It s not that natural nuisance to the vintage human vehicle that we expected, the coked-up exhaust. No, it seems that this particular off-road model has a long range tank. So does our pick-up. The problem is that, thanks to the attentions of the aforementioned ellie, the human s tank is not in sync with his inlet or outlet valves - or something. We had been expecting a major overhaul involving several days over the observation pit, so we found ourselves with unexpected time on our hands.
Science is never at a loss when it comes to thinking up entertaining excursions.
Within an hour or so we had thrown a few things into my car and were heading north east to visit the South African Wildlife College near Hoedspruit. South Africa is so very different to Malawi, and it s more than just climate and scenery. The infrastructure and the sense of economic soundness here is impressive. The roads are predominantly broad, well surfaced and carefully maintained, though they get ragged in some remote areas. By the time we reached Bushbuck Ridge close to the Kruger National Park, the narrower tarred surface was showing considerable damage from neglect and the recent summer of storms and floods.