London-Cape Town – eleven and half comfortable hours, flying high above the clouds, across the Sahara, over the tropical jungles and landing safe and sound in a beautiful seaside city. Sounds great doesn’t it?
Well what if you do not fancy that level of comfort? With meals and beverages served to your at your seat? What if, instead of 11.5 hours in a plane you want to try and break the World Record for completing the journey… by car?
WHAT?! That sounds preposterous?! How would it be done?! Well, there are a few minor geographical difficulties put in the way for a start – namely the English Channel and the Mediterranean Sea… So it won’t be completely by road – but only 40 miles of the 10,000 mile journey won’t be, so it doesn’t really matter.
Next, you’ll have to select your vehicle – a nice new Land Rover Defender? A Paris-Dakar style Bowler Wildcat? A Hummer? Nope, it’s a 1999 Land Rover Discovery (although some modifications have been made obviously).
So what countries will the journey take you through? Well starting in the UK, there’s a short hop to France, followed by a scenic drive through Spain. Then a short ferry to Morocco to begin the African adventure. After Morocco it is the disputed territory of Western Sahara, then down into the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. A flying visit to Senegal comes next followed by a trip across the bottom of Mali. After traversing Burkina Faso, there is a short trip across Benin before reaching Nigeria. After Nigeria it is Cameroon, and then Gabon – skirting around but not visiting Equatorial Guinea. The Republic of Congo is followed by a dash across the narrowest part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and then you are nearly in the home straight! A long winding road through Angola is followed by another long leg through Namibia, before reaching South Africa – the very bottom end of Africa. The trip culminates in Cape Town, a beautiful city on the cusp of both the Atlantic and Indian oceans.
So what is the point? Why would anyone put themselves through this? Well besides being an absolutely brilliant adventure, the two men (George Coleman and Paul Hanson) are hoping to raise funds for two charities! Both The British Red Cross, who do immeasurable good work across the African continent, and the Protrack Rhino Task Team – the biggest and oldest anti-poaching unit in South Africa protecting the majestic wildlife therein – will benefit greatly from the trip.
Please visit the sponsor pages here and give to these charities if you are able:
British Red Cross https://www.justgiving.com/londoncapetownworldrecord/
Protrack anti poaching unit https://www.gofundme.com/londoncapetown More details of the journey can be found on their Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/londontocapetownworldrecord
Make sure to check it out and keep an eye out for future adventures from George and Paul!
A1 Clutches is very proud to have sponsored this World Record attempt and are in awe at the achievement at hand. The journey will exert incredible stresses on the vehicle and the drivers, showing what British engineering and the British spirit is capable of is another facet to this epic journey.