Cairo to Cape 2010 Blog
29 October 2010 – Aqaba, Jordan
So here I am sitting at Beduoin Village just outside of Aqaba, Jordan. The last 20 months of putting together this expedition is about to mature to fruition.
I had the easy task - I flew from Nairobi to Jordan - and complained about the long layovers in Cairo and Amaan Airports... In reality I had it easy, unlike Steve, Kim, Jim, Stefan, Pete, Cath, Luke, Francis, Joseph and Edward who drove 6,200km from Nairobi to Jordan in a mere 3 weeks. Not quite the speed set by Mac Mackenny, Chris Rawlings and Steve Mackenny who drove from UK to Cape Town in 11 days, 14 hours and 11 seconds in their Land Rover Discovery to set a new World record! But 3 weeks is still pretty good timing!
 One of the many obstacles along the way |
 Local kids welcoming us |
The transit went pretty smoothly considering there were 9 vehicles - of course there were a few repairs to be done along the way but nothing too serious and nothing causing more than a few hours delay.
Heads turned as the expedition vehicles wizzed by ... not once, but 9 times! Merlin, the Defender seemed to attract most of the attention for some reason - maybe her size and relatively new silver paint job.
 Stopping for a drive break |
 Jim testing out Ethiopia |
The vehicles split into 2 groups from Khartoum, Sudan to head north. This was due to shipping the vehicles across Lake Nasser from Sudan to Egypt and partly due to having to some international paperwork replaced with one of the vehicles.
The first group, after experiencing long delays with the vehicle barge, arrived in Jordan on Thursday 21 October. The second group had a far smoother run with only having to wait the standard 3 days for the vehicle barge, arriving in Aqaba on Wednesday 27 October.
 Accommodation after a long drive |
 Vehicles waiting for the group |
Our transit drivers have mostly left Aqaba by the time I write this blog entry. Luke, Cath and Pete are travelling around Jordan for a few days before heading back to the UK and Australia respectively; Joseph, Francis and Edward are waiting for their flights back to Kenya in Cairo; and Stefan flew out this morning to make his way back to Nairobi. Jim, who drove his own vehicle from France to Aqaba is slowly repacking his vehicle before spending a few weeks to drive back to France. Kim and Steve are preparing the vehicles, sorting out paperwork, booking the ferry to Egypt and waiting for the first clients to arrive.
Many thanks to Jim and Kim for the photos
Accounts of this great adventure to follow...
Debs
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 Luke and Stefan experiencing threading |
 Vehicles leaving Sudan for Egypt |
