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17/05/2009

Ali, the mechanic is there early. He wants to tow start us because by now the car won’t even start. I insist he tow us to the workshop because by now I know they can only work on the engine if it is cold and I don’t want to spend more time here than necessary.

There is no real workshop. Rather a work area on the side of the road. We spend the rest of the day there while our engine is taken apart completely. The piston rings are going to be replaced as well as the gasket. What are the chances of getting the right spare parts. 100% This is Africa. And genuine Toyota parts.

Ali spends the day doing the work and with the parts it costs us 900SGP, about R2200.00. On top of that we decide to spend another 200SGP to buy 2 used tyres that are not exactly our size but close enough to use if we need to. We are now too scared of getting stranded again. Our visas expire tomorrow and we want out!

Ali finishes at about 18h00 and after driving around for a while we find Mohammed, a mining engineer who can change our Euro’s for Sudanese Pound, at a very good rate. We all have a meal together and then decide to sleep again at the same place.

16/05/2009

The hotel organised for a local mechanic to come and show us to his workshop where he proceeds to replace some rubber seal in the engine, replaces the oil and fits a new oil filter. The second one in 500 km’s. By 12 o’clock we are on our way again.

We are now travelling through dessert landscape. Although the road is tar it is barren outside and very, very hot. The tar is slippery and wet. What I find extraordinary is that you cannot drive 50 meter without seeing burnt out tyres next to the road. I have never seen so much scrap tyres on any stretch of road.

It was not long before I heard a psst, psst noise. Slowing down the noise slows down. Ok, stop and check. I cannot see anything. Drive off and there it is. Get Zelda to drive and stand outside. It is the rear tyre. It has a puncture. Damn, now I wish we had some spare tyres.

Luckily I have tyre plugs but I have never used them. Quickly read the manual and after a quick family discussion on the pros and cons, proceed to plunge the needle into the tyre. It works!!! The leak is stopped and we have not lost too much air. There are plenty of places next to the road where they repair tyres and have compressors and we quickly find one. Get all the tyres nice and hard and check the oil. All is fine.

There are quite a few trucks here and I try and negotiate with one to pick us up and piggy-back us to Port Sudan. It is an option and the driver is interested but there is no way for us to get on the back of the truck.

We continue to the next town and when we reach Hayya we decide to stop for something to drink and to let the car cool down. Just before leaving I decide to check the oil again. It is EMPTY again!!! Once again not a single drop registers on the dip stick.

This is now really worrying and I don’t know what damage has been caused to the engine. Will we ever be able to get out of Sudan?

Everybody is very friendly and helpful. The local captain of the traffic police stops by and organises for a mechanic to come and see us in the morning. His house is just a couple of meters from where we are parked and he arranges a good spot for us to sleep. Ivan organises electricity from the stall owner where we had drinks earlier so we are content.

15/05/2009

We still do not have spare tyres and now we hope we will get some in Jeddah. There are no BF Goodrich in Sudan either and we don’t want to settle for something else, that is going to cost us a fortune and which we might have to replace in any case.

First thing we do is fill up and I get some coolant and check the oil. I find it strange that I have to put in a litre of oil after the car has just been serviced at Toyota but maybe they did not fill it properly. We only did about 150km in the city since the oil was changed. I first complain to the owner of the filling station because they only have 4-litre containers of oil but decide to take it in any case.

It is another hot day in Sudan and we have 840km to go to Port of Sudan.

There are numerous police check points where you are stopped, asked for your passport and the details taken down. This can take some time because the English is not that good. At the one checkpoint I have to walk some way to the police station. Arriving there I find this official that has to take down all the details and he can hardly speak a word of English. The conversation goes something like this:

Him: Where you going?
Me: Port Sudan
Him: Pyramids
Me: Port Sudan
Him: Pyramids
Me: Ok, Pyramids, then Port of Sudan
Him: Port Sudan
Me: That’s what I said. Pyramids then Port of Sudan

This continues for some time and I am now really getting agitated. Eventually he realises that we are leaving Sudan and will not be returning and after phoning his head office we are allowed to continue.

As we are passing the pyramids at Meroe we decide to stop and view them in any case. They are much smaller than the Egyptian ones but still very impressive. Zelda decides to sit this one out in the car to escape the sun and heat, but we decide to inspect in detail.

On the site there are about 15 camel riders with their camels who obviously want you to pay them to take you from one site to the other. We decide to walk. The camel riders try all tricks to get us to use them. The scream, get on the camels and wave but we just ignore them. After doing the one site we pretend we are going to walk to the next site. By this time all the camel drivers are frustrated by our lack of interest and they all leave the site. 4 stay behind and we summon them to take us to the other side.

