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Hello folks, Not a huge amount to report seeing as all we did was mission it across Tanzania to get to Malawi. From Kigali we did 1300km in 32 hours of driving. The most notable thing about this journey was that fact that it nearly destroyed the car! Apart from the first 200km and the last 100km it was all off-road. The road was a mixture of sand and clay. Not the best surface to drive on in the rainy season. It poured with rain for the whole time we were driving through. This meant that the road was under between 2 inches and 30 inches of water, for 1000km. Where it wasn't under water it was because it had been washed away making the road virtually impassable. One stretch that takes 4 hours in the dry took us 7 hours. By the time we got to Mbeya (100km from the Malawi border) the car was on its last legs. Luckily there is an excellent land rover garage in Mbeya and we had to go there. By the time we got to the garage and looked at the engine all you could see what a brownish lump of something that was emitting a combination of groans, squeaks, whistles and grinding noses. This is what happens to your car after driving 1000km through gritty, sandy, muddy water:
All 8 brake pads destroyed
Air filter destroyed from ingesting so much muddy water
Panhard road bush collapsed (this one of the things that helps keep the car in a straight-line, fairly important)
Exhaust manifold gasket blown
Drive belt frayed from sand getting into pulley grooves
Same for air-con belt.
Air con pulley bearings seized
2 wheel hubs shaken loose (the hubs are what keep the wheels securely attached to the axle, again fairly important!)
A wire shaken loose somewhere which I can’t find which means we now have no interior or dash lights.
We had to limp the last 100km into town at about 30mph. Thankfully it was a good tarmac road. We also had to finally have the car cleaned because there was so much mud on it that the door handles had seized. The good thing is that to do all the above work and for new parts it only cost £150. In England you’d probably be looking over a grand. Anyway, we got all the work done and now the car is back running well.
Whilst they were working on the car I started thinking about all the servicing, filters etc that we’ve used on this trip so far. Because I’m a geek and had a couple of hours with nothing to do I decided to work it out. So far we’ve used:
3000l of diesel
60l of engine oil
20l of EP90 oil (used in axles, transfer gearbox and swivel housing)
20l of screen wash (bet you’ve haven’t used that much in all the time you’ve been driving, Rees)
5 oil filters
2 fuel filter
2 air filters
8 brake pads
1 drive belt
1 shock absorber
3 fuel pumps (first one died of natural causes due to old age, 2nd one was a fake “genuine” part that broke in 2 mins, 3rd one going strong!)
1 transfer box oil seal
1 axle differential oil seal
1 exhaust manifold gasket
10 fuses (have solved the problem of continually blowing fuse – I haven’t put one in and just live with having no interior lights!)
2 side light bulbs
1 brake light bulb
I think that’s it but don’t worry, I will update you if remember anything else!
Very resourceful (or just lazy!)
Driving in East Africa in the rainy season, fun fun fun.
The other notable thing was that we met this lovely family in a place called Kibondo and stayed at their house. Again it was fairly random. We were at the petrol station and I was trying to find out how long it would take us to drive to the next town when this white guy came up to me and told me that the road was crap and we wouldn’t make it before dark so why didn’t we stay with him instead. It turns out that this guy, Jessie, is the project director for the Tanganyika Christian Refugee Service and he lived with his wife and 2 kids in a great house on the outskirts of town. We camped in their garden and had an excellent home cooked dinner with them. They were very kind and showed great hospitality to 2 complete random strangers. What do you think are the chances of that happening in England?!
Their children are home schooled using the British National curriculum. However, their tutor is leaving after Christmas and they are looking for a new tutor to come and live with them and teach the kids. I said I’d put the word out so if anyone who reads this knows of a primary school teacher who wants a bit of an adventure get them to email me and I’ll put them in touch with Jessie. They are offering to pay the flight out and a monthly wage of 750$ (which is a bloody fortune in Tanzania), there is also a private house thrown in as well. They are a really nice couple and their kids are great, it would be a great opportunity for a recently graduated teacher who wants a bit of adventure and to do something different for a while. Initially they want someone for 6 months but this can be extended. I don’t actually know any primary school teachers looking for work but someone must so spread the word people!!
