Sigghhh.
The day our trip went topsy turvy dawned.
We got up on a stunning Thursday morning and had a wonderful breakfast at Tenahead. Charmain and I took a hike down the Bell river, she with her fishing gear and me with camera in hand.
It was another spectacular day in the mountains and the silence was real food for the soul.
She did not caught any fish and I took some mediocre photos, but being in the veld was really special.
We still had 4 nights booked at Tenahead but did not for one moment suspect we will not return.
We took a drive down to Rhodes to fill up the Lani and explore the little town a bit more.
Some pics from that morning.
Stopping at the fuel pump I met a gentleman by the name of Sean that was busy filling up the underground tank with fuel. We started chatting and after a minute or two he invited me and Charmain to his house to give Charmain some pointers(and flies) for the fishing.
We filled up the Lani, went to visit Sean and met his lovely wife Liz. After some pointers Charmain caught about 3 trout in the Bell river running through Rhodes.
Late afternoon we went for pizza at close to the only eatery in Rhodes (the hotel closed down).
As we left Rhodes heading for Tenahead, Lani started spluttering and would not pick up revs at all. Realising we wont make it to Tenahead and with no cellphone reception from outside Rhodes I turned around.
We just made it to Sean’s house.
Sean and Liz immediately invited us in and realising we wont make it back to Tenahead cleared their spare room for us for the night.
Not knowing what the problem was with the Landy I contacted Land Rover assist who started organising a flatbed truck to take Lani to Bloemfontein.
They also tried to send us a rental but seeing that the following day(Friday) was a public holiday all attempts and plans for that fell through.
That evening it came to light that the fuel tank at the supplier in Rhodes was filled with Diesel and not petrol. At least now we knew why the Lani was sick.
The following morning speaking to Land Rover assist with the flatbed truck on its way, Land Rover assist informed me that everything was for my account. I immediately canceled everything and contacted my insurer TuffStuff.
TuffStuff is amazing. They took control of everything.
Arranged the flatbed, organized accomodation in Bloem, and arranged a rental for us in Bloemfontein(they also could not get a rental company who could send us a car).
We made a call that we wont return to Tenahead and rather travel in the Lani on the flatbed truck to Bloemfontein. Sean took me back to Tenahead to collect our stuff, while Charmain stayed in Rhodes organising the trip to Bloem. After a very long wait and a wasted day in Rhodes, Lani was loaded with us inside at 4pm and we set off on a very long uncomfortable drive to Bloem.
The guys from Astrix towing in Bloemfontein was amazing trying to make our trip as comfortable as possible.
The sun set on an eventful day and we arrived in Bloem at past midnight.
The following day the sun shone again and we explored Bloemfontein and changed our trip plan to include a stunning detour.
Till the next post.
restless traveler says
Following your travels, I often wondered what would happen if your Lani4 broke down out there in the isolated places where you travel, so this post has been most interesting. Glad to hear you found your way back to “civilization” and gracious locals who offered you shelter, and to the repair shop.
lani4travel says
Thanks. Yes one caters for most eventualities but something like this is mostly unavoidable. Our insurance company Tuffstuff also rents out satellite phones which we always take with on our trips.