Land Rover

Hiya everyone,

Good news….. I am now mobile…… The Land Rover lives again!!! It’s life Jim, but not as we know it!! I have cobbled together two Belgium (second hand) fuel pumps to get him started….. Did we come up with a name for him?? Come on, I need suggestions? After getting him running, with the help of some local mechanics I admit, we found that the clutch was completely seized due to the fact that he had stood for so long… We had to remove the clutch’s hydraulic components and free them off. After several hours of sweat and on my part mosquito bites! We got the clutch to work, however, the components all need changing. As they are now leaking air and I have to pump the clutch peddle up and down to change gear….. It makes driving through the chaotic Freetown traffic a novelty! Parts coming from the UK soon, so I can fix that issue. The only way I can describe the vehicle is that if you can imagine that you have had your vehicle serviced by someone who ends up with “spare parts”….. Over several years….. U can imagine the results! There are bolts missing everywhere…… Wires twisted together…. A condom used to insulate some bare wires….. 10/10 for novel insulation guys!!!! Appalling maintenance to be honest. So I’ll be tinkering with it on a daily basis until it’s 100%.

I’ll be meeting with the minister of infrastructure and housing at 12.30, so I’ll probably have to register “Home Leone” to get them to support us. I’m getting used to the process now. Also meeting with a “Mr Fix it” from Joule Africa after that, to see if he can smooth some paths regarding land, vehicles and such like. Another busy day, but hopefully productive!

I managed a Skype call to Open Book on Thursday, so I’m hoping to be able to contact my parents, daughters and so on via that. However, I have to go sit in a posh hotel to do that, so won’t be regularly.

I’ll be adding some pictures to this blog at a later date as I can’t up load them where I am. Hope you enjoy them. I’ll even add a selfie for my Mummy.