The PERFECT Vehicle Solution

The vehicle saga continues. Since arriving in Ethiopia we have been leasing a truck, but now we are looking for a truck to purchase. Bryan has been tireless in his hunt. After spending every free afternoon in the last 3 weeks discovering used car dealerships around Addis, we had finally narrowed our choices down to two trucks.  We were able to have the SIM mechanic check out one of the trucks, which revealed a few issues; but when you are looking at a 15-year-old vehicle, that is to be expected. Feeling good about the first truck, we scheduled the second truck for an inspection the following day. By the time we went to pick it up, the second truck had been sold. Talk about a quick turnaround – the truck wasn’t even on the lot 24 hours before it was sold! If we thought finding a quality truck in our price range was tricky, we weren’t prepared for the next twist in the road. Apparently in Ethiopia, it is uncommon for a used car dealerships to write a purchase contract with the FULL price of a vehicle on it. The dealerships have a super complicated reason for why they do business this way, but in the eyes of the law the act is fraudulent and jail time is inevitable. So in an attempt to be above reproach, we cannot purchase either vehicle.  What does that mean? We are back to square one, well maybe a little bit before square one. :) Our plan is to get back out and continue scavenging the back allies of Addis in search of a car dealership that has a quality 15+ year old truck in our price range AND is willing put the whole price on a contract! We look forward to the day we will be able to drive a vehicle home and put it to use hauling supplies to Langnao. Hopefully there wont be too many more surprises along the way!

I (Nicole) have been trying help in the search by providing…creative solutions. See below for my best idea yet! For some reason Bryan says putting 18’ pipe on top would be somewhat challenging. I think it would be the perfect opportunity to impress me :)