Swazi Reverse Part 2 of 2

Originally distributed February 2009

My next big driving adventure took place in Nisela Game Reserve, where we’re currently working for the month of February and maybe into March. It had been hot, dry and dusty our 1^st few days there. But one afternoon we got a big thunderstorm that cooled things down dramatically. It continued raining lightly all night, so in the morning everything was adequately soaked. Mduduzi, my field assistant who usually does the driving, was not in the mood to drive so early in the morning after having a few drinks with friends the night before. Thanks, man! As much as I was not excited to drive on those roads I figured maybe better me than him! So off we went – Simone, Mdu, me and 3 other people who were helping with the field work that day. It felt like I was driving on ice and snow. You make a turn and the kombi doesn’t turn, it just slides. So I took it very slowly and we slid here and there, nearly crashing into barbed wire fences, trying not to slide into gullies and topple over. It was quite exciting. And once again the steering wheel was spinning left and right like it had a mind of its own. Somehow I managed not to crash or get stuck once. I was praised for my driving skills. I think Simone was most impressed, having seen my quick evolution as a Swazi kombi driver.

After our first stop, Mdu took over the wheel. Either his hangover had warn off or he was tired of me driving so slowly. So off we went and a few times we really went off! Right off the road. Spun perpendicular to the road once. Had to push the kombi 4-5 times before we finally got back to the campsite.

We continued to have intermittent rain showers over the next few days. So just as the roads had dried out enough to drive on, they’d turn to slick mud again. Luckily, the reserve managers, Clifton and Tia, have a couple of 4 wheel ATV’s (they call them quad bikes here) and said we could take those to our research sites. So one day, Mdu, Simone, one of the reserve staff named Pilani, and I went out on those. That was fun! They can handle the mud slicks and large puddles. Never mind that you get a mud bath at the same time. The only thing about one of the quad bikes is that Reverse doesn’t work on it. So you have to pull it backwards until it’s in a position to go forward. Pilani was calling this “Swazi reverse.”

This past week, Tuesday, Clifton and Tia had to go back to Simunye in the northeast where they own and manage a country club. They took the quad bikes with them because they needed to be serviced. Of course the rains came again. This time we didn’t have as many people to push the kombi when it was certain to get stuck. So we talked with the reserve staff and they arranged for one of the game drivers to drive us in their Land Cruiser, which they use for game watching drives. The only hitch with the land cruiser is that the starter was broken so it had to be kick started.

Wednesday morning, Mbazo, the game driver, tied a rope between the kombi and the cruiser and Mdu towed the cruiser until Mbazo was able to start it. Then off we went. At one of our research sites Mbazo decided to park the cruiser on a “hill” and turn it off, because we were going to be there at least an hour. When we were ready to go Mdu, Pilani and I got behind the cruiser and pushed. Unfortunately, Mbazo didn’t wait until we had enough momentum before he tried to start it. So it lurched to a halt. Now, this “hill” he was parked on wasn’t much of a hill at all. In the lowveld you’re hard pressed to find any real hills. This hill was really just a mound of dirt created when some animal dug a tunnel. So there we were completely stopped on flat ground. Oh well. So we gave it our best effort to push it into motion again. We got it rolling, but once again not fast enough before over-eager Mbazo tried to start the engine.

Plan B was to walk back several miles to the camp site and get the kombi. The comedy here was that the kombi was 1) supposed to make it to where the cruiser was and 2) pull the cruiser through the mud until it was going fast enough to start. Yeah, right! This is gonna work! But we tried it anyway. Of course the kombi got stuck 2-3 times just getting to the cruiser. So we had to push it to get it unstuck. Then we got to the cruiser, tied them together, and Pilani and I pushed the cruiser while Mdu and Mbazo drove the cars. By a miracle it actually worked! Woo hoo! So we headed back and called it a morning. I’m getting a workout in the field after all, and mud facials at the same time.