We had a leisurely morning and left Mokolo Dam just before 12 noon, heading towards Mapungubwe National Park. It was a long drive but do-able. That is what we thought until we encountered the stretch between Swartwater and Alldays on the R572! The potholes were so large and close together that it was not possible to do more than 10Km/h in places. This slowed us down enormously and we realised that we would only reach Alldays before dark. Roger got impatient with my slow driving and took over. He promptly caused a latch on our cutlery drawer to break on the next set of potholes and was forced to slow down as well!!!
THEN, about 5km before Alldays, Ufudu started surging and Roger managed to pull to the side of the road just before the engine stopped. Confusion: it felt like diesel starvation but the fuel gauge still indicated above empty. Fortunately we could use Suzi to fetch 25L of diesel from Alldays and problem solved (thanks Etienne and Riaan). We now know we are getting about 5km/litre and the last 10 litres in the tank are unusable!
It was dark and we had to find a place to stay. But still the day was not over. Roger first helped another truck driver who was stuck in Alldays with a flat battery and a jump-start was needed. Luckily Roger had a nice thick pair of jumper cables.
By now we were very hungry and tired but managed to contact Willie Botha of Moyo Lodge (thanks Charles!) and she suggested we try at ‘At se Gat’. We got a spot to park Ufudu and had a hot shower, however ‘At se Gat’ is the local pub and hangout and we did not get too much sleep due to the ‘music’ which went on until the wee hours. We subsequently found out that it is a 24/7 venue.
In the morning we went to the game auction to meet Willie. We were surprised at the low prices that the game fetched but Willie explained that it was the last auction of the year, there is no grazing and therefore the animals have to be fed, which is expensive business.
Thanks Willie for all the information on places to visit in the area. We will be back, and hopefully be able to visit Moyo as well.