Safari Challenge Reports

September 5 - from Cape Town, South Africa - Journey's End

September 3 - from Knysna, South Africa - Lesotho and the Karoo

August 31 - from Drakensberg, South Africa - Kruger Park, Swaziland and Drakensberg

August 28 - from Maputo, Mozambique - Inhambane to Maputo

August 27 - from Flamingo Bay, Indian Ocean - Indigo Bay to Flamingo Bay

August 26 - from Bazaruto, Indian Ocean - A short flight to an island paradise

August 23 - from Gorongosa, Mozambique - A long day to Chitengo Safari Park

August 22 - from Blantyre, Malawi - Game drives, rally drives and a medal section

August 16 - from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania - Car collecting and pre start preparation

Cape Town Final: Safari Diary from Cape Town - September 5

We have arrived at Cape Town at last…after a visit to Franschhoek in the wine-district for our final gastronomic experience. The dinner saw the last batch of medals being presented, with Rudi and Helga again setting the best times on the two Medal Sections to clinch their hold on the Vintageant section in their 1932 Alvis, newbie Keith Ashworth in the Merc Fintail go into the Medals for best effort in the pre-1966 Category, and Jose and Maria de Sousa won medals for pushing their Volvo hard in the post-1966 Category.

Today was an easy run via the Cape of Good Hope, with the Atlantic rollers breaking over the rocky beach before a stunning drive and a final reminder of what glorious roads South Africa has to offer before arriving at the Table Bay Hotel.

The Classic Safari Challenge has been a memorable 4,700 miles. We have flown off to the Selous for a spot of animal watching on a day off, and taken another single-engined plane to land at Indigo Bay on a tropical island in the Indian Ocean… it’s not all been about hard driving. We have dined out well each evening in a variety of top-notch hotels. There are arguments over which hotel comes in second-best… Cathedral Peak wins the best-breakfast award, but there is universal agreement that Sandra’s grip of the street she owns in Craddock, and Clark’s wooden cabins in Barrydale, a small town (or is it a large village?) in the Karoo is where you need to go for a memorable of lunch.

Yesterday’s tests with their dramatic river crossings were the only occasions when crews had to use their wiper-blades on the entire trip… not that wiper blades were much good judging by the exuberance of some of the crews – several lady navigators complained of being totally drenched by the experience.

So much could be said in summing up the last 20 days… one thing everyone is in total agreement: It has been an adventure-drive that lived up to all expectations, with everyone having made several firm friendships.

This has been the fourth Classic Safari Challenge Martin and Sue Clark have mapped out since coming with this unique idea in 2003 when we drove from Cape Town to Hemingways at Malindi in Kenya, followed up by 2006 and 2008 editions. The fourth has surely gone down as the best of the series.

Syd Stelvio

The Classic Safari 2011 - Award Winners

	Vintage Category
1st	Rudi and Helga Friedrichs	Alvis Speed 20
2nd	Martin and Anne Egli	Lagonda M45 Tourer
3rd	Michael and Anne Wilkinson	Alvis 4.3
	Classic Category
1st =	Margo and George Coelho	Volvo 122S
1st =	Jose and Maria De Sousa	Volvo 142
3rd	Keith and Norah Ashworth	Mercedes 220 Fintail
4th	Manuel Enes and Alexandra Pombo	Volvo 164
	4x4 Category
1st	Roger Allen and Maggie Gray	Landrover Discovery

 

Final Overall Results at Cape Town - September 5th

Num	Crew	Car	O/A mins
	Vintage (pre-1941 type cars)
3	Rudi Friedrichs/Helga Friedrichs	Alvis Speed 20	2
4	Martin Egli/Anne Egli	Lagonda M45 Tourer	17
7	Michael Wilkinson/Anne Wilkinson	Alvis 4.3	29
8	Xavier del Marmol/Ines Bodmer	Chevrolet Convertible	378
2	Harry Hickling/Catherine Hickling	MG SA	480
12	Jorg Lemberg/Louis Lemberg	Lagonda Tourer TI	903
5	Daniel Schlatter/Rabia Schlatter	Bentley Open Tourer	1061
1	Peter Little/Susan Little	Bentley 3½ Tourer	2820
6	Daniel Schoch	Bentley Derby	Rtd
	Classic (pre-1966 type cars)
16	George Coelho/Margo O'Brien-Coelho	Volvo 122S	6
17	Keith Ashworth/Norah Ashworth	Mercedes 220 Fintail	33
21	David Roberts/Joanna Roberts	Triumph TR250	421
15	Andreas Pohl/Jacqueline Pohl	Bentley S2 DHC	916
19	Giancarlo Puddu/Agneta Rossi-Landi	Volvo PV544	1248
10	Gerhard Weissenbach/Anna Nun	Rover LR88	1664
18	Jan Van Gemert/Mario Van Gemert	Ford Mustang	1783
20	Geoff Dorey/Jennie Dorey	Alfa Romeo Sprint Veloce	Rtd
14	Martti Kiikka/Pirkko Kiikka	Mercedes 230 SL	Rtd
	Classic (post-1966 type cars)
22	Jose Romao de Sousa/Maria Romao de Sousa	Volvo 142S	6
25	Manuel Enes/Alexandra Pombo	Volvo 164	64
24	Joao Sardoeira/Joao Sardeira	Volvo 164	313
23	John Noble/Jean Noble	Mercedes 280 SL	770
	4x4 section
31	Roger Allen/Maggie Gray	Land Rover Discovery	18
29	John Horton/Ginny Horton	Toyota Landcruiser	26
30	Terry Ward/Janice Ward	Toyota Landcruiser	498
9	Jorge Ruiz/Elvis Fogal	Hire Car	618
11	Marie-Luise Lemberg/Petra Lemberg/Viktoria Lemberg	Land Rover Defender 110	822
28	Robert Kitchen/Gerard Brown	Land Rover Defender 110	1234