Swazi Reverse Part 1 of 2

Originally distributed February 2009

Once again, lots of stories and not enough time to tell them all. I’ve picked up a new skill though. I can now drive a stick shift on the left side of the road, which requires shifting with the left hand. It wasn’t as hard to get used to as I thought. What has made it more of an achievement is the fact that I haven’t been driving a small easy-to-maneuver car. No. It’s been a 14 seat van….on the crappiest, most beat up, slick, muddy roads. With trees, wildlife and barbed wire fences to contend with. Now that’s driving!

When I found out I would be driving in Swaziland, a stick shift van on top of it, I was apprehensive. As usual, instead of a gradual build up (drive an automatic on the left to reacquaint myself with the other side of the road) I was thrown into the deep end. One day in Lobamba, where my home base is, I was told to drive my volunteer, Simone, in the van (called a kombi here) to a nearby nature reserve where we would chase reptiles around all morning.

Before we left, one of the local guys named Sifiso, who leads a bunch of volunteers in community improvement projects, asked if I would give him a ride to his project site, which was on the way to the reserve. I said sure. I still had to gather some equipment before we set off. When I returned to the kombi there were about 14 people standing around waiting for a ride! “Holy s@#t!” I exclaimed. I’m not driving all those people down this beat up sloping driveway the first time I ever drive this vehicle. So I handed the keys to Sifiso and insisted that he drive to the project site and that I’d take over from there.

It was a good decision because we needed gas and I wouldn’t have been in a state of mind to even notice that the gauge was solidly on E. So Sifiso took us all to get gas and then we were on our way. Once at the project site I took over. I’m sure Simone was peeing her pants, as I had been very open with my apprehension about driving in Swaziland. But she was outwardly calm and I did fine. Never stalled, didn’t have any trouble handling the kombi. I was relieved.

Getting it back up the driveway was like handling a bucking bronco. The driveway is so torn up you bounce around a lot and the steering wheel goes flying left and right. You have to just take it slow and let it do its thing, as long as that doesn’t include crashing into the fence or a parked car. So we made it safely and I started breathing again.