The Beagle, a 2008 Toyota LC on a drift across Africa, piloted by Jim (FitzRoy) and Ann Colleen.
The Beagle, a 2008 Toyota LC on a drift across Africa, piloted by Jim (FitzRoy) and Ann Colleen.
A burned out, rusted fuselage next to the taxiway. Vultures lurking on the tin roofs of the terminal. The air thin and wood-smoky. Welcome to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the world’s third highest capital at 7,200 feet. Jim braved the restrooms. Before we could catch our breath, we were off again; Cape Town landing in six hours. From Addis to CPT, it’d be our last plane flight. Another good reason to take two years to do this trip – we don’t care to get on another plane for a long time.
The last (and only) time I was here was in 2011 when I accompanied a woman I’d only just met to assist her in driving her car from Addis to Nairobi. Too stupid to be scared, I had the time of my life. Another unrepeatable experience; the road from Moyale to Archers Post has been paved since then. Not that the tar will last forever, but chances are it won’t be like it was in 2011. Winding around the thick mud in a 1988 Isuzu bakkie, men helped us find a path around the lorries stuck axel-deep in the mud. They’d been there for days and we could only drive by. 
Short rains turned into long rains. The Omo valley was inaccessible and we made Archers Post and the Umojo Women’s camp with nothing but luck and my companion’s wild driving skills. We saw no white people for days. The desert was stunning and green as all getout. Can’t repeat this one, so it’s on to the next African experience, with Jim.
The inauguration of the new president was not the reason for the stop over in the nation’s capital. We planned the lay over to visit with my niece, Renee and her family: husband Tom, son Zander (6) and Abigail (4), and to see my wonderful friend Colleen. The capital was subdued compared to the chaos of six adults and two young children plus Sundance the dog in the suburbs of Falls Church.
Renee and Tom hosted two women who’d come to march on Saturday, as well as Jim and me. The conversation was raucous and definitely not in favor of the “orange yam”.
The kids were confused – are we watching something interesting on TV? And if so, why are we so annoyed by it? Hard to explain, kids. It’s like science fiction only real.
Renee and Tom live steps from a historic if tiny park commemorating Andrew Ellicott, one of the surveyors who mapped out the US capital. The park’s iron fence enclosure was built by Tom, with some welding advice from my brother-in-law Ed – so I feel like it’s part of the family. The cornerstone has stood the test of time, something to think about as our country veers in an unpredictable direction.
Washington DC has as much culture in one block as our entire home state of Idaho. It’d take weeks to see even half of it and your feet would not be happy. But, again, lucky for me, my friend Colleen lives a stone’s throw from the National Cathedral and on a perfect January day
we toured around it. The weathering and moss make it look ancient when in reality the building is quite young. Colleen made sure I saw the startlingly huge clematis vine; geezus, it is impressive (not my exact words, but you get the picture). The vine can’t be more than 40 years old but resembles has the an ancient Ent of Fangorn Forest.
Botanically satisfied, we returned home to admire the bust of Marquis de Layfette by Jean-Antoine Houdon – 
the French general indispensable in General George Washington’s efforts secure the creation of the United States.
Leaving out of Boise gave us the opportunity to spend the prior night at Van and Bobbi’s – friends for too many years to count and through as many different circumstances. We’ve grown older and somewhat smarter together, been through our share troubles, been there for each other through it all. As Van noted, we’ve lived two hours from each other for 20+ years; wish we’d spent more time together. 
Their home is the ideal stopover, lucky for us – lucky for them, I couldn’t fit their precocious cat, Pavarotti, in my bag. What a character he is. Long live Pav.
Saying good bye brought out emotions suppressed while prepping to leave for two years dominated our thoughts. Good byes are hard! Texts and calls were coming in too, and each one brought me to tears, thinking of all the good times shared with friends. We’ll have to concentrate on more good times upon return.
As well, creating so much work and so much emotion made me realize that one year wouldn’t be worth all this fuss.
Then it was off to the next stop, Washington DC, and my niece’s house in Falls Church – two days before the coronation.
The goal of everything neatly packed and the house renter-ready by Tuesday morning was a long shot. Driving away at 5:30 pm, we were only 10 hours behind but at least we were finally leaving. The most uncontrollable factor, the weather, was kind to us – a week of blue skies followed the endless snow storms.
