Hill Exploration - Driving off the Makuti-Kariba Road (why not??)

Driving a pickup off the side of a hill is not recommended, even if you are very lucky to suffer virtually no major damage to your vehicle, the inconvenience... well, let me tell you a story that happened to yours truly and his Ford Cortina 3.o ltr V6 (no brandy & coke included lol)

The location: (Thank you Mr. Google maps man for letting me use these maps-hope I'm not gonna get into trouble for that?...)
Roughly halfway between Makuti and Kariba (driving home after a weekend away)

Time: Early Evening

Road Conditions: Damp, you know the dampness I mean. Just after a very light drizzle, enough to wet the road but not enough to wash the oil and grime away. Nightmare for biking, but oh so good for 'playing' in a powerful pickup with no weight in the back... ala Drift King style (I need more lessons tho, as you will soon see... lol)



Looking at this map, the drop doesn't seem that great, but it was a 'few' feet to the bottom of the hill. I know cause I almost fell out of my 'Big Red' to the bottom (Question: why do guys name their cars?)

Pic from where I went off, very fortunate there wasn't any oncoming traffic at this moment.. I know it was a silly thing to be doing. Even if that road was VERY quiet in the evenings...

Well, for most of the trip I had been power sliding the 'Red out of most of the bends, doing fine but this one left hander was super slippery! I was looking at the cliff wall directly in front of me, you know the one - you looking where you going through the side window...!
Well, full lock on, gas off, thinking 'is this one gonna come right, hmmmm**, its not looking so good...!!' **Substitute any good alternative word here!

By now we're in the ditch on the cliff side of the hill and I'm bracing for impact into the cliff wall when, snap!! I'm sliding the other way, looking thru the passenger window! Rear wheels sliding in the ditch, fronts on the road. Before I could get full lock on the other direction I'm sliding backwards. Brakes full on now, looking out the passenger rear mirror watching the drop closing on me FAST (amazing the time you have to think about all this when it's all happening in split seconds!) 'I'm not going to stop this one' was the last thot thru my mind, before trying to wedge myself down by forcing my arms straight against the steering wheel and wedging my legs hard against the floor board. Then I don't remember going off the edge...
I had stopped half way down the drop, wedged in the soil and loose boulders. I was looking round, up, down, straight in front of me trying to figure out how on earth I had come to face the direction I was - I definitely went off backwards, now facing forwards? Good!! The front wheels were full lock left still (from trying to get it corrected out of the ditch) and they had wedged into the soil or I probably woulda gone straight to the bottom. 'How did I not roll, man, glad I never - woulda totally wrecked my spot lights!'
'Ok this is ok, its good, check body, arms good sore but good; legs, feet wedged between pedal-please be ok, I gotta walk outta this... yep, good. Head, body - check, cool. Lets get out this mess'.

Door open, and it fell straight open. 'Ok, hold tight, its quite a drop out of 'Red.' Undo seat belt, wwhhooooaaaaaa, out I slid, had to grab the 'B'-pillar to stop rolling all the way down. I remember thinking 'I'm gonna pull the pickup down on me!' Nope, wedged solid.
I man-handled my toolbox and overnight bag up to the roadside. Then started thinking, how am I gonna get back to Kariba? Wasn't worried too much about 'Red. He wasn't going anywhere... Put the torn up grass back where it had come from to cover where 'he' had slid off.
I wasn't too worried about staying the night out either, had a few snax and always travelled with my .357 Revolver. Might even do a bit of Hyena hunting while here - I absolutely HATE them...
I was pretty angry to be in this situation tho and remember letting a round off, as you do. Still had 11 left so no worries, replaced the empty cartridge when, who should come round the Kariba side corner but... Rolf!! (He was training me to get my Pro Guides License! Was my boss at the time...) Out on a 'sun-downer' drive. I put the fire arm away as he pulled up.

'Vaughan, what you doing in the middle of nowhere?!? You p*ss someone off and they told you to get out their car?!' Hahaha (I used to hitch rides sometimes)..
So explained what happened, cracked open a cold one from his cool box and we enjoyed the sunset...
Wasn't that pretty that night - maybe I just wasn't in the mood? ;-)
Then back to Kariba for a good nights sleep.
The next day 'Operation: Save Big Red' begun... We had to pull him up a little at a time, wedge him fast, let the traffic pass, then start again. Took a while but got him up without too much hassle. Here you can see the corner I came sliding round and the ditch at the base of the cliff face I was sliding in before being shot across the road...
The sign used for locating 'Red. Someone had conveniently put a bullet hole in it?! Looked just like a .357 round too. Wow, wonder who else has one around here ;-)...

Started him up and drove him back, needed to replace a few rubber bushes but otherwise he was good to go... Tough thing. And a decent day out in the sun...