What's your favorite road trip memory?
Submitted by Birch Counseling.
That would have to be the time we were in Yankari Game Reserve in Nigeria when the clutch cable broke on our car while we were going to see the elephants. We traveled for two days from our home in Ukpom to get to Yankari. The first day we took the tour on the "tour bus" or the back of a dump truck - ate dust for a couple of hours but it was okay. We saw a few animals. The next day we show up two minutes late and the tour bus has already gone so I ask the ranger if we can drive through in our car. He says yes, if we will take a guide with us. So, my wife and three kids get in the back seat and off we go.
We were doing okay until I felt the clutch cable break when I changed gears. I figured we would be okay as long as I kept the car in second gear and drove slowly. We were fine until one of the kids shouted "elephants." I popped the gearshift into neutral so we could get a good look and we did. There were several elephants around us. They were mostly just minding their own business and then we saw a young one cross the road in front of us. It was followed by a very big parent. We were ewing and awing until it stopped and turned toward us and flared out its ears. I thought, "That elephant ain't happy and we ain't in the zoo."
Do you know how fast a car goes in reverse when the clutch cable is broken? It doesn't - at all. We were stuck. I couldn't get the gearshift into reverse and the elephant started charging us. He (or she, it didn't matter) would run toward the car, stir up the dust, flare its ears and make this load bellowing noise. Then it would back up and do it again. The guide and I jumped out of the car and tried to push it backwards. My wife jumped in the driver's seat and began revving the engine and honking the horn. The horn had been drowned out back in the rainy season and sounded like a mouse squeaking. Two lessons learned - elephants are not afraid of mice and two men can't push a car backwards in sand no matter how much adrenaline is flowing.
We jumped back in the car. The guide tells us the elephant is calling the other elephants (like it needs help to squash us like little bugs). One daughter is screaming. I tell the other daughter to get the video camera. The guide tells my wife, "You have my permission to make her be quiet." She keeps screaming until the guide says, "She is calling the other elephants." She stops abruptly. My other daughter has the camera going but the guide says, "Forget the camera, we need to get out of here!" Guess he's never heard of a National Geographic moment. I rev the engine and jam the gear and by God's grace it goes into reverse without killing the engine. I back up for a couple of miles before I feel safe enough to stop.
We are finally out of danger. So we push the car enough to get it into second gear to head back to the base. I'm feeling pretty good until the guide mentions that the salt rocks are ahead and there are usually more elephants there.
Comments