We have kept in touch with many of the people we've met along our travels. Africa is such a large continent, yet the overland community still manages to keep in touch and bump into each other.
While staying in Tsumeb, we met a couple driving a white series III Landy (also a R6). It didn't take long for us to start talking about Landy issues, it never really does. Within minutes they proclaimed, "ah, the Canadians that had been scammed... Series III with a Chev engine - we've heard about you!" Turns out they had already heard our story from John Darby, a knowledgable Land Rover mechanic in Windhoek with whom we had spent some time! Small world.
A couple of days ago, I received an encouraging email from Mike. I had been in contact with our friends Kate and Gareth (the couple we met in Windhoek and subsequently travelled with for three weeks) and told them to keep on eye out for Mike; you couldn't miss him, I said.
me again
i was in luangwa writing my book when a sweet couple (they were in a landy) came up and said 'hello mike'. I said hello back with the kind of happy affectation reserved for those 'nice to see you again' moments, even though I had no idea where i might have met them before nor indeed had i any recollection of their faces. It was Gareth and Kate.
It's good to know you're spreading the word about me so that i am now famous in africa. the coincidence being that moments earlier i was immortalising you guys in my book. i'll include the passage when i get a moment. Don't worry, it's cheeky but you'll like it.
G & K brought me up to speed with your post-Windhoek outridings, which inevitably (for you) became pre-Windhoek inridings again. We speculated that you might return to Cape Town. And you have.
Stop it. Move on. I, myself know the tendency that prevails for 'going back' in Africa. I also know that entropy is rife here, no matter what you do the place seems to undo it and throw in a few other jobs to boot. But you must get miles behind you and fight the twin forces of entropy and backtracking. Do not go back. Do not fly for safety and perform a rebuild. it will all fall apart again. have you learnt nothing? Patch up and push on, or Africa wins. I want you to be heroes in this book not damp squibs. Stride forwards undaunted by African entropy. Drive all your miles in the same direction. Remember what I said about a round trip - what's the point in it? You spend all your time moving and you never get anywhere. What have you achieved? Take heed or your map of a five year adventure will be an exploded view of an engine bay. So keep plodding on. forwards, always forwards. Be 'Dan and Ingrid'; the fearless crusaders in adventure; the inspiration for all dreamers everywhere; the indomitable overachivers in a quagmire of impossibles. Do it. You have to now anyway; you're in the book and you've a reputation to uphold.
Shit, my roofrack's just collapsed.
mike