02/03/18

OK so I am not going to lie, the motel we stayed in, in this dreary town, was truly awful. It is probably the worst place I Have stayed in in living memory.

As a consequence, Martin and I got up very early for a hearty breakfast before we left and to no ones surprise it was almost as shocking as the accommodation.

Martin testing our refuelling technique

Once on the road we made excellent progress and were due to arrive in Lusaka at around lunch time, giving us plenty of time to explore the city and find suitable accommodation.

OK, my driving is not every one’s cup of tea, but we were making excellent time, and I suppose I may have been a bit cocky, didn’t give the African roads the respect they deserve or just switched off, but we hit a large pot hole at 75mph. Ouch.

Emergency repair

Both Martin and I knew we had done some damage. I thought burst tyres, but on inspection it appeared we may have escaped unscathed. That is until we trried to drive away and the front right wheel started wobbling uncontrollably. We had broken the steering rod. Knowing we weren’t going to make to 100km to Lusaka we went back to one of the wonderful tyre replacement Shacks where miracles can happen.

Well almost, we were able to hammer the bent rod sort of straight against a tree and with the liberal use of some wire to hold the rack in place we managed to drive the truck to the next town where a motor repair centre could be found. 4 ½ hours later. With a steering rack purchased and installed were able to set off again and complete the last 40km.

New steering road being fitted

All appeared to be working and we managed to arrive in Lusaka 11 ½ half hours after departure, at Lusaka Backpackers, nice ummm???? I really am a bit old for this sort of place but its clean serves good basic food and has hot showers so can’t complain too much.

We will see tomorrow, on our way to Livingston, if the repairs have been a success. I have high hopes.

So fingers crossed for tomorrow.