"The most important thing is to begin. 'A journey of a thousand miles starts from beneath one's feet.' But, remember, setting out does not by itself guarantee success. There is beginning, but there is also persevering, that is, beginning again and again and again."
If You See The Buddha On The Road, Kill Him. Sheldon Kopp
I had heard about a rally from England to Senegal from my friends Chris, Jess, and Manu. We had met in 2012 on the Mongol Rally while we were all lost in Russia, searching for the Kazakhstan border. My parents and I were driving a 2003 Vauxhall Corsa, and our new friends were crammed into an old Fiat Panda. Small, unsuitable cars were the objective of the Mongol Rally, as was raising money for charity in Mongolia. However, the true goal was to get as lost as possible, and have a lot of fun on the way. Back to this year, Chris wrote and asked if I would be interested in joining the Odyssey to Dakar rally, and then carrying on from Dakar to South Africa. I jumped at the chance, but needed a teammate. TJ was a natural choice. A good friend from work in Fort Collins, and had previously mentioned that he would be interested in such a trip if the possibility ever presented itself. I sent him a message with an estimated cost of around $10,000 each, to which he replied, "I'll get back to you", which he did in a few days, with a reply of "Yes!!".
We met in January for breakfast to go over what we needed to do. I was working as a trip leader with Carpe Diem Education and would be taking a group of students to Central America for 3 months, so we needed to get the ball rolling before I left in February. Our Swiss friends, Chris and Jess, had said they would keep an eye out for a suitable car. In just a few days, they responded saying they had found a potential. Being Fiat Panda enthusiasts, it was no surprise that it was an all black 2000 4x4 Panda. A Panda mechanic was selling it, and it had just had its rear suspension replaced, along with its clutch. It was a bit more expensive that we were hoping for, but at $2800.00, with a new clutch, and four wheel drive, Chris said it was a good deal. We spoke over breakfast and decided that this was the car. Chris bought it in 2 days time. As an added bonus, Chris suggested that he might be interested in purchasing the car after our trip is over, which would save us having to sell it. We finally had a car! Things seemed much more real.
This is big enough for a trip across Africa right?
A new radio with an aux cord was installed. We will have music!
The roof rack looks great Chris! Thank you!
Over my three months in Central America, I really did not do much preparations. TJ was busy getting a new passport, vaccinations, new debit cards, and a host of other things. Upon my return to the states, we all began a bit more detailed look into what this type of trip would entail. We looked in the Carnet de Passage, which is a deposit paid on the car that will be transferred to any country we might happen to leave the car in. It serves to insure that a foreign government will not incur the cost of scrapping our car should it break down and we leave it. This is the biggest expense, $3300.00, however, if we get the car back to Switzerland, we get $3000.00 back. We are applying for this expensive, but needed piece of paper, once Chris and Jess get the car registered, which should be in early June. Apart from that, we have been researching potential routes, and where the best place to apply for visas will be. It looks like Ghana, Nigeria, DRC, and Angola will be the challenging visas to obtain, but with the help of some very detailed websites from travelers who have come before, we believe we have a plan.
(Central America was amazing as always, but now its time to turn our sights towards west Africa.)
In the month before we go (we are flying on July 9th to Zurich), we are preparing our tents, picking up odds and ends, new sleeping bags and sleeping mats, water filters, copying documents and deciding what bags to bring. Chris, Jess, and Manu, have been preparing their cars, as well as ours, building a roof rack, sourcing a spare tire and rim, ripping out the backseat of their blue Panda to give more packing space, and doing all the registration paperwork. Thank you my friends. We have also bought our ferry tickets! It is cheaper to take a 48 hour ferry across the Mediterranean from Genoa to Tangiers than it is to drive on European toll roads. That should be a great way to begin the trip, and unload in Morocco. 
Just a little over a month to go and we will be underway!
