Dec 06 – Travel to Samburu Game Park: Stuck in the Bush
Nine hours and counting…It’s dark. It’s dangerous. We are exhausted. Some are afraid. Others are encouraging. All are praying. All are tired of counting. How much longer is directly linked to how patient we can be.
This day started out early enough. We woke at 5:30am, ate breakfast and packed by 6:45am. After a tearful goodbye with lots of hugs for the Maples’ family, we were on the road by 7:00am. Our vehicles of choice: a 10 passenger Toyota Land Cruiser and Big Blue – a 15 ton Mercedes Benz commercial duty truck retrofitted to haul 22 passengers, their luggage and camping gear.
Sometime around 11:00am we stop. The road ahead has been washed out/flooded by recent rains. Our drivers search for an alternate crossing. A few hundred yards upstream, the Land Cruiser crosses without incident. Those of us in Big Blue were required to cross the stream on foot ahead of the vehicle. We took great care in staying as mud-free as possible.
As we stand on the opposite bank, Big Blue made her attempt to cross. What a classic African adventure. Our driver tries to maintain momentum as the truck plows through the water. The front wheels start up our side of the bank as the rear wheels enter the water. Water flies. Momentum slows. Wheels spin. The truck stops. Now Big Blue is stuck. The time – 11:30am…
We dug. We pushed. We unloaded luggage. We pushed again. We dug again. After four attempts, our guide had only succeeded in burying Big Blue up to her axel in mud with 12 inches of water flowing above the mud. It was time to get serious. It was time to embrace what we had at first avoided – the mud. We kneel in it – we sit in it – we crawl through it – whatever it takes.
We dug a new channel, built a water restrainer and diverted the entire stream around Big Blue. We raised the 15-ton truck with a 5-ton jack to place sticks, branches and traction plates under the tires. It is now 8:00pm. It is dark. We have one chance to get Big Blue out or risk spending the night in the bush and starting again at first light.
The men are ready to push. The women have been praying. They ask PK to drive. He does. The truck rocks back and forth. The men push. The women encourage. Again and again, this cycle is repeated. One more time…and Big Blue gains traction… then momentum… then dry ground!!! We have done it! Thank you, God!!!
Nine long hours to move 100 feet – from stuck to unstuck. Our police escort informs us the road ahead is washed out even more severely than our current location. We will have to cross back over the stream and backtrack to an alternate route in order to reach our destination. We can’t afford to get stuck. We don’t have the energy to lift. So we plan. We prepare. We dig dirt and shovel mud, removing bumps and inclines. We cut free branches (with inch and a half thorns) to lie on top of the mud and muck. We fill the stream with branches. Another hour passes. It is the time to make our crossing. PK slides into the driver’s seat. All of us are standing, watching, praying. We have one chance…
-Jason Whalen