First thing in the morning, went to a mechanic who we were told was good on Land Rover. Turns out John must be the combined age of all Land Rovers in the world put together. But still going strong. An old-Rhodesian (as he calls himself), he has been living here for the last 14 years. His wife past away only some 5 months ago, so think he must be really lonely. He is not sure but recons it might be the lever system in the gearbox but can't help us until tomorrow morning. So, went to a few other mechanics and met a few people on the road who 'knows the best mechanic in town' who is somehow related to them. Say no more… After a few phone calls - thanks to the satellite phone - we are still not 100% sure what the problem is. It can be anything from the hydraulics, the clutch plate, the pressure plate, the linkage or worse case scenario the actual gears. If the latter, then it is dejavu for me when our gearbox packed up in Uganda and that took nearly 3 weeks to sort out.

We have no choice but to unpack everything we need for a longer stay in the camp site as we will have to leave the vehicle in the workshop tomorrow for an unlimited time.

Met a few travellers in the camp site who are coming from Cairo down. The one couple, a Dutch fellow and German lady, has a fantastic Land Cruiser converted into a camper van. The whole roof lifts up creating a sleeping space and area to stand and prepare food (can only imagine how the blankets must smell after a while Everything is built of typical German precision and the vehicle set them back a cool R380 000!

Also said good bye to 3 cyclists this morning whom we spoke to for some time. They are also heading north, so we should bump into them again at some stage. Or maybe we should have put ropes behind them to pull us through to Cairo!!!