As usual work interfered with holiday plans and I started my preparation later than usual. My team worked until the 22nd of Dec and this left me with very little time to get Kasper trip ready. For some reason I have this primal urge to sort the niggles out before a long trip, well this one was no different, the clutch kit that had been gathering dust for the past 3 months was taken from the workshop and the engine pulled out to install it. While the engine was out I thought it wise to change the cam belt and oil seals on the crank and cams as the old belt had done 80k and to do it in the vehicle would just be more cumbersome. While I was at it I replaced the valve stem seals as there was a puff of smoke every so often from the exhaust. when the engine went back in it had new idler pulleys, belts and a complete service, what could go wrong?
- Younger two sons helping with replacing the engine
A quick trip to Marakele showed that everything was right and that the repairs were 100%, Kasper was running like a Swiss clock. The final bits was packed in to the Metalian and we set off for Ndumu, a small nature reserve in the ezemvelo stable on the border with Moz. This was going to be the birding trip of a life time, the elusive palm nut vulture was high on the wish list as well as a few other tropical species, this was the first holiday in a looong time where it was just me and the weef the boys are not that in to birding .......yet
The trip started off well with the Pajero pulling the Metalian as if there was nothing behind until I turned the aircon on just outside Ermelo, the heat gauge crept up and going through the town it went pretty high. The first thing that came to mind was the thermostat, I never replaced this niggly bit as I did not want to disturb the gasget and it was not that old. With luck on my side there was an Autozone on the main road and I made a quick U turn and popped in to get a new one, just in case.
The temp kept on fluctuating and each time I stopped it would take about half a cup of water and the level in the bottle would rise bu the same amount, still the alarm bells did not ring. Just after the Josini turnoff things started going wrong, climbing the Lebombo mountain Kasper got so hot that it boiled and I had to stop half way up. Still blaming the hot outside temp. and the hard haul up the mountain I opened the thermostat housing to replace the "faulty" unit only to find the new part being the wrong one. Murphy was around, the part was wrong and now I was stuck with a broken gasget as well. Bush mechanics 101 paid off, with a piece of cereal box side and a small ratchet I made a new gasget and sealed it with some Vaseline that mommy uses to remove the war paint.
With everything assembled and the water filled again I closed the bonnet, the weef had been in the trailer and an ice cold glass of juice was stuck in my hand, we just soaked up the scenery. Down below some elephant was doing their thing by the water's edge while a fish eagle called close by. We were in nature and nothing was going to spoil this trip.
- Ellies onthe edge of the Josini dam
Pulling off I found the Kasper dead, no power and I battled to get to the top, dufus had not let the handbrake down. Besides wanting to kick myself I felt relieved, the engine was not damaged, the handbrake was the cause. We reached Ndumu without any major drama, the temperature still fluctuated but without a thermostat I was convinced that the water passed through the radiator too quickly and did not have enough time to cool properly. This was a problem on the old Mini, take out the thermostat and she would boil.
- Our first destination
We set up camp under a thorn tree, this was going to be home for the next two or three days. With the camp set and us drenched in anti mosquito we sat down to enjoy our first night in the bush, a braai with the sounds of wood owl and marsh night jar amongst the cacophony of insects.
(To be continiued, time for bed
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I never expected to find one at a feeding spot, they do not eat carrion (normally) and stick to the fruit of the raphia palms hence the rarity of these birds.
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