If you follow Alison Grunewald – https://bit.ly/3bPQM8I – they have now travelled 8 000km and after some interaction/social work with local villages on route, the team went on to Entebbe, central Uganda to service and repair their vehicles after several incidents.

They overnighted at a small village in Jinja, on the sports field of a local school just inside Uganda. The next morning, they introduced the c2c mission team and donated towards sports equipment for the school’s soccer and netball teams. Afterward, the children gave the c2c team demonstration matches. Then it was onto Entebbe where all necessary work on the vehicles was to take place. It was a big thanks to Simon from Protea Hotels, a co-sponsor who managed to get all the parts in express air freight to Entebbe, and he also helped with the loan of the warehouse workshop.

Winston, the key player in the c2c mission needed suspension replacement and a new alternator. Jan Smuts needed a new inside shaft and complete gearbox overall, both the Pink Landy, Jan Smuts, and the Land Rover Forward Control series llB Rocinante, needed some suspension replacements, with Thomas having some major repairs to the differential.

“It was a suitable time to give all the vehicles a good service. Filters, lubricants, plugs, and a full greasing as well as a charge all the batteries,” said Alley Grünewald. With me learning a lot from the guys and breaking fingernails in the process. This sort of work and running repairs are expected on these older high mileage Land Rovers,” said Grünewald

Incidents on route that were promptly sorted out were, Alley a radiator hose, Rob with carburettor problems, this vehicle was towed the last 100km by Mike and a new carburettor was bought. Hein had a radiator leak in Jan Smuts which was repaired at the roadside with Wynns Radiator Stop Leak he also had a gear sticking problem, which needed oil. No points for this one, Mike put diesel into a patrol car and put brake fluid into power steering which was then syphoned out.

Alley hit a pothole in Lusaka buckling a rim, the tyre was changed at the roadside. Mark had petrol flow problems which Rob sorted out. They then went on a pass with very sharp turns, many potholes, and steep declines, Tree’s brakes started overheating on the descent.

The Forward Control top-heavy Landy gets stuck on the road and tipped over onto its side, damaging its steering rod, the team managed to winch it upright and do temporary repairs, further repairs were done in Mbeya with help from locals, but it did not end there it also had a blowout. Repairs saw the high lift jack bend while changing a wheel. A local truck driver assisted with his jack, and they were able to change the wheel. All the damaged parts were then replaced at the major pit stop in Uganda.

Alley and the Stiebels missed a turning to Kabinga and drove approximately two and a half hours longer on a bad dirt road. Later the team also had to drive on a similarly bad dirt road under construction for about 300km. The Forward Control behind the group hit a bump which caused the steering rod to break again, it veered into a steep roadside ditch and tipped onto its side. No one was injured bar a few scrapes and bruises, but there was severe damage to the diff swivel, and the bolts sheared off, resulting in a differential broken at the flange. Help from locals and a construction safety officer who organised a crane truck to pull the vehicle upright. Other vehicles were too far ahead to return in the dark. After attempting to do repairs until after midnight, the Stiebels spend the night at the safety officer’s home.

In the morning, the rest of the team returned. Alley took Kyle and Helen back to camp and then the team did temporary repairs. Forward control limped back to camp late that night driving 17km per hour.

Further repairs to the Forward Control and welding were done by a local mechanic enabling it to move. Trevor, Rob, Mike, and Mark took the shortest route up the western side of Lake Victoria to Entebbe for repairs and maintenance. Alley, Helen, Dylan, and Kyle headed for Kigali Rwanda to fly Kyle home and keep a pre-paid appointment with the gorillas.

“These sort of repairs and replacement parts are expected on any trip up Africa,” said Terry Brand, MD of autObarn and automotive sponsor for the c2c mission. “It is also exceptionally good that the Land Rover parts for these older models are freely available.”

The next stage is beautiful Kenya, Lake Baringo and Menegai, then on to Ethiopia via Lalibela and Danakil then on to Djibouti and Turkey.

Interested parties wanting to support this mission, can contact [email protected] or Alley Grunewald, [email protected] mobile 083 628 5529 or Mark McClue on [email protected]om mobile 081 262 9505 or André Marich on [email protected]; mobile 078 435 0634

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