GREAT AFRICAN RIFT VALLEY EXPEDITION LAND ROVER
Posted on
<
http://3d-car-shows.com/2012/great-african-rift-valley-expedition-land-rove
r-2/> January 20, 2012 by <
http://3d-car-shows.com/author/admin/> Gerald
Ferreira
Land Rover Dispatch 38 - Great African Rift Valley Expedition: Still on
Track and the Landies haven't missed a beat
We welcome in 2012 by preparing to set off on the 2nd Chapter of our world
first Land Rover supported geographic and humanitarian Great African Rift
Valley Expedition to complete the Rift from Djibouti on the Horn of Africa
to Gorongosa in Mozambique.
Behind us now is Chapter 1 with the colourful expedition send-off from the
Johannesburg International Motor Show, the shipping of the expedition Land
Rovers and kit around the dangerous Horn of Africa; The successful United
Against Malaria event at the Nelson Mandela College in Djibouti at which we
handed over a message from Andile Mandela (Madiba's grandson); Making it to
the Gulf of Tadjora on the Red Sea for the geographic start point of the
expedition, following Seven Summiter Mike Nixon as he mountain biked across
the salt flats of Lake Assal, lowest land point in Africa deep in the heart
of Afar Triangle where the dagger-carrying, gun toting Afar warriors once
had the unpleasant habit of lopping off the testicles of intruders like
ourselves. Behind us now are the mountainous Land Rover testing camel tracks
and the journey to the crocodile filled lake that forms the mouth of the
Awash River and the Afar smuggling route between Ethiopia and Djibouti.
We've reached 'Deset', the lowest island on earth and on foot through the
night with a camel to carry the drinking water and men armed with AK47's for
protection we made it to the rim of the lava spewing active volcano of Erta
Ale.
In the Landies we bounced and boulder hopped over solidified lava flows and
moonscapes and with tyres down to one bar, crossed the Danakil Desert, got
hopelessly lost, but eventually made it to the multi-hued sulphurous
wonderland of Dallol near the Eritrean border, in where we followed Mike
Nixon on his mountain bike as he battled a headwind across the glaring white
geyser spewing salt lake of the Danakil Depression, known as the hottest
place on earth. From below sea level we followed the ancient camel track
passing hundreds of camels loaded with tablets of trade salt bound for the
2000 metre high Rift Valley escarpment markets.
Dressed in beanies and jackets we zigzagged the overloaded expedition Land
Rovers through the hills of Maychew, and then we dashed through the lands of
the Nilotic Oromo people to the ancient walled city of Harar where we
watched in amazement as Abbas the Hyena Man feeds these carnivores pieces of
rotten camel meat from the end of a short stick held between his teeth. He
asked us to participate - Bloody scary!.
Thanks to the Zen of Travel, a great expedition team and wonderful support
from friends and sponsor partners, we've survived chapter one as we
crisscrossed across the sometimes dangerous Afar Triangle section of the
Great African Rift Valley from Djibouti on the Horn of Africa to Addis Ababa
the capital of Ethiopia.
Throughout the journey we continued to distribute life saving PermaNets to
pregnant mothers and mums with children under 5, LifeStraws for safe
drinking water and Rite to Sight spectacles to the poor sighted.
Chapter 1 - Mission accomplished. Ahead of us lies Chapter 2 - it's longer
and equally unpredictable and challenging: a Land Rover journey to connect
the fascinating Rift Valley lakes and nomadic tribes of Southern Ethiopia
all the way South to the inland Jade Sea of Turkana, considered the world's
largest desert lake. Still 9 chapters to go - we'll keep you posted.
Related posts:
<
http://3d-car-shows.com/2011/land-rover-great-african-rift-valley-expeditio
n/> LAND ROVER GREAT AFRICAN RIFT VALLEY EXPEDITION
<
http://3d-car-shows.com/2011/great-african-rift-valley-expedition-land-rove
r/> GREAT AFRICAN RIFT VALLEY EXPEDITION LAND ROVER
<
http://3d-car-shows.com/2011/land-rover-great-african-rift-valley-expeditio
n-3/> Land Rover GREAT AFRICAN RIFT VALLEY EXPEDITION
<
http://3d-car-shows.com/2011/land-rover-great-african-rift-valley-expeditio
n-2/> LAND ROVER GREAT AFRICAN RIFT VALLEY EXPEDITION
<
http://3d-car-shows.com/2007/5124/> Land Rover over the edge expedition
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Received on Fri Jan 20 2012 - 07:34:15 EST
