In trucking circles, if a certain driver has been to Bentiu, Aweil or Malakal by road wewe ni mwanaume. Especially in the early days when access to the Northern side of s. sudan was through Arua, Yei then Mvolo, wewe ni mwanaume×2. The distance to Aweil from Nairobi, is around to around 2500km of which 1500km were bush roads in Sudan. By the way, Aweil ndio mwisho wa railwayline from kartoum. In Aweil uko Northern Bahr El Ghazar state na most number plates ni za kiarabu.
Mkitoka nairobi, unajua mtaonana na familia a month later. Driver before aende unamlipa atleast 2 months salary advance plus some hefty mileage awache amesort familia kwanza, because travelling for over a month was normal. Mileage then and now at 2500USD, has not changed, the problem is sahii unaweza kwenda na urudi bila hata bob. Bandits have increased due to rampant corruption and constant wars. Pia sudanese wamekuwa wajanja, wamejua maana ya pesa. Right now any skinny black man wielding a gun, can rob you. In the early days, (early 2000) past Rumbek very few people even knew what clothes were. Tulikuwa tunasafisha macho sana kwa barabara:D:D:D:D:D, shida ni ati hata manyoka pia hawafichi.
The truck itself was like a mobile workshop. spanner zote, @introvert , kuanzia kale kadogo No. 6 hadi No. 40 ya dognut ya isuzu cxz. All filters, 40 ltrs of oil or enough for a complete oil change/service, grease gun, material for puncture repair, spare tyres (around 4), winches, spare clutch plate, and release bearing. etc. Yaani kila kitu, bora ubebe ukose kutumia lakini ikitakikana iko.
The number of trucks lost in Sudan are so many you will be surprised. I know of a guy from Thika who lost an isuzu fvz coz of a simple mechanical fault. Driver abandoned the truck to look for help and a mechanic in kampala. Couple of weeks later, after getting a lift to where the truck was, wakakuta kuna truck ingine ilipitia hapo wakaiba tyre 6. Kutokea tena ndio aambie boss tyres hakuna, convoy ya waganda ikajichanua na gear box mzima and other valuable spare parts.
When it came to food, tulikuwa tunabeba duka mzima, everything was in terms of gunia. Rice, unga , spaghetti, nyumba ya kuku inachomelewa pale nyuma ndio atleast once a week mnakula kuku to spice up bush life, kwa walevi mzinga kadhaa kila siku jioni unapiga tot ndio usingizi ikuje fasta after a long day kama turnboy anapika. Not forgetting 6, 200ltr drums of water. 3 for the truck and the rest for daily usage na Meko 2, yenye mnatumia daily kupika na ya spare.
Lastly, atleat one thuraya setelite phone per convoy for informing the people in at home on your progress, via a single 160 character text message daily.
On this particular trip, we left nairobi headed for Aweil, in a convoy of 2, 10 wheeler trucks. Being my earlier days of trucking, i only owned one truck, the other belonging to, my late friend, MHRIP.
The drive through Uganda was uneventful, the only highlight being when a Ugandan lady, offered to pay us 50k each to carry 100 crates each of beer to Rumbek. Sijawai kataa pesa, and since our initial load was not heavy tukakubali. Hapo ndio mashida zilianza, kumbe mwanamke kwa lorry ni mkosi. Daniel Kioko (real name) the other driver alikuwa anaskia tutawacha Ugandan nyavo/lady anachizi, @Meria Mata can elaborate further on what happens Mutheu akipanda cabin.
We got into S. Sudan pretty well and begun doing approximately 100km daily. Mkikuta places bushes have overgrown into the road, kawaida turnboy fasta na panga to clear the way. Jioni ikifika turnboy tena wanatoa meko na kupika supper as the drivers rest and freshen up.
A week into the journey Kioko wakakosana na turnboy wake akamfukiza. The dude moved into my truck and Kioko was left to feast on the Ugandan lady kila siku. Yaani kazi ilikuwa kuwekelea crate ya Bell beers kwa dashboard, drinking, partying to loud kamba music and romping till morning.
Having not fully rested at night most of the time, and as you know, on bush roads one needs to be extra careful, truck ya Kioko ikaanza mashida. Punctures became the norm, mara imekata spring, you end up spending most of the day doing repairs. I remember once aliingiza truck kwa shimo, we ended up offloading most of the cement ourselves so that it could towed. Will never forget nilibeba gunia za cement mpaka shati ikararuka.
I swear if it wasn’t for the fact that the truck belonged to a good friend of mine, i would have left him there. Kioko kwenye uko, wewe ni ubwa/ ngite tu.
But Karma is a bitch, we finally got to Rumbek a week later, the Ugandan whores beers were offloaded. Mimi nikalipwa nikawacha Kioko akidai his cut. Kumbe mjinga wamekunywa 6 crates of beer on the way. He insisted they deduct the 6 crates apewe balance.
Nikaskia;
“Young man, you have been feasting on me everyday…i have now paid myself with that balance…”
Kioko tried causing a scene;
“Try complaining again and i will report to my Sudanese army boyfriend, that you raped me on the way…!”
Kioko akakunja mkia na kurudi kwa gari bila pesa.
Part 2 ndio naandika.