After spending four months in Windhoek, mostly repairing our Land Rover, we were finally ready to leave. Really? Yes, we had packed the Landy, bought the last padlocks and had only one more spare part to pick up. Then we would be on our way. Even though we had some great times and good memories in Windhoek, it was definitely time to go and we were looking forward to some new horizons. So we were driving along this deserted newly paved road when suddenly this rock came out of nowhere and cracked our windshield. Well, that was very unfortunate. We knew of a place that could repair damaged windshields, but it was Saturday afternoon and we might have to wait until Monday to have it fixed; that would delay a departure for another couple of days. We were a little bit disappointed about it, but after four months, what are a couple more days?
A few kilometers down the road, we were abruptly taken out of our thoughts by a loud noise coming from the engine; or was it from the gear box? The oil pressure dropped to nothing, the car stalled and that was the end of it. Next thing you know, we were rolling to a halt on the side of the road with no chance of starting the vehicle again. Now that was very infuriating! Forget about the windshield crack, we had a much more serious issue to deal with!
One good thing about Namibia is that most people are really friendly. The first car that came by stopped and we used their cell phone to call our friends back in Windhoek. At first they thought we were joking. The second car stopped and a lady, Anna, came out. She lived just down the road and offered us assistance; she could tow our Land Rover to her place if we needed. She had a few Land Rovers herself and made a funny comment about the correlation between Land Rovers and mothers-in-law: always sick but never die.
Our friend came to tow us back into town with his Ford sedan. I'm sure it must have been a funny sight to see this little car towing our big Landy! One quick phone call to Oubaas and we got a diagnosis: it could be the main bearing that came loose. This didn't sound good. Even though it was the weekend, Oubaas drove out to where we had towed the truck and quickly assessed the situation - a striped timing gear.I’ve learned that not all cars have a timing belt, some have a timing gear.
Early Sunday morning, we took apart our Landy and confirmed the diagnoses. Later we learned that this is quite an unusual thing to happen, but of course, with our temperamental Landy, anything could and probably would happen. A few phone calls later we found out that such a spare part is not available in Windhoek and we would have to wait until Monday to order a new one from South Africa. We will have to wait for the part to arrive, install the part and only then maybe we will be able to hit the road. This will considerably delay our departure date.
You would believe me if I told you that there must be a Land Rover god that does not want our Landy to leave Windhoek!!!