Halfway through our road trip and we have had a few technical problems. At our first stop after leaving home we discovered that the catch which secures the boot shut was broken. We tied it together with string and then persuaded a friendly welder in Lilongwe to fix it back on. So far it’s still ok but it will need a new part eventually. The drive from Ntchisi into Zambia and onto S Luangwa took 9 hours and the last 3 were on dirt tracks. Some stretches were on road but for much of the route the road was under construction so we were directed off the road onto dirt tracks. This was made worse by heavy rains and enormous puddles. We noticed a strange noise as we turned off at the first sign for our lodge and further investigation by the mechanics at the lodge suggested that it was probably the bearings on the front right wheel. He assured us that we would be ok to drive back to Chipata, where he knew a garage we could take it to. The drive back was very slow and a bit stressful!
At Chipata the doc left me and the girls at a very odd motel and went to find the garage. All was going well when they found a 2nd hand part, but it turned out to be too long so he removed the broken part and told us we’d be fine so long as we didn’t need 4WD! He’s hoping to have the part ready for when we come back through Chipata on our way home.
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