Return to Zanzibar by Roger Webber

Author:Roger Webber [WEBBER, ROGER]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd

CHAPTER TWELVE

Lake Rukwa

The two Rift Valley lakes of Tanganyika and Nyasa/Malawi are beautiful, mainly because they are bordered by high mountains, which continue into equally deep depths. In contrast, Lake Rukwa is shallow and continually changes its shoreline, while reeds and swampy ground make reaching its edges difficult. Its waters contain fish and birds, and the animals that feed on them, which in turn bring people. So around the shores were many villages, and after my first visits during the cholera epidemics, I wanted to explore this area in more detail.

I had waited for the dry season to give me the greatest chance of getting round, as in the rains roads could be inundated by the changing shoreline, and impenetrable mud was an ever-present hazard. I strapped a 300 litre drum of petrol onto the back of the Land Rover, took two spares wheels, a repair kit, water and anything else I could think of, but even with all these preparations I was still to run into trouble.

I followed the road to Galula and then breaking new territory went to Totwe, right to the edge of the lake at Manda. Despite being so close to the lake, the banks were covered by reeds (a favourite haunt of crocodiles) so I could still not properly see the water. From here on, the road was just a track in the sand.

A few months ago this area had been completely covered with water, but once it dried, the first vehicle left its tracks and all the subsequent ones followed the way it had gone. It was on a sandy ridge that came upon me rather suddenly that I missed my gear and the vehicle stalled. I tried to start the engine; it turned over fine, but would not fire. I waited then tried again, but still the engine did nothing. I was miles from anywhere, on a sandy track that called itself a road, with little chance of anything else coming this way. There was only one thing to do, and that was try and fix the problem myself. I took the carburettor to pieces but found no fuel blockage, and was starting to check the electrics, when to my surprise a lorry came along. Even more fortunately, they had a mechanic on board who set about finding the fault.

After some time trying various things, he emerged from under the bonnet to declare that the ignition coil was burnt out. This was the one spare I had not brought with me, so there was nothing else to be done but go back to Mbeya and get a replacement. The lorry towed the Land Rover to Nambukwe, which had been both our destinations, and then took me back to Mbeya, which we reached after dark.

Next morning, I returned over the same hot dusty road in another vehicle with a mechanic and the vital spare part. He fixed the problem in no time, so I set off again to try and work my way round the lake, visiting all the villages on the way.

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