Hitch hikers, sun cream and the fourth wheel

I have two Welsh friends staying for a few weeks, so we’re having fun exploring Kenya. Instead of flying to the coast we thought we’d drive so we could see more of the landscape and save a few pennies. The journey down was interesting…..a few challenges which make life exciting and a couple of wrong turns leading down to the ferry terminal all woke us up and made us giggle. So the return journey we reckoned would be the easier one. We were more confident with the route and knew where the petrol stations were (some are few and far between!). The weather wasn’t really on our side though with torrential rain in places which made driving very difficult as there was so little visibility, but again, Vixy proved herself as a wonder car as she waded through a foot’s water and battled the roads. When we stopped for lunch we were all pleased by how smoothly the journey was going. Hmmm….

If only it lasted….20 minutes on there was a big pothole, then a few shudders. I pulled over and we all got out to survey the damage. The front wheel wasn’t looking good so we unpacked the car and went to find the tools. Amazingly, a man was walking along the road past us and even without us asking he picked up the tools and began to jack the car up. There are so few pedestrians along this highway so it was incredible timing. Now I’m not saying that we would be unable to change the wheel but he definitely saved us a lot of time…well, until it came to the last wheel lock. It was just not shifting. He asked if we had any oil….hmmm, no, but the girls came up with the genius idea of using sun cream! The comical aspect of watching him squirt sun cream onto the wheel nut took away any desire to cry!! But it was Becci who really helped and pointed out that he was using the wrong wheel lock. We were so grateful to him, and so when he asked if he could have a lift we were happy to oblige (thinking he meant 20 minutes up the road). As we got into the car we then worked out what he said….he wanted a lift to Nairobi. How we howled!!! The poor man was walking back from Mombasa-it would take about 2 weeks! So we all clambered into the packed car with nervous giggles as we explained his responsibility of changing the CDs and teaching us various Swahili words for the next few hours. The spare tyre limited us to 50kmp/h, so progress was slow, but Wamboa, our new travelling companion was a massive help and showed us where we could get the wheel fixed at a Kenyan rate and then be on our way again…..at speed.

All the tools needed to change a wheel in Kenya

It took about 5 more hours and was a long journey, but was definitely unforgettable. The poor man could not remember Natalie’s name (many Africans struggle with it) so we wrote it down on some paper for him. Watching how he had to take a quick look at the paper ever time he addressed her was so funny. Driving in the dark was tough, I have never felt so grateful to see road markings, though sadly their presence wasn’t consistent. Two weeks previous a truck had collided with Vixy on the same highway…not sure she’ll be going down there again any time soon! The poor thing has had four new wheels in 6 months....the joys of Kenyan driving. 

Wamboa, our Kenyan angel