Tire Trouble

Our guide and driver, Chris, had just talked to another driver to say we were half an hour from the Lake Nakuru park gate when Clarence heard a whooshing sound and we had a flat tire!  Luckily Chris wasn't going too fast and safely got the truck off the main road onto the shoulder in a village.  It just so happened to be a spot where a group of local men were gathered, waiting for something exciting to happen!  And a flat tire on a safari vehicle  with 6 white tourists was excitement!  As this all developing, I glanced over at Chris and he was shaking his head as if to say, "I can't believe this is happening to me."

Chris quickly phoned the other driver from our company to let him know we'd now be late, called his head office and then stepped out to assess the damage problem.  Instantly about 6 or 7 men rushed over to help!  At first Chris wanted the 6 of us to stay inside, safe from the gathering crowd, but this problem was right in Bob and Clarence's area of expertise and there was no way they were staying inside - especially Bob! The jack was buried under our luggage in the back of the vehicle so Chris proceeded to unload the suitcases and get out his tools.  This meant our suitcases were now on the side of the road so Clarence assumed the role of luggage guard so no one could walk off with anything.   Bob got involved in the actual tire changing, helping with blocking and jacking and guiding as Chris had to actually drive up on some rocks to get high enough to get the jack under properly.

The whole time this was happening, more people were gathering and wandering by.  A little girl and her big sister walked by shyly and I opened the side window to give them each a pen (thanks, Sandra and Albert!) and get the biggest smiles in return.  Three toddlers in front of a nearby shop kept calling, "How are you?"  I think that's one of the very first English phrases anyone learns!  Albert went out to help watch the luggage and was soon passing out candies to the little ones.

Chris was able to get the spare tire on very quickly and within about 20 minutes the tools were stowed,  the wrecked tire was inside, the suitcases were back in and we were on our way again.  He later told us that the crowd of men gathered right where we'd stopped  were known as being big fans of the local brew made from the fruit of the sausage tree.  I think that was part of his initial apprehension.   After getting us to the lodge, Chris returned to town that night to try to get the tire fixed.  Most safari vehicles carry 2 spare tires but we only had one initially so now that it was flat, we were  in trouble.   Chris talked to his office again and after he picked us up the next morning we returned to the tire shop to see what could be done.   The tire was not repairable so he bought a new one and the Nairobi office made arrangements to get another spare out to us with drivers that were coming to the Mara in the next couple of days.

It seemed a little tense at times during the whole drama but it all worked out fine.  And none of us got any pictures - we were just praying that everything would work out and trying to blend in with the locals!  Thankfully we had no more tire trouble the entire trip!