South America and South Africa

The last days it has been more difficult to access the internet so that I could not update my blog as soon as I would  have wished. Anyway, now I am back and actually already in Cape Town after crossing the amazing Namibia.

We continued our trip from Livingstone, Zambia and encountered our first flat tire still in Zambia when we oversaw a huge pothole in the otherwise (quite) good roads. The rim was completely crooked and I was absolutely convinced that there is no other way than buying a new wheel after we have replaced it with the spare wheel. When we finally found a garage looking reliable enough we were more than surprised when the guy said that it can be easily repaired. The crooked rim was hammered until the tire was airtight again. And my eyes got even bigger when the guy charged 20 Namibian dollars which are the equivalent of about 2 (!) USD.

The other two incidents were attributable to Namibia’s dirt roads, which are in general in a good condition and are maintained regularly. However, we experienced a little adventure when we had to change the wheel in the Etosha Nationalpark with lions and leopards watching us (ok, at least potentially watching us). Claire and I decided that one of us is changing the tire while the other one keeps a watch so that we wouldn’t have unexpected visitors. Another car stopped and the driver explained to us that it is dangerous to exit the car and that we should have called the park rangers. However, he and his wife disembarked their car as well to help us keep a look out. Claire and I were happy when we were finally safely back in our car. Later in the camp we could see how “normal” punctures are repaired: with a pricker the little hole is widened to create space for a sticky strip of rubber that get stuffed into the hole. Thereafter both ends are cut off to have no loose ends flapping around in the wind. Simple but efficient.

Ommmmmmm