Getting stuck at Stanley's

I recently drove across into NG32 to try and get some data from the collared buff over there. I was planning on spending 6 nights there, to combine data collection from two individuals. I have not been back to that area since the end of January, when the ground was too wet for off road driving. I thought that things would have improved, as we have not had much rain on this side and most areas have started to dry up. Unfortunately, Stanley's have still been getting significant amounts of rain, with a 40 mm storm just a few days before I went across. Some of the flooded parts of the road had dried up, but most were at the same level and some were higher. There was one section that was completely dry in January and has now become a huge lake that the road goes straight through.

We managed to get almost all the way to Stanley's before getting stuck in a channel, thankfully with the bonnet out of the water, but the rear section of the vehicle was decidedly under water. We radio-ed Stanley's and they were very helpful and sent a car out. By that time, water had gotten into the fuel tank and we sputtered the rest of the way to Stanleys. They were very helpful there, and offered to drain the fuel tank for me, which is when we realised that my silly fuel tank does not have a drainage plug. Eventually, we realised that there was nothing for it except to just drive through until the water had been used up. Luckily there was not too much water in there, so it only took a couple of hours for the vehicle to behave almost normally. Needless to say, we avoided deep water while it was struggling, but that meant we ended up driving in circles for a while and interrupted a game drive 3 times!!

Anyway, having looked at the terrain, with full floodplains and a pan in almost every dip in the grassland areas, I decided that trying to follow buffalo for 3 days would not be possible, as they seem to have no problem with crossing channels. Around Stanley's, there is a network of roads, but further out there are no roads, and crossing floodplains and channels off road is not something that is recommended. So, feeling stressed and defeated, I came back to camp.

I will have a meeting with my supervisor tomorrow and discuss these difficulties. They are not likely to be resolved any time soon, as I doubt the ground will dry up enough before the flood comes through. Since the water levels are already high, the flood is likely just to pour through and cover everything, which will add to my problems. Everyone keeps joking about me using a mokoro (a dug-out canoe), but I am starting to consider it!