Hit the road back to Cairo Airport. All interest now at an end, apart from lunch booking at a restaurant that serves the best chicken in Cairo.
We didn’t get to say goodbye to drivers F and M as they disappeared last night, so we will have to come back next year. Their calm, authoritative, cheerful demeanour was much appreciated. Quiet, undemonstrative people who know what they are doing, don’t flap, and get on with it.
Get ready for the relentless 400km to Cairo – book out, snacks and drinks to hand. Bob Marley on endless loop.
Out here, you fix it yourself
290km to go…there”s water in the diesel (makes a change from smoke on the water) – engine loses power. Stop and clean out fuel lines with compressed air – leave the experts to this whilst I hunt superb flint/fossils on the ground (keeping an eye on the burrow with snake tracks coming out).
Drive on…..stop again…..change oil filter (replacement fortunately in back of truck)…..drive on….stop and clean fuel lines……stop again.
Now remember Bedouin saying, ” plan to leave early, arrive late”. Is Egytpair aware of this saying?
With 200km to go we set up a towline between Team A and Team Z.
Our expectations of “the best chicken in Cairo” have to be met by a KFC at a petrol station. Sadly we had to break up Team Z there and then as he was going to wait for a mechanic and dismantle the fuel system entirely.
Time to head back to the city
Looking for fossils
With soporific Team A in the lead, the rest of us piled into a minibus and made it to the airport in time. This truly was the end of our adventure. As Team A’s driver said : ” The Sahara wasn’t ready to let go of you”.
But here we are coming back home. For now.