Mini World Adventure Part 4

We then just crossed into Malawi one of my favourite African countries. We drove south beside the beautiful Lake Malawi to Lilongwe the capital where we met Mary and Tony’s wife and children.

Malawi was a special place as it was the country chosen by Save the Children fund to trail their eradication program of Polio. A cold chain is required to keep the vaccine and the correct temperature and this was running very successfully with an over 100% immunisation rate (mothers were bring children across the boarder to have the vaccine). We were taken to a Polio School run by an Italian vicar, children had boards with little wheels on and dragged themselves sometimes up to 5 miles to the school as they could not use their legs.They performed a show for us and at the end we gave out pencils and 'Fly the Flag' balloons, blowing them up and giving them to them so they flew in the air.
It was an extremely moving day and we really felt that all the money we could raise would be going to an fantastic cause.

Malawi is a beautiful country and very varied, from the mountains and tea plantation, jungle and of course the wonderful lake.

 We managed a few days rest at a place called Monkey Bay on the lakeside staying in little thatched huts, it was absolutely idyllic and so called, as we found out in the morning, when the monkeys came down and stole our fruit left out from the night before!

By now our second cameraman had left and returned to the UK with the Save the Children fund staff, this meant that Mary could ride with me and Joan and the children with Tony. It was fantastic to have Mary with me as we drove through southern Zambia into the recently renamed Zimbabwe. In the evenings we stopped beside the road, put up our tents and just listened to the sound of Africa. 

The Border between Zambia and Zimbabwe had recently seen some very fierce fighting, we stayed and a rundown holiday camp that still had bullet holes in the walls a reminder of what a volatile area we were in. The actual crossing was over Kariba dam, a fantastic structure producing vast amounts of cheap hydroelectric power for both countries. It was not the only sign of a more affluent society, the roads were improving and Harare was a very modern city, although it was difficult to navigate as all the road names had recently been changed, so maps were wrong and asking directions was also fraught. We did a little PR work here for our sponsors and Save the Children Fund and headed south again.

Crossing into South Africa was like coming back to Europe, the bridges, tunnels and road network was just fantastic we could really cover the miles and soon arrived in Johannesburg. We were really treated here by Compair and put up in one of the top hotels; it was pure luxury after what we had endured over the past several months. It was not all play, British Leyland had just re-launched the Mini back into South Africa so were very interested to get some photos. We arranged to meet at the Joburg Lion Park.

We just took one car; Mary and I were asked to drive through the park, occasionally stopping when instructed by the photographer from his car we were following. This was going well until the Lions decided they would attach the little Mini. When Lions attack a Mini I can tell you the car feels very very small. 

They sniffed the front and rear of the car, put their paws on the roof and rubbed their cheeks against the windows.

Mary's window was slightly down and I said to wind it up, she asked me which way made it go up, I couldn't remember so we left it as it was as we didn't want to wind it down any more! We drove forward slowing and they then fully attached the car eventually biting through the front tyres meaning we had to be rescued by the wardens. Looking back this is so ironic, after crossing the whole of Africa we had to come to a park to be attacked by the wildlife!

We then drove south again, mile after mile of straight road though cowboy like countryside towards Cape Town, we had a couple of weeks before the boat left to South America and we very lucky to have been offered help by British Leyland to rebuild the cars at their ‘special development workshops’. 

This was a dream for me, working with some very clever technicians with all the help and special equipment required. We changed the 1000cc engines to 1275 Cooper S units, new sump guards, exhaust systems and air intake systems were designed and built especially for the cars. 

The roof rack on Jack were 'beefed up' and by the time we had finished the cars were ready for anything. At this time South Africa was under the minority white rule and many Africans were protesting, I can remember ringing home and my parents being very worried that they had seen rioting on the TV from the same street I was working on, but I saw none of this.

The cars were finished just in time but the ship changed its destination to Port Elizabeth, by now we had found our third cameraman, Martin Stubbins, so the three of us drove the cars via the garden route up the east coast.

Mary and Joan flew up and waited for us to arrive.The scenery was fantastic and it was good to 'run' the cars in, the only problem we had was one morning we woke to find the glass sun roof had shattered. We were not sure if someone had tried to break in, this was unlikely as we were sleeping next to the cars, or the low temperature had caused it. we were unable to get a glass replacement so had a plastic one fabricated, but suffered from water leaking through it for the rest of the trip. When we arrived we were informed that the ship was now going to dock in Durban, so we drove north east again..

