Monday 28 November 2011: New Wheels
Since the gearbox failed in the Mitsubisi we have been using the Ex Irish Army Nissan: a tank in disguise. It was slow, heavy, powerful, but it guzzled diesel.
In a country without forex and diesel, we were on a constant loser. Queueing for fuel was and is a nightmare and I'm sad to say, that this may be the future.
This Toyota is a 4x4, engine built in South Africa, is strong but OK on fuel, I'm told. The last budget changes means that we had to pay the duty as well, so the price 8500 Euro is robbery, but we tried hard and eventually found it in Blantyre, 800 km from Mzuzu!! When I see other NGO's whizzing by in their new 65000 Euro spotless jeeps, it makes me wonder, but not for long. We know what we came for and Harisen reckons there's years in this one, even allowing for the roads we frequent!
The rains have really come down today, the rainy season is really here, just missed it.
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