Like most hair brained ideas, project 'Kent2CapeTown.com' was conceived in the pub, in this case a bar at Heathrow Airport. From its start the concept has involved travelling overland from England to South Africa. 'What are your plans now that you are a graduate?' asked my parents not knowing of the anguish and grief this question would cause me. The end was in sight, I would have to don a suit on a daily basis and start reading the Financial Times. 'I plan to cross Africa on the back of a Camel' I responded. True, this expedition aims partly to postpone the inevitable call to a respectable, parent-pleasing career.

The project has, however, become far more than an avoidance of responsibility. It has become quite the opposite. The snowball that is Kent2CapeTown.com has been rolling at an ever-quickening rate and is gathering momentum as it goes. Immediately Demelza House Children's Hospice was identified as a cause we would like to raise money for. Next we decided to incorporate a way of helping needy children abroad as well as in England, we identified three African hospices and look forward to spending a month with each. Thankfully someone pointed out that Land Rover Defenders would be more suitable than camels and the date of departure was set for 1st August 2001. We aim to arrive in Cape Town by Late March 2002.

Now, six months on and our motley crew are sitting in a tiny Kentish cottage surrounded by maps, computers, directories of grant making trusts and piles of Land Rover mechanics guides. The phone never stops ringing and mail pours through our door. We have adopted a professional edge, a classy website, impressive brochures and a Royal Patron. We have recently taken on a camerawoman as our final team member and various production companies have expressed interest in buying the rights to a documentary. It would be fair to say that we have succeeded in the second hardest phase of pulling off a successful expedition; we have got ourselves some status.

The next six months have lots in store. Due to a lack of time we all have to get by with part time jobs and so are experiencing the stereotypical student poverty that we missed out on as students. Perhaps this is good training for life on the road where our daily food budget is £5.00 for each vehicle. We have to research and obtain everything from sand ladders, winches and long-range fuel tanks to insurance and medical training. We need to get two of the team members up to a mechanical standard where they can strip a Land Rover down to its main components and then make it work again. Once this has been done they will start the unenviable task of preparing them for an 11,000 mile journey through desert, mud and wasteland, over mountain ranges and through river valleys. They are in charge of everything from building storage units in the back to dust proofing the floors and incorporating hidden safes.

We are due to set off from Kent amid what promises to be a large crowd of well wishers, family, friends, patrons and the media. We head through France, Italy and Greece before arriving in the Turkish city of Istanbul. This city, formerly Constantinople, has traditionaly been regarded as a watershed dividing the East from the West. From here the honeymoon period ends and the expedition proper begins. Driving over baking dusty roads we head through the Middle East and on to Egypt and Sudan...Yes, Sudan. The foreign office assures us that the relevant boarders are open. Whether or not they are entirely safe is another matter. The worst of the trouble is in the South and, provided we give this a wide berth, we should arrive in Ethiopia in one piece. Besides, this is currently the only feasible passage from Africa's tip to its toe; there's no way round. It seems pointless to continue with a detailed description of the route; lets at least wait until we've bought the Land Rovers. One thing is for sure, Africa's political climate is just as challenging as its physical one.

'What's the hardest phase then?' I hear you ask. At this we shudder and our goal of raising £100,000 lurches to mind. People are, after all, in the business of making money and not of giving it away. The greater part of the fund raising effort is still to come; let's hope it doesn't drive us all to drink!

Jonathan Besley - Project Leader

About this site | Feed Back | Privacy Policy | Help?