RTG Gazette - Third Ed - WEB - Flipbook - Page 6
The Southern Cross Safari was the first long distance endurance rally
run by Rally the Globe. The short, but sweet, Carrera Iberia, reviewed
elsewhere in the Gazette, got the wheels rolling quite nicely last
year but, this February, a brand new era dawned. Our increasingly
popular, not-for-profit, club changed up a gear and took the concept
of epic driving, fine dining, and friendly competition to the roads and
tracks of East Africa.
Dieter & Hilla Baumhackel
Fascinating scenery, terrific wildlife,
great camaraderie, excellent hotels and
lodges.
World-beating mechanics – able to weld
a broken wishbone roadside successfully.
We enjoyed every second of the rally
and look forward to the next rally with
Rally the Globe.
Rally Director Fred Gallagher knows East Africa well from his days as a professional
co-driver in the World Rally Championship Safari Rally. He competed ten times
between 1985 and 1999 for the Toyota, Lancia and Ford factory teams, winning on
no less than three occasions in 1985, 1986 and 1990.
He used both his local knowledge and regional contacts to put together an epic
route, with some unique access to the region’s amazing National Parks and private
estates given to the twenty three lucky crews who’d signed up for this amazing trip.
Indeed, one of these competitors, Rob Collinge, also a Kenyan resident and a rally
aficionado, was amazed that we had managed to get permission to bring the rally
cars into the game reserves so as to drive alongside the big five and all of the other
African wildlife commonly seen along the roads.
The game viewing and the landscapes were magnificent, but the weather was at
times apocalyptic, with heavy rain causing some serious reroutes and diversions in
the more remote areas where the tarmac was a little thin on the ground - and the
advance car of Paul Heal and Dick Appleton were kept very busy. But, every cloud
has a silver lining and the deep mud we sometimes encountered along the way gave
an entertaining and epic twist to the event.
The Rally started and finished in Kenya, within the splendid surroundings of
Hemingway’s, Watamu, right on the shore of the Indian Ocean and, over the following
three weeks it traced a route of 3,600km through nine National Parks including
Dennis and Jill Wilson (main picture)
It was tougher than we thought it
would be, but we absolutely loved it
and enjoyed every minute.
Rally the Globe couldn’t have been more
helpful. They were fun to be with and
everything was so well organised. We
had a fantastic time with them.
Review
February/March 2020