Stupidity and Survival in the Savannah: Part 1

Botswana, May 2008. It is the early evening and I've finally been relieved of the wheel after a full day of driving through the Kalahari Desert. The last few hours were hell as dodging the cattle on the road became progressively harder the further into dusk we fell—the absence of street lights coupled with too many blinding headlight brights can be a nasty combination when a year's worth of beef suddenly pops up 30 meters in front of you.

Though I was tired, giving up the driver seat was not terribly comforting. I trusted my friend Mark even less behind the wheel than myself. Nevertheless I did try to cozy up in the backseat of our Isuzu Trooper and get some rest. I had no idea what a long night it was bound to be. 

A bit later, following a quick pit stop to fill up the tank, Mark careened off the road into a bank of sand. In typical Mark-fashion, he had sped up instead of slowing down upon sight of the ad-hoc caution sign of-sorts. The road soon ended…abruptly.

After a little 4-wheel drive maneuvering got us back on the road, Mark noticed that a few of the dashboard lights were acting funny. Most disheartening was the light showing that our battery was no longer charging. We pushed on however. Car mechanics never was our thing. The roadtrip would have been much less interesting if it had been.

The next time I woke up we had stopped again to fill up. All seemed fine, at least until the turn of the key revealed the battery was dead.

This mishap by itself would not have been a disaster. Deciding to get the car jump-started and turning north towards the Zambian border made it one.

In our defense, the Isuzu was diesel-ran, so we knew the engine needed hardly any battery electricity to run. What we failed to fully appreciate was the amount that using headlights sapped battery electricity (again, car mechanics was never our thing).

Next thing I know, we are 100 km north and 200 km south of any dot on a map. And completely stranded. At 4 am.

Best of all, we were in the middle of a major game area--elephants, lions, and all. Second best of all, we had next to no cash on us, just my single credit card. Thirdly, none of us had a cell phone with Botswanan coverage--not that we knew who to call anyway.

The night was just getting started.

- Alan