Our Land Rover overheated unexpectedly on our return journey from Nampula. When you leave Nampula, you embark on a 600-kilometer journey in no-man’s land with only two sizeable towns. Back in 2006 we had a series of tire blowouts on this stretch of road including a collapsed jack. While I was opening up the engine I had the comforting voices of two different mechanics helping me on my cellphone. Notice the cellphone tower in the background. Hilary and the kids went off in search of water and were helped by a lady who gracefully carried the water out of a steep gully while Hilary got out of breath just scrambling up the incline. Another thing to notice is the nice smooth road here which is probably why I overheated the engine. “How fast were you going,” asked Brad on the phone. “About 120,” I sheepishly replied. “And how old is the vehicle?” “Ten years old.” So it sounds like my days of flying in the turbocharged Landie might be over. Thankfully no major damage was done to the engine although the piston rings, turbo, water pump and more all have to be replaced. If only the whole road was as smooth as what you see here. About half is paved now but there is a solid 300 kilometers of bone-jarring broken pavement and potholes to navigate between Alto Molocue and Milange where we stayed with our friends the Shrums.
Another incident on this trip involved a “carta” that we were asked to pick up for a Mozambican friend in Mocuba. We managed to find the place where the letter was and it had grown into one suitcase, two 50 kg sacks of corn and a 25 kg sack of rice. I was not in the least surprised. Mozambicans are masters of understatement. Years ago I agreed to take a mother and baby to the hospital only to discover that the father, several siblings, suitcases and a live chicken were included in the statement “mother and baby.” The addition of all this grain on my roof was complicated by the facts that the sacks kept bursting open and it rained in torrents in Milange, so I spent a lot of time tying, wrapping and securing those sacks. Our friends Artur and Eliza were happy to receive the food so I can’t complain.
I’ll update you soon on what we accomplished during my month in Nampula. It’s an exciting project and went really well.
