We're off

Dear all,

Since we have a lot of international readers now as well, I thought I’d experiment with writing a blog in English. If our Dutch readers don’t mind, this will save me a lot of time not to have to write the same stories twice! But if it means a lot of Dutch readers are experiencing some difficulty with the English version as well, please let me know and I’ll consider switching to Dutch again! You can e-mail your comments to amyopreis@hotmail.com. Our only working e-mail address for the next 3 months, since we are no longer working for African Parks anymore.

Anyway…

Sunday was a historic moment in the life of Big Bertha. Bertha is her name for now, but it can and probably will change along the way. And I’m talking about the Landy of course, what else! All major things we’re done now and she was ready to go!
First we packed everything we still owned. Considering we gave away about everything we gathered in the last two years, this was still quite a lot. Cooking, laundry and cleaning gear took up one compartment. Clothes and shoes the other. Books in a secret compartment on the inside and first aid kit and everything we thought would not need for a while in another. Then, on the roof, the jerry cans (or jelly cans how Malawians pronounce it), four planks for if we get stuck, rope, tents (a 2p one for sleeping and a 1p one for luggage if necessary) and a spare tire. Oh, and a grill for the bbq/braai of course. On the hood in front is another spare tire, as well as a spade(schep) and an axe (bijl). Our pioneer gear. Essential ;)
On the outside are another two compartments with everything we hope we don’t need. Emergency repair kits for radiator and tank and other holes and cracks. The jack (krik), tire repair stuff, pump, air compressor in another.
Fully loaded we took her for a spin! Off we went! After about 100 meter we encounter a breeding herd of elephants. This must be a good sign. We continue and she is performing very well. After Martin’s (known as Tinus in Holland) explanation of what is what, it’s my turn. Bonding time for Amy and Bertha. And I love her! She is a though one, but I’m sure we will get along just fine. To use the clutch (koppeling) and brake is hard work, but it’s always good to get some exercise. You can train your legs, bum and abs at the same time ;)
Then it’s Martin’s turn again. We encounter the first drift (een hele diepe geul). Of all the drifts we have in Majete, this would be a 4 on the scale of 5. The slope down is not too bad, but then a sharp bend and quite steep up again. Great! We can test the 4x4! Martin still has to get used to the car and he looses momentum climbing up. Bertha slides back in the gully again. Right in the bend. She has quite a big rear and maneuvering her is somewhat a challenge. Ok. Another try. She goes and then…we’re standing still again. Martin is sweating his pants off and Bertha is roaring. Time for me to get out, climb the hill and start praying (since Malawians interchange the ‘r’ and the ‘l’, praying will become playing…). After a few more tries she’s there! Wahooeee! Big cheer for Bertha and Martin!!! Now Martin and Bertha know each other well and all other drifts we encountered were not a challenge anymore. It’s all in keeping the momentum going.

Ok, test drive went well. Then…we made the decision. Tomorrow we go!
Our last night at Majete. We found some impala meat in the freezer. Died a couple of weeks ago of hitting the fence and was slaughtered behind Harvey’s office. Since we were there at the time, we bought some as well. Always wanted to try impala meat…
Martin created a beautiful stew and we invited Harvey and Jeanette to share our last meal. It was great!
When we expressed our concern if Bertha would make it from coast to coast, Harvey pointed out that we would not drive, but float, on all the well-wishes of all people that care about us and want this to happen. It made me feel better right away!
When we discussed where we would be going, Jeanette asked what kind of trip it would be. We replied basically a road trip and we’ll see. Some wildlife reserves, some 4x4 driving. Basically the plan is from Coast (Namibia) to Coast (Mozambique). When I said that we are well prepared, but would not go into the Kalahari on our own just for the kick (always with at least two cars), she stated: That’s a good thing. Not like: We had such a good trip…we nearly died!!! Nope, not like that ;)

Monday morning. There were still some small things that needed to be adjusted. By the looks of it we really would be going today! Wow. And then the moment was suddenly there. Around lunchtime we drove Bertha to the office and said finally goodbye to everyone. I hate goodbyes, so it was good to know we would be back in another few months.
And off we went. First the dirt road to Chikwawa. Quite bumpy, but still surprisingly comfortable. Bertha is quite loud, but not in an uncomfortable way. I made a joke to Martin telling him we would need ear plugs or hearing improvement after three months at which he replied, seriously, with: “what?”. ;)

In Chikwawa we refueled. Bertha has a 45 liter diesel tank under each seat. This means you have to remove the chair in order to refuel. It was really funny when we stopped at the BP and the guy walked around Bertha to find the fuel cap, then stopped and scratched his head in disbelief. When we showed him how to do it, he still could not belief it!

On the flat road Martin tested her speed. Bertha’s max speed is 80 km. So her nickname Pang’ono Pang’ono which she got in Majete (slowly slowly, since her progress was taking time), was appropriate for the road as well! Never mind, as of now, we have all the time in the world!

Next test was the climb to Blantyre. She was working like a beast, but she made it! The indicators like oil and temperature showed a little bit of a raise on the climb up, but were back to normal on the plane road.

