038 – Car Trouble Reloaded

Twende Mlolongo (Photo credit: Dan Kori)

Last week, I took two days off to supervise some work that was being done in our house. The road from the main road (Mombasa Road) to our estate is being renovated. The contractor has not quite provided an alternative route, so cars have resorted to driving on the field that is next to the road. This field has some grass, but when it rains, most of the road that the cars have made on the field is muddy. My wife is constantly afraid of getting stuck in this mud. It had been raining that week. As I prepared to leave the house (and drive onto the field), she kept calling me and asking if I had left. It would soon be dark. She told me to call her when I successfully reach the tarmacked road. I asked God for an uneventful journey.

I finally drove out of the estate, onto the partly renovated part of the road (maybe 20 metres?), then off that part and onto the first muddy part. No trouble there. There was a building on my right that was blocking my view of the main field. The road curved to the right past this building, and when I took this curve, I saw a car a few metres ahead of me. It was stationary and there were maybe seven men around it apparently trying to get it out of the mud. It was facing the same direction as I was. If that car is stuck, will I make it? I paused behind the stuck car to allow oncoming vehicles to pass it.
When they had passed, one of the men motioned that I should pass where those cars had passed, which meant driving into a puddle of brown water. I could not tell how deep this puddle was. I wondered if the man was misleading me so that I could also get stuck and get assisted for a fee. I however drove where he suggested and passed the stuck vehicle. There was another narrow place that also allowed one car at a time. I again waited for oncoming vehicles to pass, as I evaluated how deep they sank on the water. I also considered using another route altogether (This is a field, so it is entirely up to the driver to decide where they want to drive). I decided to stick with what seemed to be working for others rather than risk getting stuck in a self-created route. I passed that portion without incident. I drove rather fast, in order not to give the car a chance to sink into the mud, slid a bit here and there, and was soon on the phone with my wife.

I encountered some traffic further down the road and we all moved slowly forward. Then the car went silent. I tried switching on the hazards. Nothing. “Wake up, move!” a hawker yelled from the side of the road. Then he realised that I was actually awake. I called our mechanic. Fortunately, he answered.
Check the terminals, he said.
I unlocked the bonnet, got out (cars were now driving past me), locked the car door, lest and enterprising thief opens the door, grabs something from the car and makes off with it. I feared the battery terminals would be hot, but apparently they were not. I checked them and they seemed fine. I called the mechanic and told him this.
Just fiddle with them a bit. I twisted the connection back and forth a little. I unlocked the car door and got back in. Tested hazards. They started blinking. Tried starting the car. It started. I got back out to close the bonnet. Locked the car door, lest an enterprising thief… Closed the bonnet. Got back in. Drove away. I called te mechanic and he said he could have a look at it the next day . Then I called my wife and told her the car had stalled. she started getting concerned before I told her the problem had been fixed. I had forgotten to use the lifesavers that we had bought for situations just like this.

I remembered a conversation we once had with a pal of ours as we were passing Ngong Forest, where we usually pass on our way home. The convesation went something like this:
“We once saw a car stuck here, then we saw a guy walking with a jerrycan towards the petrol station. We wanted to give him a ride, but we were not sure whether or not it was  a setup”
“Don’t dare. That place is very bad. That is how they trick people.”
“That is what we feared.”
“That is a bad place.”
“But it may be a genuine case!”
“There is nothing like genuine case. Don’t stop. You will get robbed!”

Our friend was categorical.

I thought, what if I had gotten stuck at that dangerous place? I thanked God for taking me safely home.

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