Category: LONDON TO CAPE TOWN

Out of Egypt, into Saudi Arabia. relatively Hassle free this time. After pulling into the hotel last night we had another good buffet dinner and 2 hours sleep before we all made our way down to the Egyptain port at 11pm to start the departure customs process, not a very fun thing to do when you have had a massive day it’s 1am and still told to wait in your car in the middle of a filthy dirty and somewhat derelict port. While we were queueing up to drive up the ramp into the belly of the beast, we were pulled out of line (like a naughty school boy) and asked if we can wait untill the end so the captain of the ship can have a photo with our car at the front of the loading hull, “yeah rightio then,” we agreed. By the time we strapped our car in (to the australian made catamaran transport ferry) and gone upstairs, all the good chair spots with sleeping advantages where taken, oh well, the floor was destined.

I wouldn’t really know how long it actually took to cross the Red Sea but i think we left Egypt at about 3am and pulled into Saudi at 9ish. Then the customs started, all our cars lined up to the side, a bus trip here, a bus trip there, sniffer dogs here, customs officials there. I think after about 3 hours they all got bored of doing the proper thing and it seemed like they just let us go. It was midday and had 500k’s of plain out highway driving in yet another new country. We smashed that out with a average speed of 98km/hr.

I’m not really sure how to describe saudi, it’s a bit odd. We drove 500 k’s and didnt see much at all, except massive expanses of rocky desert and jagged mountains to the east. Every now and then though would be a stretch of carraigeway that looks almost manicured, with palm tree’s and paving on the side, and then a big roundabout with desert plants all over it and then, BAM, all of a sudden there is just nothingness again. With rubish littering the desert and cuaght in the few shrubs that are around. Although Saudi isnt as filthy as Egypt.

Driving style on the side of the sea…… more or less the same. Blatant disregard for road markings, direction, lights, pedestrians. Still good fun. My kind of driving 😛

There hasn’t been any time trails today and won’t be any tomorrow either, just ransit days to get south and then on our last ferry ride for the rally. Reason’s being; Saudi Government (or kingdom or whatever it is called) didn’t end up letting females drive any cars, and with 2 teams being girl/girl, they wouldnt be able to compete.

The fella’s in the crashed 240z from Greece have fixed their car and are currently are freighting it to our stop tomorrow to re-join the rally. They are troopers.

JAmes

I love driving in Egypt, they are developed enough to have road markings and lines, but backward enough that the drivers don’t really care. So that means i can drive how i like without any negative reproductions. Funny story: Pulled over to the side to look at map and a local came next to us and asked if we needed directions, we spoke a bit and decided to follow him 6 k’s down the road to our destination. Now remember they drive on the right side of the road. Down the road we go, T-intersection, he turns left, we follow, he stays FAR right on the hard shoulder, we follow, traffic coming towards us flashing lights (nothing out of the usual), we turn right on a dirt track and we realise the dirt track is a makeshift road that connects both sides of the dual carriageway!!! And for a kilometre, we drove on the wrong direction of a 4 lane highway to save some time! I burst out laughing and didn’t look back. Welcome to Egypt.

Today was tough. 3 stages in the full on desert. First stage we were trooping along very happily in the sand, driving through some beautiful canyons winding through some ‘sand creek’ things. Our massive ground clearance and slow speed torque was an advantage over some of the other cars. We were making our way through the sandy canyon and rounded a corner and just like the other day in the mud there was mayhem again. Bogged cars everywhere blocking our path. If there wasn’t any cars that were blocking our route we would have just plodded our way allllll the way through hassle-free. But, thats not how the cookie crumbles sometimes so we turned around and headed to the final stage of the day to make up the lost time from going the long way. Stil had a great day.

I think anyone could be a copper in Egypt. We were going along the dual carriageway and a cop car with two youngish guys in it flashed their lights and sirens behind us and i freaked out for an instant if i had done anything wrong, then they pulled up next to us and waved and thumbs up and everything happy and for the next 3km’s they showed us all of their different sirens and horns and all the cool things of a cop car (while doing 105km/hr).

Even in a beautiful hotel with marble floors and granite benchtops and classy waiters, you know your still in Africa when you turn the tap on and the water is still heaps dirty. Bottled water only from now on.

James