Check yer nuts!
The kindness of strangers.
“I think we might have a problem” John said, as I came back from the ablutions block.
I hoped he was joking and was going to say “…because we’re out of biscuits!” or something similarly ‘hilarious’, because he’d just completed the essential vehicle check that morning. There are basic mechanical daily checks that we do, but also more detailed checks to be done regularly due to the hard terrain we’d been on recently. (More detail on these checks will be in a later post for anyone that wants them).
Yet, sadly enough, there was an actual problem…[continued below the highlights section]
Writing this from: Audi Camp – where we based ourselves whilst P got fixed
Scared of: Penelope not being fixable
Grateful for: everyone’s help in getting Penelope fixed
Thing I miss most: when I was listening to music in the restaurant of the camp, having a dance on a night out with friends
Lowest moment: getting eaten alive by mozzies one night, despite repellent and a mosquito net. I covered my face in repellent, so they just bit me on the lip – the one place I couldn’t put the stuff on!
Food highlight: amazing fillet steak and then delicious chocolate brownie here at Audi Camp
Best moment: cooling off with a dip in a swimming pool, it is so very hot and there's a heatwave on its way!
Smallest but most pleasure from: the coolness of the morning and the evenings as the daytime heat is fairly unrelenting
We’re glad that we brought: the tools that we did, and the Haynes manual. And 50% Deet repellent as we’ve only been able to get hold of 22% Deet repellent over here.
Wildlife encounter: we’ve taken pleasure in the smaller -and new to us- life whilst we’ve been in Audi Camp, particularly the birds. There is such a huge variety that we’ve never seen before. Although, at 4:30am, the volume of the rather raucous dawn chorus is sometimes less welcome!
Mistake of the week: John risking wearing a t-shirt instead of long sleeves, which he is regretting now that his arms are covered in bites
We’d just arrived at the Makgadikgadi National Park from Gweta, after leaving Kubu Island, and we’d done hours and hours of rough driving, including on really badly corrugated roads and then on tarmac that was almost non-existent – and at one point disappeared entirely- as it was so badly riddled with potholes.
We were proud of Penelope for managing to get us here – such a remote, wild and beautiful spot – all through the driving that had required extra concentration.
I crawled under and had a look. There was a bolt and a nut missing on the underside and inside the front left wheel – where there should have been four bolts, there were three. The other nuts were loose and there was a small amount of oil dripping.
“Shit”. I said. “What is it, and what’s missing?
One of the things I had been looking forward to on this trip was learning much more detail about Penelope and the mechanics of how she worked – I just didn’t want to learn this way!
“I don’t know” replied John, “but it doesn’t look great”.
We had two more nights here in this national park, and were 150km from Maun - the nearest town with a mechanic.
We had a chat and considered our options. We thought that we could jack it up and tighten the existing bolts as a start. We checked the Haynes manual and were relieved to find that it was NOT under the ‘major repairs’ section, phew! Also, luckily, being the ultra-prepared geeks that we are, we had joined a number of online forums and groups when we bought Penelope and started to plan this trip, so we knew that there was a wealth of knowledge and resources we could call on to start with…if we had signal.
And joyously enough, signal was ours – on one phone. We set to, messaging the in-country Overlander’s Whatsapp group, and posting in the Landcruiser 80’s series Facebook group.
I warned John: “you do realise that we’ll get about a third of people saying that they had this issue and drove for three years on it no problem, a third saying “GET IT SORTED NOW” and another third somewhere in between?!”
In my experience of being on travelling forums (especially driving ones like 4WD forums), there is ALWAYS someone who says you can travel the world with a car that practically has a wheel missing, dodgy brakes, with no money and a pair of trousers with one leg missing and that it was better “back in the old days – I nearly died as I was so unprepared but it makes a great story!”
These people irritate me – it’s not helpful in the slightest! And they very rarely have anything of actual use to tell you – just their ‘hilarious’ (dangerous) war stories. But then you have the opposite end of the spectrum where someone who just takes their 4WD out for its weekly trip to the supermarket, keeps it nice and shiny and clean, and who will balk at the idea of doing anything remotely adventurous.
As with all things, a balanced (and informed) place is best! Thankfully, we received some sense amongst the ‘advice’ at both these predictable ends of the spectrum (not including a guy who gave advice, and, when challenged by someone more experienced replied with “to be fair, I’m 7 pints down, so I’d take anything I say lightly!” Thanks a lot, mate!)
Our Overlanders WhatsApp group delivered – one wonderful member based in Germany is a mechanic and we had messages back and forth where he kindly looked at pictures and asked questions and then advised of what best to do until we could get to Maun. We also got a few recommendations for good mechanics once we got there, so were able to message the mechanic there as well.
The main concern was: should we wait, and then drive the 150km, or call a tow truck out now? Penelope was still technically very driveable – we hadn’t noticed any issues whilst driving her, so wouldn’t have known there was an issue if we hadn’t checked underneath.
Just then, our campsite neighbours returned. Will (whom we mentioned in the last trip blog), was an experienced tour guide, currently travelling with his two clients, Ush and Ingrid, from Switzerland. When we explained why we hadn’t been on a ‘game drive’ that morning, they offered to come and take a look after breakfast. As luck would have it, it turned out that Ush was a Toyota engineer!
