And Then This Happened ...

I wouldn't go as far as to say I was disappointed that everything went swimmingly on our EPIC ROAD TRIP last year from Cape Town up the west coast of South Africa into Namibia and across Botswana to Joburg. We didn't have one flat tire, never ran out of gas, didn't suffer any engine failures and never got stuck.

But that doesn't make for a great war story later. As Nora Ephron once said, "Everything is copy." Even the bad stuff.

And then this happened on this year's African adventure in Tanzania ...

I will set the scene. We had started out early for our drive from Kijereshi Tented Camp in the Western Corridor of the Serengeti to our next stop, the Serengeti North Wilderness Camp. It was going to be a long and arduous drive. We had estimated it would take about six hours over bad roads if we drove it non-stop. But with stops for game viewing - every drive in a national park is a game drive - and a picnic lunch, we were allowing eight hours so as to arrive at our destination before sunset.

We started at the Ndabaka Gate in the far Western Corridor, drove alongside the Grumeti River, ate our boxed lunches at the picnic site next to the Retima Hippo Pool, did a couple of game drive circuits around the granite kopjies of Lobo Lodge. (By the way, the petrol station identified on our purchased paper map - and advertised on still displayed wooden signs directly you to Lobo - closed down a couple of years ago. So don't waste any petrol trying to find it.) Then we drove northeast towards Klein's Gate and made a left onto the road through the Barakupess Hills northwest towards our destination, the Kogatende Airstrip. From there we were told to call the Tented Camp for directions. (We had a cell phone number but we didn't have GPS coordinates for the seasonal camp which had moved once already from its original location on the banks of the Mara River.)

We were making pretty good time. It was about 3:00 in the afternoon when we made the turn from Klein's Gate west which meant we had about another three hours left of sun for the final leg. At this rate, we would be at the airstrip before sunset.

But the road we were on was much less traveled and therefore rougher than the ones in the lower Serengeti and it had clearly rained recently too. We were in 4-wheel drive mode and moving rather slowly when all of a sudden, boom! We went into a seemingly passable dip in the road but we didn't come back out!

I jumped out of the rear seat of the truck and jumped into mud up to my knees! Methinks I see the problem. Our back tires were sitting in about 4 feet of mud.

Vince and Ric tried a couple of the most obvious 4-wheel drive get-out-of-mud tactics to break free but with each attempt, we sunk deeper and deeper into the mud. It was clear it was going to take more creative thinking from our heroes.

While they were thinking, I looked around. We were completely surrounded by wild game as far as the eye could see. Giraffe, buffalo, wildebeest, zebra, Thompson's and Grant's gazelles. It was just like that scene in "Out of Africa" when Dennis and Karen broke down in Tsavo. Except we had cell phones and a short wave radio to call for help. Not so fast.  Damn! No cell service and no short wave reception! As (bad) luck would have it, this was the only place in the park without cell service. And the only time we really needed it. Okay, it was now just like that scene in "Out of Africa." I started praying.

I did a mental assessment of our survival supplies. We had plenty of water to last until our rescue if need be, but the only food we had were a few pieces of fruit. I suddenly selfishly regretted giving away those hard-boiled eggs and biscuits from our boxed lunches to the grateful attendant at the Hippo Pool picnic site at lunch. We would have to sleep in the truck which would stink, but at least we would be safe from predators. We had plenty of flashlights in the truck to assist with speedy bathroom breaks during the night and we had a zippo lighter and plenty of available firewood to keep us well lit and noticeable should another truck approach us in the night. We would survive! Now it had become an adventure!

In the meantime, Vince and Ric had come up with an elaborate scheme involving using the jack to prop up the back of the truck in order to slip in the two spare tires on top of the mud to supply traction for the back tires to drive over. But just as they were starting to implement the plan, out of literally nowhere came a game vehicle, quickly followed by a second game vehicle, both filled with game rangers on their way to a staff party in Seronera! Alleluia! Thank you, Jesus! We were saved!

