81-year-old drives from Cape to London

Julia Albu (pictured) is no ordinary 81-year-old.

Last year she completed the daunting challenge of driving all the way from Cape Town to her daughter’s home in London … in a 21-year-old Toyota Conquest nogal.

She planned and took an eastern route through Africa in her beloved Tracy and had supportive sponsors and charities who joined the cause.

During her year-long journey, which began in June 2017, she dropped anchor in no less 11 African countries and a few more in Europe after crossing the Mediterranean Sea “I loved each and every country I visited.

I will forever cherish the memories of my trip,” said Albu.

“I would say the favourite experience and countries were Ethiopia and Sudan.” While driving, bottled water, dried fruit, biltong and biscuits kept her going. She says water from the Blue and White Nile where the best.

“I also carried some delicious chocolate biscuits for the children at some of the borders,” she recalls.

After reaching London safely, the car made the trip back with Albu’s friend Ged behind the wheel to see Tracy total almost 40 00km for the entire trip. Albu kept all her fuel slips, but hasn’t calculated the total cost yet.

While she is anticipating another epic journey, Albu got an unexpected surprise when Toyota SA presented her with a brand-new Yaris Sport.

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