The African Road Trip Test

I've gotten quite a few lessons in "African Road Trips" over the past 8 months. One thing I've come to realize is that things rarely go as planned. My conclusion is that you know you're traveling in Africa if at least 2 of the following 3 things occur:

1) Your vehicle breaks down
I think I have yet to take an extensive road trip in Africa that didn't involve some sort of car trouble (ie. this attempt to drive to Cape Town).

2) The trip takes at least 5 hours longer than scheduled

3) You need to use the toilet, only to realize that a bush is your only option for the next several hours

My most recent road trip, to Zimbabwe, passed the "African Road Trip Test" with flying colors. In fact, it was a perfect 3 for 3! Here are some of the highlights...

We got just a few hours down the road, to a town called Polokwane, before Dave's truck broke down (African Road Trip Test #1...check). Luckily, a friend of a friend of a friend of ours was a mechanic in that town. In this picture, Dave and the mechanic are hard at work on the truck. Notice Bhuti standing and watching.

Not to be outdone, Bhuti pretends to work on the truck as well.

I wasn't even going to pretend I knew anything about cars. Tara, Chevonne, and I just chilled as it took almost 3 hours to get the truck fixed and back on the road.

Almost there...

We finally arrived in Zimbabwe, just a few hours behind schedule. From the border, it was supposed to take us about 8 more hours to reach Harare. But things never work out like they're supposed to...

As darkness fell upon us, we realized that the treacherous roads in Zim were not safe to drive at night. Our plan had been to arrive in Harare before dark, but, like I said, things never go as planned. We were left with really only one option--to pull off the road and sleep in the car. Now, I'm not sure how much safer sleeping in a car on the side of the road was compared to driving the dangerous roads in the dark, but that's what we did. This is a picture of my "bed" for the night.

So, the journey that we had planned to take 18 hours turned into a 30-hour adventure. That's 12 extra hours of travel (African Road Trip Test #2...check)!

Now, you might be wondering how we passed African Road Trip Test #3. Well, let's just say it got a little ugly, and if I'm ever asked to share my most embarrassing moment, this story will probably be the first to poop...er, uh...I mean pop into my head. But I'll save that story for another time.

Overall, it was a road trip that I won't soon forget. Never a dull moment in Africa!