An interesting Saturday

This past Saturday, a group of gals and myself had set off to climb Mt. Longido. To make a long story short, we had been told the cost to hike the mountain would be TZS 15,000 ($15 USD). Well...we got there and I guess inflation had hit, because the price had risen to TZS 33,000 in just 6 months. Now, most of you know my fairly well and know that I like to hike. BUT, to pay $33 USD to hike a mountain in Africa where the average daily per capita income is just $1 in the urban areas, something is wrong. So, we turned our little car around and decided to make the best of the day and go into the bush.

Of course, I had driven my sturdy, ever-dependable Suzuki (not). We found a good trail and headed on down it. All was going well until we hit some really fine sand and down we sunk. The tired was half buried. Nice. The good part is that we are only about 6km from the main road. The bad part is that this is Africa.

Now, before you read what I am going to write, know that I am not dumb, stupid, or ditzy. This just hadn't occurred to any of us.

Well, while some of the gals were gathering sticks to put under the tires, the rest of us began to dig the tires out. The sand was really light and we were able to dig the tires out really fast. Then, it hit us: if we are 4WDriving, shouldn't we try putting it in 4WD? Yup, solved that problem with just a little push from behind and the next minute were were off.

We spent the next few hours driving across the land, walking around dried up river beads, and just taking in the awesome landscape of Africa. It was a rough day for the Suzuki; lots of bumps, sand, holes. After three hours, we decide to call it quits and head on back to the main road. All was going well until I tried to disengage the 4WD. No go. The stick just really wouldn't move. Crimeney (is that a word?)...we begin to head down the road towards Arusha going 20 kph. It is going to be a long ride. After a km or 2, my favorite light comes on: the check engine light. In my mind, I see visions of my last car trip and think there is no way that this can happen to someone twice.

We continue to drive and somehow, have NO idea how, the 4WD disengages. We can now take the speed up to 50kph. Nice. The check engine light is still on and that is when I decided that I was going to pray. Now, for all you pastors and biblical scholars out there, I don't think that I can really pray like this, but I tried it. I reminded God of my hardships the last time and told Him that it would be really nice if He could bring healing on my car and that one car dilemma per six months should be the max. I know, that might not be the right way to pray, but I figured I've got nothing to lose. Well, by the time we got back to Arusha the light had gone off (I don't know when) and she was running well again. Yes, I did remember to thank God.