Week six and the end of stage two for the Chartwell SA to Chartwell UK team
They have now covered 9 000km and the next part of the journey will be by boat.
Day 55 and the team of seven Land Rovers are all now in Djibouti arranging for a boat to transport them across the Red Sea to the Arabian coast, to Jedda, Saudi Arabia and the long haul through Arabia and Turkey.
The complete team and all seven Land Rovers are now in Djibouti, planning with MEC for a suitable boat to carry all the vehicles across the Red Sea to the Arabian mainland. There was a huge choice of boats and ships in the remarkably busy harbour. Getting a safe one with easy loading and off loading at the right price was the mission.
Once across it is then picking the long route through all the selected Arabic countries and on to Turkey. By rights, the terrain and conditions should be a lot easier than in Africa and going east into Europe.
“The Kenyan Wind Farm was the most spectacular site we experienced a total number of 365 massive turbines on the shores of Lake Turkana in northern Kenya. Crossing into Arabia we do not have much to say on where in Arabia the boat will take us as we must get to Jedda then Saudi.
And then the long trip up Arabia into Turkey and another tough trip to Istanbul,” said Alley Grunewald, one of the female drivers on the trip.
The team are all in good health other than the complaints of the huge cost of food and beer in French-influenced Djibouti.
”All seven vehicles have been checked and serviced and are still strong thanks to the team and their sponsor Autobarn with the onboard spares, tools, and equipment. Fragram Tools, Wynn’s, Philips Automotive Lighting, Sabat Batteries, and Castrol operations have supported us all the way up Africa and were great hosts. The team also had a few costly parties in Djibouti to celebrate the progress to date,” said Grunewald.
Going back to the spectacular Kenya Wild Farm at Lake Turkana where they were based and looked after by the management at the wild farm, while repairing and servicing their vehicles.
Kenya has built the largest wind farm in Africa, the Lake Turkana Wind Power consortium (LTWP), which aims to provide 300MW of low-cost electrical power. With a projected cost of US$800m, it would be the largest single private investment in Kenya’s history.
The sprawling wind farm of 365 turbines on the shores of Lake Turkana in northern Kenya was built and created to boost the nation’s electricity supply.
Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa, is a mostly French- and Arabic-speaking country of dry shrublands, volcanic formations, and Gulf of Aden beaches. It is home to one of the saltiest bodies of water in the world, the low-lying Lake Assal, in the Danakil Desert. The nomadic Afar people have settlements along Lake Abbe, a body of saltwater featuring chimney-like mineral formations.
Interested parties wanting to support this mission can contact info@c2cMissions.org or Alley Grunewald alley@lantic.net, mobile 083 628 5529 or Mark McClue on Mark.16boxes@gmail.com or mobile 081 262 9505, or Andre Marich on Andre@urupconnect.com or mobile 078 435 0634.
Source: Digger Marketing / Report and copy by Autobarn