This visit was really enjoyable and we were all glad we stopped. The children wanted a camel ride, now they got it, and found out that they don’t really like it that much. Ivan was impressed with the pyramids because he always wanted to see one.

When we got back to the car, Zelda had prepared some nice sandwiches and after having our impromptu lunch I checked the oil before proceeding. EMPTY!!! Not even a single drop is registering on the dip stick. I don’t know how we made it to here but it was only 150km and all the oil was used up. We are about 400 meter from the road, 600km from Port of Sudan and I am at my wits end. Luckily I have 3 litres left in the can and after putting this in I proceed to the main road.

Here we wait for some help and it was not 5 minutes before a truck driver stops. Ivan and myself get a ride with him for about 5-km to a truck stop where I can purchase another 4-litre. We hitch a ride back in another truck.

We have a small problem in that our Sudanese currency is finished but hey, we are nearly there.

I empty the 4-litre container and we proceed to Atbara where we stay outside the Nile hotel, for free, with power.

14/05/2009

Today we are going to try the Saudi Arabian embassy again. I managed to find some visa application forms on the internet and completed these for the four of us.

Early the morning we are at Solitaire and after checking the e-mails there is nothing from the South African embassy and nothing from Al Tayyar. The only news is more bad news about the price of limited options of shipping out from Port of Sudan.

We go back to the Saudi Arabian embassy. This time Zelda and Ivan stay in the car. I take Zante with for the sympathy factor and she looks beautiful with the Ethiopian scarf over her head.

We are allowed in to the consular section where I proudly display our completed application forms and Jordanian visas. We wait in the reception area of the consul and there is a constant traffic of people coming in to ask us question of where we’re from, where we’re going to and just general chit chat. Eventually the message comes through from the consul. They will give us a 3-day transit visa!!!!!!!

4.5 hours later we walk out of there with our visas. Poor Zelda and Ivan have been waiting patiently in the car and they probably knew the longer we were away the better the chance that we got the visas.

It was high fives all around and a very relieved family today. We went to Solitair to celebrate with a very expensive meal. Tomorrow we are leaving Khartoum!!!

13/05/2009

More visits to shipping companies, more calls to Al Tayyar and more e-mails to shipping companies. We even visit the South Africa embassy in Khartoum we our story is heard by a very friendly official who even comes out to the car to take a picture of all of us.

He gives us the phone number for the South African embassy in Riyad and I manage to get the e-mail address of the ambassador to explain our problem.

We now realise that the best option is to get a visa for Saudi Arabia but we are running out of time and we know we only have one chance to get it right, else they will have marked us and we might have trouble getting access to people inside.

I have a brain wave. Why not get a Jordanian visa first to show the Saudi’s we have somewhere to go after Saudi Arabia. The Jordanian embassy is around the corner from Solitaire and close to the Saudi embassy.

11 o’clock we are at the Jordanian embassy. There is small street side window from where visa applicants are serviced. I ask for and receive 4 forms. It looks simple enough. We complete it, attach the photographs and 10 minutes later hand it back. We are told to be back at 12.

Can it be? Yes it can. At 12 o’clock we are handed our passports with 30-day visas to Jordan, at no cost.

We go to bed far more optimistic about getting out of Sudan.

As a family we have started our own challenge to see who can buy the best, or most, of anything with $1. At this stage everybody is still playing a strategic game of waiting to see what the other guys are going to buy.

We have also met some really nice people from Europe that has said to come visit them once we reach Europe so we decided to extend our One Dollar Challenge to any person, group or company that feel like making a contribution to our trip.

It basically works like this. You offer us anything you want for $1. We decide whether we want to accept it and if we do then once we meet up we will give you $1 in exchange for whatever you offered.

Example: You offer to buy us a beer when we reach Paris. When we reach Paris and contact you we will exchange you our $1 for a beer.

Of course you can offer anything. Maybe a room for a night, a meal, a guided tour or whatever you are prepared to exchange for $1. Once we take you up on your offer we pay you $1.

If you have something to offer us please e-mail us on ericus@north-bound.co.za Keep in mind we are 2 adults and 2 children.

You can enter your own offer here. Just remember to send us your contact details as well.

We will display everything that anybody has offered us on this page and our heartfelt thanks to everybody that has taken the time and trouble to respond.

Play along. It can be fun.