It was soon going to be holiday time and we are hoping to get away for a bit… the problem is the beast. It has been in the garage for a few weeks and we were not sure when we would be getting it back.

“It will be ready tomorrow” we were told two days into the school break… so we started to pack ready… we phoned ahead and booked a couple of campsites hoping to visit Lake Kariba and Victoria falls (this time full of water).

(I do love planning a trip)

The car was delivered back and husband took it for a quick run it seems OK but after a bit  there was a small puddle of oil on the drive. Frustrated that our holiday plans were on hold again the car went back into the garage. Again we were told “It will be ready tomorrow” so trying to have faith we didn’t unpack but instead planned to set off 2 days later and rearranged with the campsites.

We got the car back, loaded it up and planned to set of early the next morning. As we were leaving the gate we met up with some friends heading the same way and planed to meet the them again in Livingston in a couple of days.

The car seemed to be running OK but the first challenge was that road. I have described the joys of this potholed road a couple of times it had not improved much since our last trip. Four hours later the relief to hit the out skirts of our neighboring town was short lived however as the smell hit us. “Whose done a poo?” Lego boy asks from the back.

 

(Traveling on that road)

Baby Blue is a asleep in the back so we push on to Kitwe were we stopped for breakfast. When we got out the central locking didn’t work… strange we thought but maybe something didn’t get hooked up right when it was in the garage. Manually locking the car we headed to Spur, an American themed restaurant chain that does great value breakfasts. Soon we were back in the car but when husband turned the key… nothing… bonnet popped it appeared the battery connection was broken. Holding it in place with a rock we managed to get the car started…. and were of to find an auto parts shop (seems to be a bit of a theme of our road trips). Not long though we found one and a kind man fitted it for us we were off again…. or so we thought.

We were aware it was getting late and it was going to be a push to reach our first stop before dark. Traveling faster than he should have the police stopped us. Husband had been going  over the speed limit. He was tired and frustrated, so I hopped into the drivers seat. Pulling of I noticed the oil warning light was on…. “Shit”. We pulled over at the side of the road.

Again the bonnet was popped this time there was no oil and we were going no where. Both of us felt completely fed up of the beast, it had been in the garage for ages and it still isn’t working. Our only hope was to phone the garage that had done the work and see what they suggested. “Wait there I will call you back” …. with no other choice we waited, panic raising inside me… “We cant sleep here” … “It going to be dinner time soon”… “How much is this going cost”…”the side of the road is not safe for the boys” but there was nothing we could do but wait.

I tried phoning a couple of people to see if they could suggest anything but everyone we knew was miles and hours away. It was a long wait… the boys played around the car with me shouting at them every time they got close to the road. We had to get to somewhere the boys could be safe. Husband dug around in the boot and managed to find 1 litre of oil. We rang back the garage and told them we were going to put the bit of oil we had in the car and drive it back to the shopping mall. At least there we could get some food and the boys could play in the spur softplay area.

Not long after getting to the shopping mall we start receiving phone calls. First one off a friend of the garage who is local to Kitwe… “I’ll come have a look see if we can get you on your way” … in our hearts we knew the car would be going nowhere without a tow but any help was appreciated. Next a phone call from a friend of friend who lived in town… she recommend a hotel and some places to eat if we got stranded…. another friend of a friend who owns a car rental service offered to get me a quote for a car to drive back home…. and they kept coming… offers for pick us up and take us back to their place in Chingola… offers to pick up our boys and take them out for the day… its was amazing how many people we didn’t know offered to help.

When the friend of the garage turned up we popped the bonnet again, he poked.. and fiddled…and adjusted until there was a loud pop and huge jet of smoke. Yep we were going no where. Time to make a plan… we were all fed up. Our new friend offered to take me and the boys back to his yard whilst he tried to find away to move our car there. It turned out entertaining the boys in the yard was no easier than at the mall and we had left daddy with the car so it was up to me. After a hour or so we had a plan though… we were all going to go back to get daddy. Our new friend had found someone to tow our car to his yard and we could borrow our friends car to get back to his farm where he kindly offered to put us up.

Not the first night we had planned for our holiday but the relief that we would have somewhere to sleep and somewhere safe for the beast to stay was more than we could have asked for a couple of hours earlier.

Back at the mall we meet up with daddy and our new friends wife who bought us some tea, we also bought pizza and drinks to get us through the night. Our car was unpacked into the car we were going to borrow and then towed away. To be honest I was glad to see the back of the beast for the day.

We followed our saviors out of Kitwe towards their farm. When we left the main road at a turn circle (that had been turned into a bus depot) the road deteriorated. The sun sets as we travel along the bumpy dirt track… after what seems like a long time we start to jokingly think are we mad that we are been led by strangers who now have our car into the middle of nowhere. Thankfully though we soon turn into a wonderful farm on the banks of river Kafue. Completely spent we ate our tea and settled down to sleep.

After a nights sleep everything seems a bit brighter, the spot we were in was gorgeous. It could have been a holiday spot, the house they let us stay in was right on the river bend under the tallest bamboo plants I had ever seen. We scraped together breakfast from left over pizza and car snacks and ate whilst enjoying watching the morning mist swirl over the river.

 

 

Feeling determined we set back off to town to try and make a plan for getting the dead beast and ourselves back home. Back in the mall again we hear from the garage… they are going to send down their mechanic in a car which we would drive back. The mechanic would then stay with the car until it was fixed or towed back home. ETA of the mechanic is 2pm leaving us just enough time to drive home. With a few ours to kill we hit the shops. There is no shopping malls in our home town and the one supermarket is awful so as much as I despised shopping when I lived in the UK I have come to appreciate it since living here.

The bigger boys each spent there holiday money on toys which meant big smiles and made up slightly for the lack of holiday. We also purchased Baby Blues first birthday present ( I cant believe he is almost 1) and stocked up on things we cant get at home such as french mustard, pull up nappies and baby bells. Middle man was so excited to see baby bells he hugged them all the way round the shop.

(asleep hugging their new toys)

2pm came and went, if the mechanic wasn’t here in the next hour we would not make it back before dark. That road is not one you can drive in the dark. He finally arrived at 6 just before dusk. No chance of us getting home then. We phoned a friend of friend who had kindly offered to put us up if we could except the offer.

A hour later we were being served fresh made bolognese and enjoying good company by yet more people that had gone out of their way to help us. Next morning we could not believe it when the car that we were driving back had a flat tyre! We seemed to be jinxed. Whilst it was being fixed by our super star hosts the boys got to explore another beautiful farm.

Finally we were on our way home and we did not dare stop till we reached our house! The trip had been ridiculously hard but it was heart warming how many people came to our aid.

(Lego boys travel diary from our Easter trip)