Going across the Sahara by camel can be a dry, dusty, time-consuming undertaking. Crossing the Moroccan Sahara in a buggy, however, is a wild idea. Even wilder if you contemplate making the buggy a kite buggy. Mad? Yes. Crazy? Yes. But it's happening and it doesn't take much of a sleuth to figure out that the most likely nationalities to dream up such a scheme would have to be Kiwis and Aussies.
TWO KIWIS AND TWO AUSSIES RACE ACROSS THE SAHARA DESERT BY KITE BUGGY ...
The idea is the brain-child of adventurer and vet, Geoff Wilson, who says that the wind powered odyssey, dubbed the Mad Way South, began as a personal challenge but quickly became competitive.
“There’s no way on earth you can put Ozzies and Kiwis together on a trip like this without it turning into a race” jokes Wilson. “It was inevitable"
The Australian and New Zealand teams travelled from the antipodes and met up in the UK and according to Adventure World Magazine:
"The convoy of three vehicles set off today from Portsmouth heading for the Sahara. When they reach Agadir in Northern Morocco, they will unload four specially adapted kite buggies and two Australians and two Kiwis will embark on a race across 2,500 km of the world’s harshest terrain."...
What was that?
(Yes, we read it again as well. Ahem, lads... try Southern Morocco. When we last checked, Agadir was in the same place it used to be...)
Hopefully they have the correct maps and with luck will set off from Southern Morocco through the Moroccan Sahara, Mauritania, and finally ending in Dakar, Senegal. Steve Gurney and Craig Hansen will represent New Zealand while the Aussie flag will be flown by Geof Wilson and Garth Freeman.
Hopefully they have the correct maps and with luck will set off from Southern Morocco through the Moroccan Sahara, Mauritania, and finally ending in Dakar, Senegal. Steve Gurney and Craig Hansen will represent New Zealand while the Aussie flag will be flown by Geof Wilson and Garth Freeman.
The race is set to start on August 3rd 2009. Mad Way South will also be a forum for road testing and demonstrating the effectiveness of survival and outdoor equipment. It will also focus on promoting eco-friendly, carbon neutral travel. The entire adventure will be filmed and an adventure series made by Jason Markland Productions in association with Lincoln Williams of Fotomedia.
The View from Fez has its money on the Kiwis... but think that the desert temperatures at this time of year might well defeat the lot of them.
Training in Queensland, Australia.
random factoid: These great machines can reach 70 mph.
More facts than fiction: Go visit the Mad Way South Blog.
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