I sat in the petrol station, playing my guitar to the African night, watching the cars, taxis, and mopeds cruise in looking for a couple of liters of fuel, while my driver did his level best to get the van started again. “No petrol, only diesel” was the answer everyone got from the kind attendant; many of the vehicles never stopped rolling, and just passed on to the next establishment.

My driver was crouched in the back seat of his van, where he was hooking up his two reserve batteries to his well-used jumper cables, while the attendant stuck himself halfway behind the wheel, took the key, and followed my driver’s bluntly delivered instructions: “Turn on. Wait. Start.” (Ruh-ruh-ruh-ruh-ruh …) “Turn off. Wait.” Read the rest of this entry »