After a
bit of rest and relaxation at our hotel in Nouakchott, which was greatly needed
due to the previous days’ grueling drive, we set out for the Senegal border and
Dakar. We made it about 15 minutes
outside of the city when once again catastrophic truck damage occurred. This
time my truck was the victim. With a screeching halt (quite literally) and
narrowly missing several children on the roadside we came to a rest several feet
from a small embankment, which probably would have caused a roll over if we had
reached it at the speed, we were traveling. The rear differential had exploded-
immediately locking the entire driveline and stopping the truck faster than
seems possible with a 36-year-old Land Rover.
While
100 children crowded around to watch, Jim, Paul and Shane removed the rear drive
shaft and both rear axles. We
managed to limp back to the hotel in front wheel drive and assess the damage.
Apparently the carrier bolts in the differential had sheared off violently in
the previous days’ journey and punctured a hole in the axle housing. Most of the
diff fluid then leaked out and ultimately led to meltdown in the bearings and
gears.
Bottom
line was we acquired the necessary parts from the supply we had on board from
Rovers North and purchased an entire rear axle from a local junkyard. Shane, Jim
and Paul managed to fight off lying in human feces and piles of dead rats to
take the part of an old expired truck.
We are
now held up in Nouakchott until tomorrow morning. Shane and Jim are swapping
axles and springs on my truck and Al is in the middle of replacing springs on
his truck. Unlike the gearbox incident several weeks ago, the weather is
cooperating although it is over 90 degrees F.
Our
misfortune has given us a chance to meet several people here in the hotel. We
ran into several Americans working for the US embassy here in Nouakchott and one
gentleman who works for the BBC and is filming a travel show featuring Michael
Palin. They have been able to provide us with a ton of information our upcoming
journey in Senegal and Mali.
-Michael
Ladden