In Blantyre we arrived at Simms, the only specialized workshop in town for adjusting injectors (spruitstukken) and stuff. We thought one injector was leaking; it turned out there were 3 leaking out of 4. And the caps to solve the problem had to come out of Lilongwe. So we arranged a guy to jump on a minibus to bring the parts from Lilongwe. But this meant we had to come back the next day and they needed the whole day! Ok, we took Bertha with us again and did some shopping. I must say it gave a big kick to see her standing tough and proud on the huge parking lot outside Shoprite. From every angle your eyes were automatically drawn to Beautiful Bertha! I felt butterflies in my stomach every time I came out of a shop and thought, she’s ours!

Next stop for the night is a backpacker’s place called Doogles. As soon as we parked her, somebody came up to us to have a closer look. He asked all kinds of questions and I replied as if I knew what I was talking about. Yes, yes. It’s a 109 Ambulance Series III. Yeah, we had a lot of work, but she’s almost done now. Five weeks. What you say? It took you 5 years? What do you have? A 110? And so on…Obviously we are part of a club now and I’m sure this won’t be the last conversation we have about our Landy!

The best part of Bertha is that she offers a place to sleep anywhere anytime. Even on the parking lot of Doogles you can just crawl in and sleep and because of the tainted windows nobody even knows you’re there!!!
The best thing of camping I always think is when it’s raining at night and you lie in a comfortable tent or camper. And guess what…that night it poured, heavy heavy rain! Unbelievable. Unfortunately for us Bertha wasn’t really waterproof so Martin’s side of the bed was soaking wet the next morning. Put on list: kitting the roof…again.
We also have to figure something out to keep the amount of moist inside (condens) as low as possible. Since the walls and ceiling are made of soft board, it’s not good if they get wet. Especially since Martin just replaced and painted everything! And until now each morning the whole car is humid on the inside!
We considered no breathing, but that will probably cause other problems. Any other suggestions?

In Doogles we are overwhelmed by all the people. Have we really turned into isolated bush people? Our minds are not in travel mode yet. We just left, somewhat unprepared. Although we have everything with us to prepare us. Don’t worry mom and dad! But we just left Majete and now we’re stuck in Blantyre again, on a parking lot!
The next day we brought Bertha to Simms. Good luck girl. Behave well!
And we started walking. It was still raining and this did not help to get a holiday feeling.
To our amazement the shop we have been waiting for the last five weeks, with all the Landrover spare parts, was now suddenly open again! We thought it should be like heaven and for a moment it seemed too good to be true! The owner was so excited about our car, that he promised to do anything he could to help us. He was especially fond of the fact that it was a 109, since the 110 was a piece of crap (his words, not mine). But the 109, the 109 is like a donkey. We had to make him one promises…not to ever sell it. After which Martin mumbled…that’s because you put so much money and time in it, you will never WANT to sell it again haha :D
Unfortunately it turned out they did not have a vacuum pump and also some other parts, but we found the original wipers (ruitewissers), some indicator caps (since the original was still lost…), prop shaft bolts and canvas rails for my window.

After lunch with Caroline and Jeanette (who found a way to stall our goodbyes to the absolute last moment!) it turned out the problem with Bertha was not yet fixed. And on the way back the radio is suddenly not working anymore. How strange. The lights are burning, but no screen and the cd is stuck…*sigh* When can we ever get out of this place?
That night we stay at Doogles again. We’re still not in a very sociable mood of small talk and exchanging stories with other travelers. Although a good thing was we met a Dutch guy who knew everything about Landys. He actually recognized Bertha right away. Impressive. He said the 109 and especially a series III is a dragon of a car and just means hard work. When there’s no oil leaking, that means there’s no oil in it. And more lovely metaphors. Great. His advise is no to stay around too long and try to fix the details, but just go. Yep, we really really want to, and we don’t mind hard work, and we know that we got Bertha to be part of the adventure, but can we please go now?

Nope, not yet. The next morning we bring her back to Simms again. The radio? Yeah, eh, try to get a new one, this one is broken. WHAT???? 1…2…3…4…*sigh*. Ok. We will try…or I should say Martin will try. He was in the store for about two hours and telling the truth, not the whole truth, but nothing than the truth…and it worked!!! Wahoee! Now we can finally play Over-Over ;)
Fun thing today was using the minibuses. In y opinion the best public transport system in the world. Gave us flashbacks to our travel experiences in 2005!

But, it must be said, Bertha is roaring like a lion now. The injectors are not leaking anymore and she has a lot of her power back. Now Martin understands why she and he had trouble on that drift and climbing up the escarpment, but it seems to be working now! RRRROARRRR!

So now we’re back at Doogles. But tomorrow, tomorrow is another day! And that will be the day we finally get on the road! Our aim is Mchinje at the border, or at least Lilongwe…or maybe Dedza. Anyway, out of here! And after that, South Luangwa Park in Zambia...

For mom our GPS coordinates:
Majete = S15˚53.891' / E034˚44.408'
Chikwawa = S16˚01.401' /E034˚48.786'
Blantyre = S15˚47.126' / E035˚00.426'

With love,
Amy and Martin/Tinus

PS Since we don’t have regular access to internet any more, the blog probably won’t be updated on a regular base. But as a treat, the stories will be longer. So whenever you have a coffee break, our feel like creating one…you have something to read! And we still like comments…so if you want to share some thoughts as well, please do!