue is blocking the way to the counter. The little gnome was now starting to scratch my brain with the nail. A few pain filled moments later I realise that we were now at the front of the queue. Kabre talks some words in french, a couple of medicine names I'm guessing, and we walk away with a plastic bag full of pills. He passes me some as we continue walking. I wash them down with a sip of water and cross the road, Kabre was now leading me to the nearest hospital. I hear some screams coming from the room next to us and look up to face the nurse and her needle. A quick blood check later we get the negative result. No malaria, that was a relief. However it didn't help my fever and current state of being very much. We head back to the hotel and I drop into my bed a few minutes later. I wake up two hours later feeling refreshed, not like a new being entirely - my head was still sore, but I felt somewhat normal again. I head out of the room and the fresh breeze from the nearby ocean wakes me up even more. What an experience, I think as I walk towards the lit up conference hall.

Note: This is just describing a few hours of my time in Senegal, the rest of my days there were absolutely perfect.