The Kgalagadi lions were a wonderful sight.  Nyati makes a great viewing platform & I settled down to make brunch while savouring the opportunity of being so close to a pride of one the world's top predators.

An hour or so later,  watching their lazy yawning, stretching & general lolling about was having its effect on me.
I had to decide whether to join them & have an afternoon kip, right here, or move on.
I decided to seek out a better vantage point, higher, at one of the picnic spots dotted around the park.

Why why why  ?

The sign said, "STAY ON THE ROAD. SOFT DUNE SAND".

The next sign said, "YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO LEAVE YOUR VEHICLE ".

Nyati rolled up the hill & onto the turning circle at the top of the sand dune… "Oh yes, this's perfect"… "Oh shit".

The edge of the "hardened" turning circle had crumbled away with the passing of time… Nyati's 10 tons were unforgiving, & as the wheels rolled over the broken edge, the left side simply sank straight down to the diffs, front & back…
Acute angle  ! ! 

"Oops", I thought. "Okay, let's see what low range  can do".

Wheel spin, & Nyati levelled up a bit.

"Fuck", I thought. "Now we've gone through the surface on the drivers side too… Start thinking".

A bit late for that.

It was about 38c outside, more inside. I took a cold bottle of water from the fridge & started to assess the situation.

Nyati was stuck.
Lions were just over the sand dune.
The tyres were pumped up HARD.
Nyati was fully loaded.
There was still diff lock to try.
I had food & water for about 3 months.
& a shovel.

It all pointed to an "out of vehicle" excursion.

Looking around, I couldn't SEE any hungry predators, but I hadn't noticed a big, dominant male under the trees, with those girls, where was THAT bastard  ?

I went up onto Nyati's roof for a better look. Thank God for the astro turf, I could  seriously recce from up here, even in this heat, & THERE he was, far away, on the skyline.
A MAGNIFICENT black maned, tawny BEAST.
I only saw him because he moved, standing up, stretching & slowly moving away across the ridge in the distance.

Lets go… It's now or never… This's NOT going to be done in the dark.

What followed was an hour of frantic work. Digging behind Nyati's wheels & forcing big lumps of broken road under the tyres.
Yes, all 4 wheels were through the hardened surface & buried in the red dust, it wasn't sand, it was dust.
I couldn't stand & sank down to my ankles whilst digging. Not lekker, working on my knees, I kept looking around.

"Where's that big mother" ?

Wondering if this was enough rubble to support Nyati.
There'd only be one go at this.  Well two actually, I hadn't deflated the tyres or unpacked Nyati yet.

Could I call this a "shit storm" ?

69yrs old, road building, shoveling dust from under 10tons of truck, in almost 40c, dodging lions, alone…

That's a SHITSTORM.

Anyway, the lion didn't come back my way, neither did anyone else.
I spoke long & earnestly to Nyati, explaining what was needed.

The diff-lock indicator burned bright & the rev counter held steady at 2500 as I engaged the clutch, fast, careful, not too much spin. This was IT… Go go go…

Oh yeah, Nyati went alright, all 4 wheels churning, it felt like we levitated out of those holes. The rear wheels hung out over the danger zone, but the front wheels dragged Nyati back to safety in the centre of the paving… Hey hey we're Out  ! !

I took an ice cold Hansa from the fridge… I was going to make that braai date tonight afterall.

Driving slowly back to the "Twee Riveeren" campsite I was acutely aware of how this COULD have gone down.

"Nobody said it would be easy".
"Nobody said it would be this hard".

My respect for Nyati's capabilities had grown, but I HAD to take into account that the shear mass of this truck was an "off road" problem. Nyati's not a beach buggy.
I didn't even want to think about mud.

Jacobus & Tracey, that's her on Nyati's roof, were a charming young engaged couple from the Cape who'd invited me to join them for a, last night, clear out the fridge, braai.  Jacobus is a butcher in Piketberg, so the quality of the meat, wine & cooking, goes without saying.
Tracey's a teacher & reminds me so much of Georgina.
I wish them everything of the best for the future.

We had a great evening & I hope to meet up with them on my way along the West coast.

www.rv-nyati.com