Moremi and the art of vehicle maintenance

I am sure my uncle Bob has been following along thinking not much has happened in terms of the vehicles as of late. That lions of Moremi crew must have finally gotten their cars sorted.

Not so fast Bob. During yesterday's slight Mopane bashing chasing the lions we managed to hit several stumps and fall into several big holes and we drove home listening to the wheels wobble, the springs squeak and all sorts of nerve racking questionable sounds bellow out from within.



Today was therefore spent straightening bent springs, greasing bearings and checking the breaks.

Sometimes without the luxury of a close by mechanics garage, my Uncle Bob and a blow torch one has to improvise. Nothing that can’t be done here in camp. Improvising is a skill set that we all proudly posses as a result of living 4 hours from the nearest town. See my post on exercising in the bush and my improvised exercise equipment. (of which I have now added old soccer drills to, sprints, side steps, etc.)

To straighten the springs, which I imagined to be coiled springs but learnt today, adding to my exhaustive (and unwanted) knowledge of vehicle maintenance, are in fact leaf springs, which should be straight, not coiled as this one seems to have become. (once again doing my uncle Dan, uncle Bob and all other mechanics, yes there have been "some" for some reason, proud) One has to heat them up to bend them back to where and how they should be. As mentioned above, sans blow torch we did what all people that live in the middle of the bush would do. We lit a fire, put the metal "leaf" springs into the hot fire getting it to a high temperature so that we (Graham) can beat it back to how it should be.











As I sauntered by to see how Graham was doing I spotted this large pile of "bits". I asked if they all came off the vehicle, and if he actually knew where they all went. His response "some of them came from the vehicle, some not. And yes I know where they all go". Impressed, and reminded that once Graham is asked what it takes to become a wildlife photographer, his answer is always "become a mechanic first".

With the vehicle now it top condition we will head out tomorrow and search of the lions in an open plain.