The Road to Mongu

There has got to be a word that is bigger than nostalgia. That is what we felt when we rented our car and took off from the airport. We were jetlagged, exhausted, but exhilarated by the familiar surrounding and sounds on Zambia. I took off from the airport in our Toyota Condor loaded to the max with surgical equipment, luggage, and a team of enthusiastic Canadians. The left hand side of the road felt all too comfortable.

We had very thorough meetings Tuesday followed by fabulous Indian food in Lusaka. On Wednesday we loaded our car with even more luggage, equipment and people (6 people and approximately 900lbs of gear). As we hit the road we made sure to stop by Game and Shoprite for the necessary picnic gear. We left a little late, not a surprise. The team made an executive decision that we didn’t need to worry about filling up the car as ¾ of a tank of petrol would most likely get us to Mongu…..right? Besides, Zambia has a petrol shortage right now and it would take over 4 hours at a pump to get even 10 Liters of fuel. Many cars have parked in a line and will stay that way for a week or so until more petrol comes…

We passed the only gas station en route to Kaoma, the next town on the way to Mongu. Kaoma is about 2/3 of the way from Lusaka on the way to Mongu. We stopped for a picnic in the park….did Mubita say to stop on the other side of the river after the park? Probably, as we were swarmed by hundreds of tse tse flies!! Either way the picnic was grand. We enjoyed avocado, tomato, biltong, cheese, bread, olives, chips and of course wine. Driving through the park we saw warthogs, marabou storks, puku, impala, and monkeys. Not bad for a Wednesday drive.

Jessica behind the wheel we are about 5 km from Kaoma…Everyone is a little tired, and the Jones’s keep falling asleep. Bam Bang…..and the car is on the other side of the road. We hit the mother of all potholes and have not 1, but 2 flat tires. Everyone works in a calm manner and action happens immediately. Cam and I hitch to Kaoma to find a new tire while Bill and the gang replace one of the tires with a spare ( ironically enough we hitch with an empty jerry can to get more fuel but barely have room in the back of the pickup as we are sitting on

2 barrels of petrol).

One of two busted tires!!

The first tire shop didn’t have our size, the second shop was being run by a drunk…things weren’t looking good. We had about 30 minutes of daylight left. I called our friend in Mongu asking him to see if he could ship a tire to us. Then I thought maybe I could take the bus to Mongu and cab back……Luckily mama Africa always pulls through. A bystander watching the white girl had called his friend to help. Two guys pull up in a van and start asking questions. It sounded like they knew what they were talking about so I stuffed them into their van and made them drive out to our car to look at the tire.

When we arrived the police were there as well as a group of village children. We got the measurements and headed back to find a tire. Fate would have it that we had to go back to that drunk tire dealer to find one. We get the rim on and now we need to pump it with air. The tire was not making a seal so the mechanic decided to put toilet paper around the edges of the rim with water to create a seal….I’m not a mechanic but I don’t know how trusty TP is? Regardless the power went out and there was no way to pump the tire. I grabbed popcorn, Cam and I watched in disbelief as the mechanics attempted to get our tire together. Finally we put a tube in and inflated it with the compressor attached to the engine of a truck nearby….

Meanwhile, Bill was keeping guard on our van by doing perimeter circles with a tire iron in hand. The children had helped him remove the bolts of the tire and were rewarded with our leftover fruit from lunch. If anything this experience was a good ice breaker in team building skills.



Bill and Glynn changing the tire

Back in Kaoma, Cam and I had a tire! We decided to push it a little further and ask our mechanic (who was quite sick of us and all the questions by this point) if it was possible to get petrol. The first “backyard shed filling station” was too expensive. The next place we went we ended up buying 10 L as it was getting quite late. We paid 35 dollars for 10L of petrol….yes $3.50 dollar per liter!! And thank goodness, because we later learned we would not have made it without it!

3 hours later we had a tire and were on the road again. When we saw the “welcome to Mongu” sign we were beyond relieved. We had made it back home!



Bliss with 2 flat tires