UNTOLD REMEMBERS THE ROAD TRIP SHENANIGANS
Posted by Stephen
Reading time: 6 minutes
Our countless fanatic fans all over the globe know this by now. This is the place where we share our adventures. Our musings, our encounters – planned or surprise –, and other exciting or intriguing stuff we want to share about our book ‘A Taste of Tanzania.’ And it was a hell of a ride! A slow and meandering road on two continents, spanning over three years (and counting). A thrilling, adventurous 5000 km road trip in Tanzania. An often tricky and shaky voyage back at home in Belgium to make the book. But a beautiful tale of passion and friendship. From start to finish. In Tanzania and over here.
In this journal, you can discover different episodes of our adventure. In our book ‘A Taste of Tanzania,’ you can enjoy the whole incredible story. You’ll get the complete picture. With gorgeous photography, enthralling tales, and yummy recipes all along the way. 355 pages of camaraderie and complicity. Resulting in a beautiful homage to Tanzania’s spectacular nature, ferocious wildlife, and charming people.
Strictly speaking, our team consists of three people. A Chef, a photographer, and a writer. But it is time we introduce you to our ‘fourth Beatle’. A friend who was always there on the road with us.
So, without further ado, we move forth and present to you the fourth team member. Well, for starters, our so-called Beatle is not a beetle, it is a 29-year old Nissan Patrol. Yes, ok, have a look at the picture, why don’t you? But what you will not see on this picture is that this sorry excuse for a car is held together with spit, chewing gum, and prayers. And because of that this ancient relic, this heap of crappy scrap made our lives a bit difficult at times.
Because of his respectable age, the equipment and the “technology’ onboard are rather primitive. Or totally absent. The suspension is hard as hell. Or as springy and jumpy as a young stallion. Depends. So, either you are rattled so hard that the fillings in your teeth come out. Or you bounce up and down, hitting the roof every time going up, compressing your spine once down again. The air-co is of the manually-open-the-window- yourself kind.
Looking back in the rearview mirror and reminiscing about all those thousands of kilometers we cruised through Tanzania, several let-downs come to mind. Most of the time, he got us to our destination. Many times, he drove us crazy. This 4X4 had for more than 16 problems along the way. Here’s an impressive, but certainly not exhaustive, list of what this magnificent bastard put us through. An anthology of this rusty untrusty mofo’s antics. The best of its worst.
We lost so many parts we probably could have built another car. We had so many flat tires we stopped counting. The contents in the back were shaken so hard that everything was broken and smashed up, and we ended up with a sloshing soup of ingredients. Smelling great, of course… Engine problems, over-heating, strange smokes, rattling sounds, and suspicious smells. We had it all. Oh. And our front axle broke in two. So, yes, it was quite an ordeal at times.
Why? O, why did we do this then? Are we masochists? Nope. Truth be told, the call of cruising through Tanzania in a relic was appealing. The adventure, the boys-will-be-boys attitude, the idea of being intrepid explorers, hardcore off-road drivers. Listening to the lure of the unknown. Going boldly where no one has ever gone before. Blazing trails in unchartered territories. So, we chose to drive around in a pre-historic jeep for the heck of it. For the fun and the excitement. And because we honestly had no idea, it would be this bad.
But all jeep shenanigans aside, there was some method in our madness. For starters, modern SUV’s or jeeps don’t stand a chance out there. They lack the robustness and the workhorse attitude of those old-timers. Besides, bush engineering and “McGuyver”-like repairs with elastic bands or whatever lies around, are a bit trickier with cars that are filled with electronics and other computer-driven air suspensions. So ironically, the more rudimentary your metal box on wheels is, the better.
The final element we have to address when talking about an off-road experience, an adventurous road trip through Tanzania, is the ‘x-factor’ called TIA. Three little letters that surprise even those who are fully equipped. A trio that made even those who are perfectly prepared reassess and adapt. TIA stands for This Is Africa. It’s actually more of a philosophy than a warning. It encompasses everything that is unexpected but is to expect. A kind of an African Murphy’s Law. TIA is about the fact that a perfectly good bridge you crossed in the morning, is flooded by a river hours later. TIA also covers the fact that roads in the middle of nowhere are not perfect ‘blacktops’ and comfortable pothole-free highways. TIA is about the consequences of being far away from it all, the outcomes of remoteness. But most importantly, TIA is about this: that all these things often are a good thing. A reversal of fortune leads to a pleasant surprise. A seemingly endless waiting for a repair leads to a serendipitous encounter. A closed road opens new perspectives.
We’ll get back to this in another journal entry. Because it is fascinating. And because we got our fair share of TIA ourselves!