18/4/03 Web site created

4/5/03 Tried to find a car today. We found a Lada Niva: No wheels, doors or stearing wheel, roof touching the tops of seats. But it did have a Riva on the roof we think this was at no extra cost. Ended up in a pub to discuss new tactic's.

August:

Searched ebay for car, found a zebra. but outbid at the last minute. Lucky escape as car was duff.

September:

Checked local cheapy paper, found a Skoda after looking at about 80 cars! This one was no better but at least it was cheap.

December:

Put some stickers on car. Drove it to Homebase and pushed it back! Didn't do much better the next day, think it was electrical so we won't worry too much.

Visited the Ambassador of Mauritana! Got his autograph in our passports!

24th:

Nick drove the car down to Plymouth. Car running like a dream!

26th: (Day 1)

Missed photocall on Plymouth Hoe. Final preparations made and vehicle given final checks. All appears OK, so fitted light covers and set off for Millbay Docks. Remembered passports and spare wheel, so all systems go. Arrived at Millbay at 8-15pm and drove into embarkation area. Said farewell to our huge team of supporters and embarked onto Val De Lore. Got stuck on ramp so had to be assisted onto parking area to save burning out the clutch! Parked up and headed straight for the bar. Bid farewell and set sail for Roskoff.

27th: (Day 2)

Arrived safely in Brittany after a rough ride on the ferry. Already suffering from lack of sleep. Set off on Day 2 of our journey. Did reasonably well after hard driving and managed to travel roughly 529 miles to arrive at first checkpoint near to Spanish Border.

28th: (Day 3)

Travelled 735 miles, so still on course. Finished near to border with Gibraltar. Popped into Gib for a few beers & to recover from last two days hard driving. Car a little bit poorly, so planned day for maintenance is very welcome.

29th: (Day 4)

Day of rest so plenty of time to catch up with essential maintenance after hectic first three days.

30th: (Day 5)

Caught ferry for Morocco, arrived at Ceuta & then travelled by road to Tangier. Arrived at approx 4-00pm. Glad to be in Africa at last. All downhill from now on! Followed coastal route to Rabat. Found out car was running without oil (both blamed each other!). Good cars these Skodas! Got lost in One Way System around Side and ended up paying to follow a taxi, so could find way to the campsite.

31st: (Day 6)

Headed off for Marrakesh but decided to go via Cassablanca. Driving towards the main area noticed people around pointing and waving so waved back. About two minutes later noticed smoke pouring from the engine and had to stop in the middle of four lanes of traffic nose to tail. Everyone began beeping horns in unison it was so noisy lifted the bonnet & a policeman approached, after an exchange in very poor french he just hovered around waving his arms and talking to other drivers. Found the problem immediately, in the morning Nick had topped up the engine water but had left the cap off of the expansion tank so in the 45 miles driven the engine had boiled dry. 3 litres of water later & panic stricken, moved off very cautiously and drove on to Marakesh.

January:

1st (Day 7)

Day of rest in marrakesh so just wandered through the souq's (open air markets) after a late stay in bed, eating from a stall in the evening & time to catch up on lost sleep, after New Year's Eve.

2nd (Day 8)

Drove to Agadir through the high level 2150 metres Atlas mountain range. View was awsome and the roads were tight bends with cars coming at you in the middle of the road. Drove on until got to Tiznit and found a nice little hotel 3 pounds to stay overnight then walked to the expensive western hotel to have a few beers that turned into a bit of a celebration with Barny and Caroline who drove through the mountains with us. Had a few too many beers.

3rd (Day 9)

Left Tiznit & and met back up with team 220 as they did not want to drive through the mountain. Took the safe shorter route, and drove on to Layounne via a camel market, was tempted to buy one but then the guy offered just a camel head on a plate, still had its eyes wide open, decided to leave immediately!

4th (Day 10)

Made it to Ad Dakhla (covered 2700 + miles so far). Car shaking to bits losing 3rd gear. Roof rack loose and rear bearing shot. Only 1000 miles+ left and land minds! Met up with the other groups, ready to cross border tomorrow.

5th (Day 11)

Started at 07:00 for the border, took about 4 hours to reach the first Morrocan post that took 1.5 hours to clear then the second Morrocan post and into no mans land. This was about 12 kilometres of very rough desert which was hardly marked out & with land mines we could only make about 10-15 miles an hour. The temperature was in the 40's inside the car & it was over 50 outside! Having made it through, then had to go through the two Mauritainian border posts. This took 2.5 hours and cost 15 euros in bribes. Then the fun began, picked up a guide and drove through what can only be described as hell. The track was so bumpy and full of sharp rocks it was terrible, would prefer the minefield anyday! When it was not like this it was deep sand and hardly driveable, this lasted for about three hours and arrived in the dark into a hellhole. Hopethis is not the capital city! The cost was one clutch, one engine sump, two exhausts and an engine manifold these are just the major problems in the group of six cars.

6th (Day 12)

Today is a rest day so have done some washing, watched the other cars be patched up. Oh and checked the engine oil level and water level and made sure the caps are back on!

7th - 10th (Days 13 - 16)

Made it through the desert not without losing a few bits on the way, but also managed to collect a few extra as well. Were racing through patches of the heaviest sand at about 50MPH at times in 5th gear - then it would be at 10MPH in 2nd gear with the revs racing above 4000 trying to keep traction and keep moving. If you stopped you were stuck. Then drove the morning stage at 5 am in the dark over the same terrain to the beach - that was very scary, with pot holes that just appeared at any time - good old russian susspension! Fantastic to spend the evenings out on the sand dunes. On the final stretch of the journey it seamed the car was going to shake to bits the electrics failed, the headlights failed and the roofrack sheared off at the support bars.

Thank god we made it out, but it did take 7 hours and about 100 Euros to get into Senegal. Also had a few problems getting the cars into Senegal since they are all over five years old, had to pay for a customs guy to escort us all through the country. Its a strange sight to see 35 cars in convoy with a customs officer at the rear, certainly attracted the locals attention.

11th & 12th (Days 17 & 18)

Two welcome days of rest at the oasis of Zebrabar, after our major trek through the desert. Time relax, but also to catch up on very essential maintenance and patch up our cars ready for The Gambia.

13th & 14th (Days 19 & 20)

Crossed border into Gambia, without any significant problems. Drove through Gambia to arrive at destination of Banjul. Was given a Police Escort through City of Banjul to arrive at the City Stadium and be greeted by large crowd of supporters. WE'VE MADE IT!!