" we overtook moving competitors and we even went sideways on the odd occasion, not bad for an old Beetle!!"
- Fergus and Rachel Robley

Many thanks to you and your team for organising such a wonderful and challenging event.

Our story all started when I read a short article in an inflight magazine on an Air Kenya flight coming back from the coast in 2002. Having serviced for Ralliart in 96, Nissan in 97and the Rose brothers in 98&99 safari I've always wanted to give it a go. With entry fees included we worked out it would be possible to work on a very low budget of a million shillings to complete the event in a VW beetle.

In Sep 2002 we were given a shell and floor pan from Judith Hemsted, plus a log book. This gave us sufficient details to commit ourselves to an entry. However the incomplete car was still going to blow the budget! In December 2002 Vanessa Evans and Gorden Eccles of Rongai Workshop and Transport Ltd offered us a working 1500 Beetle for the grand sum of 10,000 KShs which made them the main sponsors.

At the beginning of 2003 I drove that car home to Ndabibi without any problems, but one day later the engine got a little hot and the valves seized in their guides and the car was stripped. The car was built using as many parts as possible sourced locally. The safety equipment, cylinderheads, Carb, Exhaust
and Gearbox were sourced from UK (all Kindly Paid for by my Uncle Peter. Chloride Exide donated a battery, Mike & Sarah Higgins donated a set of Tyres. Kijabe Ltd , Tony Monkhouse and Trevor Walker Paid for the fuel. After a lot of late nights the car was eventually able to be driven off the farm for the first time on Sunday the 7th of Dec 2003.

On Dec 8th when we got to Mtito Ande the front oil seal gave up which was caused by a leaking inlet manifold causing an overheating problem. I called my good friend Chris Angell at DT Dobbie Mombasa who ordered the necessary parts. When we arrived in Mombasa a bay in the DT Dobbie Workshop was reserved and the parts were waiting. My service team and I removed the engine, did the necessary, and by ten to two on the 9th we were ready for our scrutineering at two O'clock.

Day 1, We were defiantly wearing our "L" plates. I was still learning to drive the car in anger and Rachel (my wife) was learning to navigate! Disaster struck on the road after coming out at Marikani the gearbox selector broke. Stuck in 3rd we continued to Maungu hoping the service car would catch us up, but insight of the control we had to wait 10 mins before they arrived. Two jubilee clips and a few cable ties later we were on our way again. Just before coming into Taita Hills Lodge an enormous crack was heard and both rear suspension torsion bar tubes were cracked so we limped to the finish. This problem was solved by Francis Tuthill and his team. Quite a comical sight seeing a Beetle being welded next to all those Porsches.Rob & Richard Barbour lent us a selector bush for the gearbox (Car No 37) so we were ready to fight another day.

Day 2, Started with food poisoning for me and a burning smell on the first road section which was eventually traced to a build up of dust and grit below the fan belt!!! Very annoying as we lost about 15 mins on this. After the Wunydani(Taita Hills) section, the fan belt went on the road section, and the vital spanners 22 and 30 had been wrongly packed in our service car so again we were waiting for the service car. After that we had no problems and arrived at Mount Kenya Safari Club at about 9.30 with no mechanical problems.

Day 3 , Now we were getting confident the car was run in, Rachel's competitive spirit was now clicking in(she is not one who likes to hang around) and I'm being told to "Kick On"!! I should explain at this point that she represented Britain on many occasions in the Equestrian field of Three Day Eventing,winning five gold medals in a row and she was reserve for the Seoul Olympics in 1988. She also came second at Badmington horse trials in 1986.

In the long Mutura to Loruk section we started leaving the ground over jumps, we overtook moving competitors and we even went sideways on the odd occasion, not bad for an old Beetle!! We suffered bad "knock off" from the brakes which continued to haunt us for the rest of the event! When we got to Saos our problems started as there was a very nasty noise coming from the front end, on inspection the mounting bracket behind the beam axle was cracked like a segmented Orange. We then limped to the camp at Eldoret where the tank was removed and Steve Pickering (car No42) loaned us his MIG, however his poor generator struggled and therefore the repair could only be described as temporary.

Day 4, Starting the Cheptongei (Cherangni Hills) section with no brakes and then where the car had been flexing on the previous day the copper fuel pipe cracked and for the last 10km my feet were in a pool of petrol. The soles of my shoes were melting and became very slippery! We then wasted an hour and a half trying soap and chewing-gum to repair the pipe, then eventually we managed to get hold of some fuel pipe, so replaced it. Just before the Uganda (Busia) border crossing the Dynamo packed up .When we arrived at the last (Bujagali Falls) section we decided to cut and run as Kampala traffic at night with no lights would not be fun. The service at Kampala finished very late (3.30am) as the dynamo was rebuilt using bush craft and the front ball joints were replaced.

Day 5, A wonderful day with a bit of mud and some very fast sections. This was then ruined in the Kericho (Changoi) section when a very cruel piece of road broke the cars nose again, but we pressed on with the grating noise knowing we had a rest day to"glue" the car back together!

Day 6, with the help of Rob Collinge's generator and Steve Pickering's Mig the car was stuck back together and a working but old dynamo was fitted. The car was given its first and only bath, and for the first time, everyone got more than just a few hours sleep.

Day 7; the car felt much better, but it was not to last long. Half way through the Seyabei section, the car stops, it seemed we had run out of fuel which didn't make sense. Anyway help was close at hand as Ivan Smith was following us, in his roll that day as sweeper. He towed us to the end, but, with several hairpins on steep climbs his car over heated badly. We continue, to Bowhead (Delamere's), brunch long since finished! We were desperate to complete this section as we knew our kids had been brought by friends to watch us. Last to start but not to finish we then headed for Nairobi. Where another dynamo was fitted, the fuel filter was found to be rather blocked! Taking the service up to 2.30am.

Day 8, we had a blast through from Cnr.Baridi, but nearing the end of that section, knocking is heard from the engine; we have a look and decide to creep to the end of the section. Another Dynamo rebuild later, we head for Tanzania. Reaching Makuyuni early, having missed Ulu, which meant an hour wait. Thinking of the amount of work that had to be done on the car that night, we decided to head straight to Arusha and for everyone to get a good nights sleep.

Day 9, A great day for us, we made all the road sections in the time, something we had been struggling with! It was only the Dynamo that did not work. We decided to ignore that fact, and before we finished the Soni (last comp.) section even the Tera Trip had stopped working. We borrowed another battery, then carried on to Tanga. We knew the car was a bit broken again, but decided that spending hours welding (with a risk of malaria) was not practical. So after a normal service everyone made it to the Yacht Club for dinner.

Day 10, Driving to the start of the Pagan section, we realised we were more broken than we thought. After completing that section rather slowly, then checking in at Ngombeni, we headed straight to Tanga for some emergency welding, hoping it would get us through the Msembweni section, but with only ark welding, what ever they welded on, fell off before we even reached Horo Horo(the border)! So there was not much point in trying that last section in case we never came out the other end! We thought we needed enough car left to get over the ramp on the beach, which we certainly did, and unlike some other cars the Beetle did not struggle in the sand.

So as you said at prize giving, we finished against all odds!!
So or us we achieved our goal.

The camaraderie during the event was overwhelming, and should the event run again, we now know what breaks, how to get round it, who to help us and therefore it would be well worth the effort to take up the challenge again.

Thank you again and best regards

Fergus and Rachel Robley - CAR NO. 44