Legends 2004 - Part 3
Day 5 - 6 April (Let the games begin !)
Our destination for the day was the Huntersroad in Botswana. Most of the members in our group decided to head back to Botswana via Zimbabwe, the way we came in. While I filled my tanks with water and with most of the folk already on their way to the border I had a long chat to the owner of Maramba. Amongst other he told me that the Kazangula ferry is still the preferred option for crossing back into Botswana. He said that there isn't nearly the same backlog of traffic as they have on the Botswana side. I decided to pursue that option and Willem and Johan van Staden followed me. The drive to the ferry went quick and we were through the border at about 12H00. It was immediately apparent that there was a problem. Apart from the trucks waiting for the ferry outside of the border there were a number of vehicles waiting inside the compound too. The problem was that the ferry suffered mechanical breakdown and a team was onboard busy with repairs. How long it will take and if they'd be able to fix it at all was anyone's guess. I promptly regretted my decision to pursue the ferry option. Nothing to do but to sit the wait out. In the meanwhile on the opposite bank our friends were crossing into Botswana one by one having had no problems traveling through Zimbabwe. We gnashed our teeth and settled in for the wait. Picture below of the truck that caused the recent ferry disaster:
It was the hottest day of the entire trip with temperatures in the upper 30's and stifling humidity. At 14H30 the ferry was started and proceeded to take traffic across. Our problems were far from over because the ferry master decided to give preference to the waiting trucks first. At one point it seemed as if we may not get across that day at all. At 17H00 my turn finally came and we crossed ahead of Willem and Johan. A quick drive to Kasane to stock up on ice and bread and we were ready to meet our fiends. They have already traveled some distance down the Huntersroad and have set up camp. At 18H00 our three vehicle convoy was complete and we traveled the short distance to a welcoming group who had already started a nice fire. The sun, heat and frustration of the day took its toll and I was very tired. I will never use the Kazangula ferry again :-)
Day 6 - 7 April
This day was the only day on the trip when the Meflium Madness worked its magic on me. Either that or it was a fatigue backlash from the previous day. On top of that I only went to bed at 02H00 that morning having had a long evening around the fire with some of the guys. May have been the beers too :-) In any event I was slow off the mark to get packed and ready. In general I was in a bit of a miserable mood. The track was clear and the convoy moved off. Our destination for the day was Kazuma Pan. It wasn't long before we encountered our first water on the track.
Mike F lost traction and Willem lend a helping hand to get him through.
The next stretch of water was a different beast altogether. It proved to be a problem to the heavier vehicles mostly. The SWB Landy's went through without any problem. Where possible we decided to take detours around the mud through the bush.
Although Jakes seldom got stuck this stretch of mud nailed him. Jacques came to the rescue with his capstan winch. Unfortunately the shear-pin broke and Jakes' Jeep had to be towed out. It was also time for us all to fit the grass-seed protectors.
It was apparent that we were going to have a rather tough time. The detours weren't much drier. Although we managed to circumvent the pools the surface around it was still treacherous. If we were to make any progress at all we'd have to make a plan. Fortunately Kazuma Pan was not all that far away. However, 30 Km's (as the crow flies) in this stuff can easily take a week.
One by one we all became victims of the mud. Here Mike F had another turn.
Fortunately help is never far away !
It was therefore only fair that Johan had to have a turn getting stuck too. Note the tracks :-)
As irony would have it the track on the Zim side is much higher (built up) and was much drier. In fact we could drive quite fast on it. We all crossed into Zimbabwe and traveled on their track to Kazuma Pan. Below Ronel is crossing onto Zim.
End of part three. Please proceed to part four !