They both crawled under the car, with John and I lying in the dirt next to them, listening and learning. They tightened up the bolts, checked out the oil leak and the rest of her, and were happy to advise about what to do next.
We were fine to drive on it, gently, as long as we checked it regularly – and they saw no need for bailing out early. So, we decided to stay at Makgadikgadi for our original time – especially as our mechanic in Maun, Chrispin, wouldn’t be back till much later in the week.
We felt ridiculously grateful and (like many of us), didn’t want to put them to any trouble, but - as is often the way - this was an unnecessary worry, as Ush said it would be one of the highlights on his trip! Which sounds odd, but simply backs up what most of us should know but often forget – that most people are very willing to help, if only we let them. Especially if something is in their area of expertise.
We also certainly felt vindicated in bringing the tools that we had done – we had everything needed to do the interim repair, had Will not also had his tools with him. Remember – both with mechanical and medical issues – if you have more than you think you’ll need, even if you don’t know how to use a piece of equipment or fix something, you’ll more than likely eventually come across someone who will, and that equipment will come in handy if they are without theirs. And if you don’t use them to help you, you’ve got the wherewithal to help others.
We were also touched by the kindness of the man in charge of the camp office – he’d come round earlier and also had a look. He’d offered to call a mechanic, and, if we couldn’t drive Penelope to see any animals down by the river, he said that if he heard of a lion-kill or something good to view, he would come and get us and drive us to see it.
“I love people”, exclaimed John, after this latest, kind offer.
It was a theme that, so far, we’re happy to report has been consistent on the trip – the kindness of strangers.
Our Airbnb hosts in Hermanus, Annie and Lorens, had invited us for drinks and a light supper one evening, and been very generous with their company and advice, also offering to store any surplus kit we had for us until we came back, should we need it.
We met Sue and Brian Burns-Down (yes, they hyphenated their surnames this way on purpose, they have a great sense of humour!) in Vryburg, and they were also helpful with their suggestions on great places to visit, and kindly offered us a place to stay if we travelled back through their area on our way back in South Africa.
And most people we have spent any time with have given us their details with genuine offers to call them if we have any issues.
One extremely open-hearted offer came from Abi and Adam, living just outside Gaborone (Botswana’s capital). I’d been put in touch with Abi through Facebook after I asked a question regarding Botswanan charities in a group that I’m part of, and a person I know only through this group connected us. (This is something that I think social media is incredibly useful for – connecting people. I know it gets a bad rap, and we know nothing is all good or all bad, and I’ve met some wonderful friends and done some brilliant things thanks to connecting through communities on social media).
After a brief message exchange, Abi offered us a bed for a few nights if we were passing by that way – which we were. It was so humbling to have such an offer from someone you’ve never met! The timing was perfect as we’d been driving for three days, with only the briefest of overnight stops. They welcomed us into their home and we were delighted to spend a couple of days and nights with them and their two lovely boys. Having been living here for three years or so from the UK, it was so interesting to hear their perspective on what life is like here, to learn more about the changes taking place in the country and, once again, receive welcome hints and tips for our journey ahead. We’re extremely grateful to them for their very generous hospitality and were only sad that we couldn’t have stayed longer this time.
Back in Makgadikgadi, thanks to the help and advice of benevolent strangers - both in person and from the ‘virtual’ world – we set off two days after discovering the issue, with fingers crossed and positive vibes channelled. We stopped every 10km (6km) to check the nuts, and proceeded the 150km (93 miles) to Maun without any issue. Relieved to make it, we high-fived, and gave Penelope a “well done” pat on the steering wheel.
We made the most of the time waiting to take Penelope to the garage by booking a three-day mokoro trip out into the Okavango Delta as we couldn’t get ourselves to anywhere – and we’ll cover this trip in detail in the next blog. Suffice to say, we had animals galore and an all-round incredibly wild experience.
As I type, we’ve literally just got back from collecting Penelope from expert mechanic, Chrispin, owner of Fika Trading, Maun*. And we’re delighted to report we’ll be back on the road and into the wild on Thursday, having been delayed by only three days in the end. It’s actually very reassuring that this happened so early into our trip, as now we know that a great mechanic has looked over her in detail and this gives us peace of mind (whilst we did get a thorough service and other works done before we left, this is something that no one could see unless it was stripped back – which it has been).
So, if you’re venturing outback/bush/wild, remember to “check yer nuts”, as one 4WD blog so eloquently put it (and no, that’s not a Movember/testicular cancer awareness reference! Although, gents, that’s also very important).
*If you’re mechanically minded and interested in what the issue was and what she’s had done to be fixed:
Stripped front assemblies (wheel bearing/steering) due to sheared steering knuckle stud (or ‘king pin’). Replaced shift clips, inner axles seals, swivel seals and bearings, hub seals and bearings and replaced rear prop shaft universal joint.
P.S. If you’d like to receive notifications when the next adventure blog is up you can sign up here: https://mailchi.mp/charlottefowles/updates
P.P.S. If you haven’t checked out our beloved Penelope yet, I will shortly be adding some videos of the trip, too (just waiting to get to wifi that is good enough – happily we’ve been too remote up until now!), so pop over onto the YouTube channel and have a look: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRbSZPWB_Twv89FecOfNG2w - currently there is an introduction to her and our set up.