The cars were eventually loaded onto the ship to Uruguay and we had a couple of weeks with our loved ones in Durban. Mary and I found it difficult to live with the apartheid system, the beach was segregated into White & black, and we tried to catch a bus but were not permitted on any of the black or coloured buses. Durban itself it a beautiful city, the politics were not.

Mini World Adventure Part 3

In Kenya,we were looked after by our main sponsor Compair Holman’s who were based in Camborne but had branches all over the world. We were put up in the Jacaranda Hotel and the cars were left at their workshops where I had more time to complete repairs before we set off south. 
We were also joined by our second cameraman and The Reverent Roger Royal from Save the Children Fund.

We had a fairly major problem to overcome first, and that was the Border with Tanzania was closed as both countries were in dispute. We spent several days at various embassies trying to get permission. Eventually we took the matter into our own hands and drove west into the Masai Mara National park hoping we could cross at the very small border there. 
In fact this turned out to be one of the most enjoyable sections of the whole journey, driving for mile after mile through the African plain with the wildlife almost in touching distance.

The list of animals from Elephant, Giraffe, wildebeest, all sorts of Gazelle, water buffalo warthogs, Hyena  cheetah, Hippopotamus, Ostrich,  vultures and although we didn’t see we certainly heard the Lion.! 
The road was single track and late one afternoon we came to a small river, The cameraman said it would be a great place to do some shots of the cars splashing through the water.

 So he set up the camera in the reeds and asked us to drive quite close together across the stream and of shot. We ‘revved’ up the cars and I followed Tony through the stream, unfortunately just the other side was deep sand and both cars became stuck fast, it was a dried up river bed and like being back in the Sahara. 

The sand went on for about 60 meters through 5 foot high reeds, we tried to move the cars but the only option was to dismantle the small bridge about 100 meters further on and take the wooden planks back to the cars to drive over the sand. By the time we had planned and starting taking the bridge apart it was getting dark. We set our tent up between both cars and cooked our evening meal. It does seem crazy now looking back but this was the road between Kenya and the Tanzanian border and we are completely blocking it.

We were also warned not to camp out at night and just as it got dark, which happens very quickly near the equator we started to hear the roar of a lion, Our fearless cameraman ran to the car shut the doors and locked himself in, still can’t understand why he locked the doors?  We got ourselves into the tent, but our sleeping bags were in the cars, the roars got louder as the lion approached obviously coming to the stream for water. We spent a cold nervous night without a lot of sleep and at first light got to work extracting the cars. As soon as we cleared the sand we had to rebuild the bridge and by late morning where on our way again.

We reached the border mid afternoon and caught the guards by surprise as they were fast asleep, I don’t think they had many people crossing. After we woke him up we had to explain how to complete the’ carnet-de-passage’ for our film equipment (this paperwork is to prevent high value items being sold in the country) and in fact we completed the forms and stamped the Carnet.

After passport control in Tanzania, again a sleepy guard in a small hut we were into the Serengeti Park the road then climbed to Ngorongoro crater arriving as it got dark. This park has one of the highest levels of wildlife per square km in the world, we stayed in the lodge edge of the drop. When we woke we were shrouded in mist and very cold but as soon as the sun rose and burnt it off we were rewarded with the amazing view of the old volcano, teaming with animals. It was here I saw a child playing with an old coat hanger made into a circle and a stick, it was quite humbling knowing the demands of children at home for the latest ‘must have toy’.

We drove on through Tanzania, it was not the friendliest of countries and in fact the cars had stones thrown at them several times. It was incredibly poor especially in the countryside. One of the coldest nights of the whole trip was whilst waiting for the border crossing here.

Mini World adventure Part 2

The people were changing from Arabic to more African and after another couple of days we got back to the tarmac, the cars were unloaded and we could set off under our own steam to Agadez We had a couple of days here waiting until the Trans African truck turned up as they had  kept some of our equipment. It was the first time we had been able to make contact back home for several weeks and I managed to send a telegram to Mary my girlfriend to wish her happy Birthday.  We spent the time checking over the cars, welding rear shock absorber mounts back and general maintenance. We also visited the Camel market where hundreds of the animals were for sale and if we were going to return to the desert would have swapped the Mini’s in as they were much better suited to the conditions!

