Legends 2004 - Part 7

Our immediate objective was to plot a route out of where we were. Everyone was reluctant to back-track although it appeared to be the only feasable option. There were three options worth investigating. One (and the most attractive at the time) was to head out west (to the Nata tar road) along the cutline. Dave Lehr and Dave Immelman both went to have a look to see if the cutline was traversable. At the same time Willem decided to head south along the Huntersroad and see if we'd be able to drive further south along it. Jakes decided to cut through the forest to a track a few hundred meters south of the cutline, which was indicated on the T4A maps. The rest of us hung back and waited for the individual reports. Andre decided to go pick a baobab fruit from the tree where we were parked.

It wasn't long before the first reports came in. Dave Lehr was stuck and Dave Immelman suffered overheating from the clogging up of the grass-seeds on his radiator. Jacques was called with the capstan to help recover Dave Lehr. With the recovery complete the two Dave's and Jacque drove back to us. The verdict: The cutline is completely impassable to the west of us.

The next report came from Willem. The track to the south is also completely impassable. Willem drove back and decided to go scout to the west too. After getting stuck a few times he arrived back without any brakes !

Not much later Jakes reported back that the GPS exit track is also badly overgrown with mud everywhere. On his way back he got stuck and Johan drove to recover him. With Jakes recovered and on their way back to us Johan hit a hidden tree stump which broke his steering damper rod in two ! Before any further plans could be made repairs had to be affected to all of these. Nothing much else for everyone to do but assist with repairs or chill out with a couple of cold beers. Despite all these problems everyone was in high spirits and it appeared inevitable that we'll be spending another evening in the bush. The sun was already high and we were all in a rather lazy mood after the hectic previous day. Wavy offered a spare hi-lift handle to use for the track rod repair on Johan's Landy. It was also *very* handy to have Jakes' newly acquired electric drill along.

Willem's brake problem had to be sorted too but not before all the clay and grass got removed from underneath. The ripped off brake pipe was removed and a plug prepared for the brake circuit.

It was at this point that consensus was reached that the only way out is to back-track. A decision was made to spend the night there rather than tackling the route so late in the afternoon. Firewood was collected and camp was set up for the night.

In many ways it turned out to be a very nice evening. All repairs were effected and everyone was ready to start an early morning with a predictable many recoveries...

End of part seven. Please proceed to part eight !