On Wednesday morning we set off into town with a long list of places to visit, things to source and jobs to do.
First stop was to be the supermarket to stock up - we'd spotted a branch of Woermann Brock (last seen in Swakop), so we decided to try there as the Spar hadn't inspired us the other day. It seemed to be full - of staff stacking shelves - but we got most of the stuff we wanted. We had parked opposite the supermarket on the main town-centre road. We got back to the truck and while Sue put stuff in the fridge I went to see what else was around. Hidden just round the corner was a Pick 'n' Pay supermarket, so when Sue had finished we nipped in there to see if we could find the "missing items" - much better organised.
Getting back to the truck we went to open the box - the lock wouldn't budge - at this moment two policemen appeared and told us someone had tried to open the truck but that they "had chased him off". The lock wouldn't move. The police hung around seeming to be at a loss, or to want something (a tip? inspiration?). We realised that the crawl-through was firmly locked from the inside (we do this when in town) - no way to get in! The lock is a 6-point safe lock with a double-6 key - no way of opening it without a professional locksmith. Despondency set in in a big way. Sue asked the policemen for their names in case we decided to make a report, which seemed to make them uncomfortable (in fact one seemed underconfident with writing) and we took this to be an indication that help would not come from that direction. This was later confirmed by other people.
We had promised to pick up the oil, the cables and the bracket, so we visited each place in turn to explain our problem - most of our cards being in the back and that we didn't have much cash on hand. The people at Cool Tech explained that they wouldn't be there the following day as they were getting married in a couple of days! The cables would be ready in the afternoon, so we went to a recommended coffee shop, ate and thought. We hatched a plan to get into the truck, but needed to get back to the campsite to put it into operation. Once the cables were ready we dashed back via a cashpoint (only to find that it would only give us $500 - about £40 - and all in N$10 notes).
Back at the campsite I began dismantling the truck to gain access - about 3 hours later I was almost ready to find out if it was going to be possible to get in when Sue returned from reception with a dustpan and brush (to clean up some dust before I messed the whole place up) and Ronaldo, who works here. He had a look at the lock and disappeared saying something about his toolbox. In the meantime I managed to get inside and get the crawl-through open. Ronaldo returned and started to work on the lock from the outside - within 2 hours he had it open! His technique? : Patience, a good eye and a "can-do" attitude. We were very impressed! (S)
I then spent the next 2 hours making everything secure for the night, before settling down to try to find a replacement lock. It had resisted what was obviously quite a severe attack: the plates inside were bent out of shape and needed a lot of hammering to get them approximately straight again. (Whoever it was must have made a lot of noise - reaching up to almost 2m in the air and in the middle of town.) Therefore we have decided that we would prefer to replace it with an identical, or very similar, model. At this moment our internet credit ran out! - only way to top up? - Go into town tomorrow. Aarrrggghhhh!
I closed the door for the night (but tried to re-open it just to see - it wouldn't - Aaaaarrrggghhh again!)
We've since been getting in and out through the crawl-through. This was designed for emergencies and as the name implies - it's a CRAWL through. Not easy. (Thank goodness for all those yoga classes. S.) This isn't sustainable so today we've been emailing all over the place trying to find a replacement lock - a dealer in UK will supply one via TNT in about 2 weeks (tomorrow if we were in UK), dealers in South Africa don't recognise the part number but are looking into it - and the Italian manufacturer isn't answering emails - no surprise to me anyway.
We need to work out exactly where to have the replacement sent to - we don't think Rundu is necessarily suitable - maybe go back to Bush Baby at Grootfontein where we felt comfortable and the owner and staff were so friendly? Or back to Kamanjab, where they really understand the problems of overlanders, if it's going to be a 2 week wait? Grootfontein is 280km away, Kamanjab 650.... We need to decide this by the time we get it ordered.
First stop was to be the supermarket to stock up - we'd spotted a branch of Woermann Brock (last seen in Swakop), so we decided to try there as the Spar hadn't inspired us the other day. It seemed to be full - of staff stacking shelves - but we got most of the stuff we wanted. We had parked opposite the supermarket on the main town-centre road. We got back to the truck and while Sue put stuff in the fridge I went to see what else was around. Hidden just round the corner was a Pick 'n' Pay supermarket, so when Sue had finished we nipped in there to see if we could find the "missing items" - much better organised.
Getting back to the truck we went to open the box - the lock wouldn't budge - at this moment two policemen appeared and told us someone had tried to open the truck but that they "had chased him off". The lock wouldn't move. The police hung around seeming to be at a loss, or to want something (a tip? inspiration?). We realised that the crawl-through was firmly locked from the inside (we do this when in town) - no way to get in! The lock is a 6-point safe lock with a double-6 key - no way of opening it without a professional locksmith. Despondency set in in a big way. Sue asked the policemen for their names in case we decided to make a report, which seemed to make them uncomfortable (in fact one seemed underconfident with writing) and we took this to be an indication that help would not come from that direction. This was later confirmed by other people.
We had promised to pick up the oil, the cables and the bracket, so we visited each place in turn to explain our problem - most of our cards being in the back and that we didn't have much cash on hand. The people at Cool Tech explained that they wouldn't be there the following day as they were getting married in a couple of days! The cables would be ready in the afternoon, so we went to a recommended coffee shop, ate and thought. We hatched a plan to get into the truck, but needed to get back to the campsite to put it into operation. Once the cables were ready we dashed back via a cashpoint (only to find that it would only give us $500 - about £40 - and all in N$10 notes).
Back at the campsite I began dismantling the truck to gain access - about 3 hours later I was almost ready to find out if it was going to be possible to get in when Sue returned from reception with a dustpan and brush (to clean up some dust before I messed the whole place up) and Ronaldo, who works here. He had a look at the lock and disappeared saying something about his toolbox. In the meantime I managed to get inside and get the crawl-through open. Ronaldo returned and started to work on the lock from the outside - within 2 hours he had it open! His technique? : Patience, a good eye and a "can-do" attitude. We were very impressed! (S)
I then spent the next 2 hours making everything secure for the night, before settling down to try to find a replacement lock. It had resisted what was obviously quite a severe attack: the plates inside were bent out of shape and needed a lot of hammering to get them approximately straight again. (Whoever it was must have made a lot of noise - reaching up to almost 2m in the air and in the middle of town.) Therefore we have decided that we would prefer to replace it with an identical, or very similar, model. At this moment our internet credit ran out! - only way to top up? - Go into town tomorrow. Aarrrggghhhh!
I closed the door for the night (but tried to re-open it just to see - it wouldn't - Aaaaarrrggghhh again!)
We've since been getting in and out through the crawl-through. This was designed for emergencies and as the name implies - it's a CRAWL through. Not easy. (Thank goodness for all those yoga classes. S.) This isn't sustainable so today we've been emailing all over the place trying to find a replacement lock - a dealer in UK will supply one via TNT in about 2 weeks (tomorrow if we were in UK), dealers in South Africa don't recognise the part number but are looking into it - and the Italian manufacturer isn't answering emails - no surprise to me anyway.
We need to work out exactly where to have the replacement sent to - we don't think Rundu is necessarily suitable - maybe go back to Bush Baby at Grootfontein where we felt comfortable and the owner and staff were so friendly? Or back to Kamanjab, where they really understand the problems of overlanders, if it's going to be a 2 week wait? Grootfontein is 280km away, Kamanjab 650.... We need to decide this by the time we get it ordered.