After several days the Trans African truck arrived and tried to blackmail us to get our equipment back, we tried to explain we were on a charity expedition but they were not interested apart from a couple who told us where the truck was parked. We quickly packed our personal belongings, paid the guest house and drove to the truck. We then managed to retrieve all our equipment and load back into the Mini’s just as some of the Trans African crew came back. It was then comical as we drove off they were chasing us waving their fists, luckily we didn’t need to stop for some time and managed to get away.

We were heading south to Zinder and away from the desert, road where getting better but not all tarmac, it wasn’t quite as hot but was getting more humid. In the markets you could find a greater choice of fresh vegetable and fruit, in fact all one village sold where water melons!

We crossed into Nigeria without any issues and into one of the most dangerous regions of the trip. We stopped for fuel in Kano late at night, filled both cars and went to pay and they kept all the change and would not give it back. A small crowd gathered as we then took several bottles of oil and placed inside the car, this did nothing to defuse the situation and luckily the Police arrived. After explaining what had happened there was quite a large crowd  and we beginning to feel a little intimidated, but the Police agreed with us, we put the oil back and got our change. I must admit we drove further than we would normally do in the dark to put some distance between us and Kano! The roads were very dangerous for several reasons; many of the truck drivers chewed what they called ‘beetle juice’ they said it helped to keep them awake, but many of the road may have been wide enough for two vehicles to pass, but most bridges were single track. So you imagine two very tired truck drivers head towards a single track bridge, neither willing to give away, consequently you very often find trucks beside these bridges severely damaged and sometimes burnt out. The other problem is the road surface on the straights it is not too bad but on some the bens it looks like waves in the sea, the heavy trucks have forced the road surface to sink giving enormous groves in the road 
( this is due to the massive corruption in the country and money that should have been spent on roads being siphoned off) that if caught wrong in the Mini’s could cause a major accident

Our next experience in Nigeria was much more pleasant we stopped at a village just south of the mighty River Niger and were met by Chief Stephen, a very large gentleman who insisted he take us on the river and visit his house and wives.

So we climbed aboard two wobbly dugout canoes and were taken out into the river, it seemed strange to in these boats that hadn’t changed for hundreds of years under a very modern road bridge crossing the fantastic River Niger. We met his family and he then said there was an English company a couple of miles away who were building a new link road south.

We entered the compound and were met by several ex pats who were employed to build the road and as it was by now late in the afternoon we decided to stay and make the most of the hospitality provided, most of all a proper bed with clean sheets! That evening we met the MD who explained how dangerous a city Lagos was and we were welcome to stay with him.

We set off the following day on the new road, before it was officially opened and headed apprehensively towards Lagos. We carried some food in the cars but usually stopped and ate with the locals and in one of these establishments – well it was a very small box shaped room, well made of cardboard boxes-  we were given a curry, which still to this date is the hottest food I have ever eaten. We tried to hide the smallest pieces of meat, just don’t ask what meat, in some bread but it still burnt our mouths and copious amounts of coca cola were required to cool us down.

We eventually arrived in Lagos, to say this city is a culture shock is an understatement. To start with the traffic is so bad that on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays you can only drive cars with registration numbers ending in an odd number and its evens for the remaining days! We saw dead animals and even people in the street. We were taken to Bar beach where the locals were selling carvings of the last executions that had taken place that week! We were very lucky to be staying with the MD of the road building company in is lovely house on Victoria Island with a gated community and armed guards (two guards who had the share uniform, unfortunately one was 6 foot the night guard about 5 all his cloths from shoes to shirt just hung off him).

Originally the route was to drive from Nigeria through Cameron, but as it took longer to cross the Sahara and the rainy season arriving early and roads would be washed out or closed,so it was decided to fly the cars to Kenya. One of our sponsors was Kuhne & Nagel a freight company and after several visits to their local office it was all arranged. Near bye the offices we found a local garage and I managed to service and check the cars through after the arduous road so far. The heat and humidly was stifling and their working condition horrendous compared to UK. 
We parted company with our first cameraman here as he went back to India.

We drove the cars to the airport and to cargo loading bay, here the other problem in Nigeria raised its head, bribery. The loading staff would not load the cars onto pallets as it was raining, eventually after ½ hour of arguments we pad the £80.00 and the cars were loaded, we boarded the same plane and flew to Nairobi.