Our second car related drama to befall the family holiday was on the way back from Zambia (after an amazing time in the bush - tented camps, leopards on night drive, hyenas on kill, walking safaris, birthday cakes galore…).
The road to Luangwa is possibly one of the worst I’ve been on so far, so incredibly rutted that we had to practically hold the car together from the inside – to be fair though, the car was not in the best shape to start off but it was still a pretty bumpy ride. Anyway, the return journey to Malawi got a whole load more interesting when the clutch suddenly stopped working and we got stuck in 2nd gear – with 120km still to go! It was kind of like our own reverse-version of Speed except my Dad looks nothing like Keanu Reeves!
So, what to do, what to do….We couldn’t phone the car hire people, as there was no mobile signal, we couldn’t stop at a garage as there weren’t any so we just sat back and enjoyed the scenery, grateful that we’d had a pee stop not long before as there was no chance to stopping again as we weren’t going to take the chance on being unable to get going again. Luckily too, the police at the checkpoint that was in the middle of nowhere were completely disinterested in us and our clapped out heap of junk that we just rattled on by.
Eventually as we neared the town of Chipata, we got signal so I put a call into Sputnik HQ to tell them we’d busted their car (very sorry) and could someone come collect us at the border? Being on the main road brought its own issues, although much smoother, the other vehicles about caused us issues, especially one enormous truck who was crawling up the hill so slowly that we thought the poor engine would surely come to a juddering stop, but it carried on, grumbling and growling. Thankfully the lorry trundled off the road just in time, allowing us to get over the speed bumps and out of town. Not long after the border gate came into view and as Dad aimed for the car parking area, Sputnik sputtered and died…
We did all the necessary with the passports and then much to the fascination of the assembled lay-abouts, we all lined up and pushed the car through the gates and into Malawi! Phew – we’d made it – not exactly felons on the run but it felt better being the right side of the gates before dark! And, just then, in an incredible feat of timing, especially by Malawian standards, the rescue car arrived, so we piled in and got driven back to Lilongwe in time for a nice cup of tea.
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