The Quest to Fix the Land Rover - Dan Acton

I was lucky enough to have a 2-week paid stay in Nairobi Hospital. I must say a massive thank you to all the staffs there as they really did take good care of me, especially doctor Baraza who did some very nice workmanship on my leg.
Toward the end there were some problems with the hospital accepting my insurance company (as our web master rightly informed me 'they sound a bit dodgy but I suppose they'd have to be to insure this trip'). I wanted to leave on Sunday but after constant faxes between the hospital and insurance co. nothing had been finalised. By Monday afternoon I was getting pretty sick of it and so arranged for Gav to be waiting outside with a car and we basically did a runner. We went immediately to the bus station and took the 5hr trip to Arusha, Tanzania. Things went well at both borders, as we were able to re-use our old visas due to superior inefficiency of the police.

Now we are still in Arusha waiting for Landy to be fixed. The Belgian Team has now expanded with a late addition in the form of 'Sven' who will be driving with Wouter for the remainder of the trip. The Belgian team scored a great success in Arusha by finding a Belgian bar- 'Via Via'. Our first night here was a double celebration- Gav's birthday and my first night out of hospital. I entered the bar at 11am (after an enforced 2-week absence from alcohol) and apparently left at 4am the next morning. The highlight of the night was, without doubt, the shoe-sniffing contest. Out of 10 contestants Gav was awarded 2nd place after some serious discussion from the panel of judges. Matt the yank was awarded 1st and 3rd place for the most disgusting footwear in the room. This behaviour seemed a little unusual to other customers- particularly one lawyers who are defending some rather nasty people on charges of mass murder in Rawanda at the U.N. Tribunal that is based here. Wouter was a bit upset about not making the medals and so has switched footwear for the re-match on Friday.

Everyone here speaks perfect English and, therefore, Gav is becoming increasingly frustrated when no one seems to understand a word that he is saying. I must admit, even after 5 months, I haven't got a bloody clue either.

I saw Landy yesterday and he is coming along nicely. Hopefully by this afternoon all the panel beating will have been finished. After this he requires a day or two of mechanical stuff and he'll be back on the road…maybe.

Dan, 22nd Feb. Arusha, Tanzania.

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