These guys had extricated plenty of Land Cruisers out of the Serengeti mud in their day. They knew just what to do. They quickly hooked up our truck's tow cable from the back of a game vehicle to the front of the truck and after a few tries, pulled us out of the mud.

free at last!

We were happy! The game rangers were happy! (They came away with enough reward money to make their staff party very merry indeed.)

But our little adventure was far from over. This little episode had cost us a little over an hour. We had maybe an hour left of sunlight and about 48 kms to go.

The Score, Team Awesome:1. The mud pit: 0

And in about an hour, the sun starting going down in earnest. I swear it was the most beautiful sunset we had seen thus far. It was like God was saying "You're welcome." in answer to my prayers. Karibu sante!

But now we would be driving in the dark over still really bad and unfamiliar roads towards a destination we could not contact in order to let them know of our imminent but severely late arrival.

Vince drove. Ric and I surveyed the road searching for road hazards that Vince might not be able to see in the dark. I called out the kilometer countdown to keep our spirits up. 40. 35. 30. ...

In the meantime I kept testing the cell phone for bars. Whenever a bar or two faintly appeared I tried to call the Tented Camp, Sarfaraz with our truck rental company Fortes, and Max Christopher from Wild Frontiers. Our very clever travel consultant Tracy had arranged a dedicated guide and game vehicle through Wild Frontiers for our four-day stay in the Northern Serengeti. She figured we would need a break from self-driving by this time, about mid-point on our trip. Boy would we after this little adventure!

She must be clairvoyant too. Even if we hadn't been tired of self-driving, the last thing we would want to do tomorrow morning after driving tonight was to hop back into the same vehicle for game viewing. Thanks Tracy!

I did connect with Max at least once but he couldn't seem to hear me. Once or twice Max tried to call us back but we couldn't ever get another connection. Finally I blindly texted Max on his cell phone number in the hopes that he might contact the guide who had probably arrived already - well before sunset - at the Tented Camp. We wanted Max to apprise our guide of our position, inform him that we would be arriving very late and ask him to meet us at the airstrip at our estimated arrival time on the GPS, 8:00 pm.

I didn't get any response from my text-fishing which was a little nerve-wracking. But we were certain we'd have cell service once we arrived at the airstrip itself - if we ever got there - so we could always call Max and the camp from the airstrip and wait.

Luckily literally everyone was looking for us. The Tented Camp had sent someone to wait for us at the airstrip at sunset. Max had indeed received our texts and had already contacted the guide at the camp and he too went to the airstrip to wait for us. (In retrospect, we probably should have called the Tented Camp that morning with our proposed route and estimated arrival time while we still had cell service. Something to think about for next time.)

Then finally after a grueling two hours, we saw our first sign! And it was for the Kogatende airstrip! We were almost there!

When we got to the airstrip, we were greeted by two happy truckloads full of Tented Camp employees and our trusty Wild Frontiers guide and new BFF Onesmo.

that is one lonely springbok!

We gleefully followed them another 8 kms to the camp site. After a quick shot or two of Whiskey (Vince and Ric) and Scotch (me), we were escorted to our respective luxury tents to change out of our muddy clothes and grab a quick shower. Then we sat down to our delicious and warm saved dinner by 9:30.

I can't sing enough praises for the combined efforts of the staff at the Serengeti North Wilderness Camp as well as Max and Onesmo with Wild Frontiers. They acted professionally and responsibly and graciously throughout. They are awesome!

much better than sleeping in the truck!

How sweet was this sunrise in the Serengeti North Wilderness Camp the next morning! We woke up to the gentle mooing of a herd of grazing wildebeest. (I must have Vince put that sound on my cell phone as my alarm. What a peaceful way to be awakened!)

It was then that I concluded that the only difference between an adventure and a tragedy is whether or not you survive. And thankfully we did! Now we had our war story of the trip. An adventure with a happy ending.