:: Carnet de Voyage ::David

// Nikon D7200 |-18.78607 : 21.74048 |alt. 1017m

Alright, this is it, time to leave the park !

After a long time planning our route, since I’ve got barely no brake, we took the shortest gravel road east to exit the park, and at the gate, we asked if we could drive along the fence to stay on sandy roads until Maun. Seems to be a good option, and I will have to merge into the highway only 40kms from Maun. Soft sand makes it very easy to stop, even without brakes 🙂
The whole part went pretty smoothly, until we hit the highway. There, I put on the hazard lights, and drove on the emergency lane at 50kph. But 10kms before Maun, we crossed a police check point…..
I missed the stop sign by a few meters (dead hydraulics of course….) and the policeman yelled at me to stop. He asked my driving license and said he would have to fine me because I didn’t stop at the stop….. and I’m like ” are you kidding me ? I just wanted to stop in front of you :)”
Then he asked why I was driving with the hazard lights. I cannot tell him I’m driving without brakes 😀 so I pretended to have cooling issues with the engine and I had to drive slowly. That was enough to pass that checkpoint without fine :p ouf !

We now are in Maun, and everything seems to be close….. we ask around : this is a bankholiday….. Ok, time to find a camp and to relax.

Next day I went for a mechanic, but no one wanted to touch a mitsubishi or to help me. Brake lines being universal, it’s a sillly excuse….
Finally found a workshop, working on hydraulic systems, and the manager, Mike, agreed to work on my vehicle without question, and the guys came to look at mister Fox a few minutes later. It took only 2 hours and a bit of welding, and the fox was ready to hit the road !
A big thank you to Mike, and at his office, we had a lovely chat about places to visit in southern Africa. At this point, I didn’t know how much I would have to pay, and I saw him doing the math, which went to 543 pulas, but he only asked for 500, and he didn’t charge me for the governemantal tax (which they should apply for any foreigner).

Feeling better on the road 🙂 It’s too late now, and looking for workshops under the backing sun (plus driving without brakes) is really exhausting. We went back to the campground….. which was full ! No worries, we only drove 10kms south in the bush, and found ourselves a lovely spot by the river, stunning location !

Next day we took the road north, going to Namibia for the second time 🙂 A very interesting place to check out on the way is Tsodilo hills. Colorful rocks with paintings from the San and Bantu people, some of them being about 25000years old ! That’s a big part of history right there, and you would be surprised, like us, to see the painting of a penguin !!
On top of that, since this is now a UNESCO site, access road is graded, and the campsite is very pleasant !