A wide path was tidied up and with no new snow, the tractor was retired to the barn. Visions of needing the tractor to get out of the driveway crossed my mind – not that I’d have anything to do with that, I can’t even put the clutch in on the Kuboto. Happily I didn’t have to.
We proceeded to fill the barn with furniture, the bed and various whatnot using the garden cart with flaccid tires, its common condition. Spend 20 minutes searching for said garden cart before we realized we’d put the mattress on it and left it outside. We were getting goofy.
We also filled the trash – I’d’ve sworn we didn’t have much stuff, but we have a LOT less now.
A sensational snow storm dumped gobs of heavy wet snow and there’s more on the way. Of course it’s a good thing – aside from always needing the snow pack we are happy to get it over with now before we drive the sometimes treacherous 150 miles to the airport.
Cleaning the house: what I don’t want to wash, I just throw away. It’s not like we haven’t gotten our money’s worth out of whatever it is.
There is a pile of items for the Barkin’ Basement, too; rugs and such go to the Animal Shelter. Filled the feeders with the last of the sunflower seeds; the birds will have to fend for themselves for a while.
Central Arizona, middle of May. 800 miles south of here and you’d expect a little warm sunshine – but you’d be disappointed.
We were off to spend three days at the Overland Expo West, with a quick stop in Kanab, Utah, to drop off a cat (Stevie) and a dog (didn’t get his name) at the renowned Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. 
A remarkable place, Best Friends provides specialized care for creatures like Stevie. I grew fond of Stevie while volunteering so it was a real treat to see her off to a new shelter that could see to her needs.
Packing for this basic car camping trip was quick and dirty. I put all the stuff we needed in one container, and the stuff we didn’t need in another. And I told myself, don’t get these mixed up. Huh. Imagine our surprise when going to make coffee the first morning and finding everything BUT what we needed. Sure we could’ve restocked the kitchen (yuck, shopping) but where’s the fun in that? Those cardboard go-cups last a really long time and eating off the same paper plate every meal is possible. You scrape, and I’ll erase.
The obvious place to start is the overland rig, right? The biggest upfront expense and the one most fraught with options. I dislike too many options. Narrow it down to three choices or be run ragged. So we started with a list of can’t-live-withouts (reliable, 4×4), must-haves (aircon) and would-be-nices (popup tent as opposed to RTT- rooftop tent). Simple enough.
The indispensable Africa driving site, 4×4 Community Forum, is an excellent place to start, with its plethora of forums, topics and eclectic people out for a drive of some sort and happy to talk about it. Gumtree is a good site as well, and this site while sparsely updated has interesting options – Africa 4×4 Cafe. The Hubb, Horizons Unlimited, is another worthy site, full of insights into traveling every continent.
After failed attempts at rig buying, obviously this isn’t such a simple project. Tripped up by the distance and the banking aspects we considered maybe we should just wait until we get there and start looking. Should we buy a truck here, outfit it and ship it? Shopping once we’ve arrived in South Africa wasn’t an attractive proposition – who knows how long that would take. Buying here in the US had its good points, we’d be able to customize it to our liking – and likely to the determent of all the other chores to do. We kept looking.
Minus 10 fahrenheit doesn’t sound nearly as cold as -23 celsius. With no wind and blue skies, it’s lovely with the right clothes, for a quick three-mile walk.
The cat, Peanut, is now encased in a new home out Glendale Road. 
A woman looking for a companion cat came by to meet her; Peanut went right up to the woman and asked for a head scratch. Very endearing. A couple of hours later and Peanut is off to terrorize a new household. One more difficult detail is crossed off the list.
We finished an excellent Kalahari safari with our hosts Adrian and Rentia of African Bush Adventures (terrific hosts and superb guides), but as always it is a drag to go home. After a month of working out the kinks and finally feeling organized camping in the bush, it’s time to leave. All that practice gone to waste.
So from our Backpackers room in Cape Town with its sunny yellow walls and wonderful view of Table Mountain we pondered where to go on the next trip. The options piled up. I dislike too many options. Instead of choosing between many, why not see it all? What would that look like? What would we need? It won’t be eazepeezelemonsqueeze, as my brother in Oz would say, we were pretty sure of that. We hatched the beginning of the plan that morning in Cape Town – go home, save $$ and come back asap to stay for a couple of years.
Recent Comments