We had promised the teachers we would visit and they were expecting us. We realised we couldn't drive any further and that an alternative means of transport was needed as nothing would stop us from getting to Ntshidi. We were only a mission (but only if it fit with the Risk Management!)
A local villager Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, supported us by allowing us to utilise her toilet facilitites and which accommodated Leonie well -- the open design was clearly to her liking, but perhaps not the locals!
Tebogo rang the teacher at Ntshidi - David - who said he would try to send someone to transport us to the school just 12km away. And so the waiting, waiting, waiting began....
During our road side vigil we amused ourselves by observing the locals tear up the boggy road in their Toyotas, trucks and Donkey carts. A water carter with a tractor and trailer carrying 44 gallon drums of water was happy to take us to Ntshidi so we dismissed 'Plan A' and resorted to Plan B. We quickly emptied the car, parked it in Priscilla's front yard area and prepared to load our gear onto the trailer, only to be told via our expert MKGP translator Sphumzi could only tow our vehicle. A tractor, towing a trailer, tower our Merc????
Cat quickly ran through the insurance implications and decided Plan B was no longer a viable option. We regretfully waved on our 'tractor driving, trailer towing, water carrying man' and resumed our places on the road side to waiting for David to send in the calvalry.
After a while a local man came galloping past on his reluctant donkeys, whipping them into a frenzy, and looked at the strange sight before him; a group of very different looking group of strangers until he locked eyes on Sphumzi. They started an animated conversation in Setswana and we discovered this young man, Kenneth, went to school with Spumzi! Could this be Plan C? A donkey ride to Ntshidi?! Alas, Kenneth explained that his donkey's were too old and slow to make the journey, so Plan C failed to evenuate.
With no David on the horizon we continued to problem solve to devise Plan D. The group reassessed the road conditions; surely if we just went along the verge we could ride out the boggy patch and continue on?? A valid option, though one fraught with potential problems - unknown road conditions ahead, and how we would get home if it continued to rain. Plan D was quickly dismissed.
We waited some more, ate an apple or two, watched the free range chickens, moved our food away from the army of ants and waited, waited and waited. Wild man of the West, Donkey cowboy Kenneth returned. He had a mate, Elijah (ironically known as a rain prophet) who could transport us to Ntshidi for R200 (about $35 bucks) - Plan E was emerging! We agreed, quickly packed his patrol, squeezed in and headed off. Elijah was a man of few words but exceptional driving skills who aquaplaned us to Ntshidi. Plan E had been a success!!
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