by Mary Wykstra

In January I wrote about an accident that I had with our sturdy old truck. I have really enjoyed the Hylux - it has high clearance, it is powerful up hills and in mud and it is more or less a comfortable ride. A few times in the last years I have done fundraisers aimed at getting the funds to replace the old beast, but each time I fall short of the funds to replace it and end up investing into improving it. After the accident, we needed to pretty much rebuild the front end and I decided that we would keep this old truck for quite a while.

Now that we are regularly trapping cheetahs in Salama and Samburu, conducting monthly game counts and still using the Hylux for general work... we need the ability to safely stand up while the vehicle is moving. In Salama we could stand in the back, but in the Reserves we are required (for safety) to remain inside the vehicle. A generous donation from some Canadian friends (thanks Rudy!) through volunteer Peter Barber allowed us to purchase new tires last October, and to make these modifications in March to improve our ability to radio track and game count.

The old truck still has its issues and spends time in the workshop pretty much each trip into Nairobi... but what do you expect from a vehicle with 370,000km!

Several of our friends are putting together fundraising efforts to help us get a new vehicle... fingers crossed... but i do love my truck!