In order to avoid long waiting times at the
Moroccan border, most of the teams got off to an early start from the city of Dakhla. Others had to
visit a local mechanic before they were able to get on their way for the last 400 kilometers of Moroccan
controlled territory.
The first one to the “street of mechanics” was the
pace car of race, a VW Beetle 1600 driven by chief organizer, Andras G. Szabo.
“I got through the Djebel
Sarhro Mountains
and small rivers just fine, and then came a curb in Dakhla” – he commented on
why the oil filter needed to be changed. After the old German vehicle came the
Polski Fiat, and then the leaking cooler of Team Origo. They were so quick to
fix the Polski Fiat of The K-Team that one would think they have been fixing Fiat
Polskis their entire lives.
Fixing the leak:
It wasn’t until 11am that the last team left
Dakhla. Little did they know that they were driving right into a sandstorm. To
get around in such conditions is scary in itself, not to mention a situation
where you have to stop and fix your car. This is exactly what happened to some
of the teams. “It was ferocious. It felt like as if someone was sandpapering my
face” – Jorgov Cana of Sahara Express Team recalled.
Team Origo’s troubles weren’t over after their cooler was fixed in Dakhla. They
arrived at a gas station late in the afternoon, where they accidentally put 23 liters (6 gallons) of regular in
their diesel powered car. They had to suck all the gas out before they could
fill their tank with gas. We are not sure whether they reached the Moroccan
border before it closed down for the night.
Due to the border crossing, there were only
supposed to be two challenges on yesterday’s stage. Since some teams were
trying to get to the location of these tasks through the minefields, the race
judges decided to scratch both from the itinerary. “I find it hard to believe
that someone would risk their lives just to get 5 points on the Budapest-Bamako”
– one of the judges commented on the teams with death wishes.
At the Moroccan-Mauritanian border, teams got a taste of real Africa.
Besides the police and customs, everyone had to stand in line at an olive tree
while a friendly soldier was writing everyone’s data in a checkered booklet. For
some teams, it took more than 8 hours to finally get to Mauritania.
The racers were welcomed to Mauritania with
never before seen security measures. Armed soldiers and police officers were
watching the road leading to Mauritania
and about 100 troops were guarding the camp at night. As Mohameden Ould Islam,
an officer of the National Security Agency put it: “We’ll be up all night, so
you can get a quiet night’s sleep.”
Also attending the camp were Mohamed Deidy and Mustapha El Hassen, the governor
and the chief police commissioner of Nouadibhou. They told participants of the
Great African Run that their charity efforts were respected and thanked them
for visiting Mauritania.
“I can confirm that your security is our most important objective this week” –
the governor added. To improve the Hungarian-Mauritanian connections, the
border that was supposed close at 8pm remained open throughout the night.
The owner of the voice
Hitchhiking to Bamako
The roads in Africa are unbelievable. If you’ve seen the movie Intacto, then you probably remember how
they were running around on highways. Well, this is normal here, and these guys
aren’t doing it for the thrill.
We got a chance to see
a soccer game yesterday. You know, the Africa Cup of Nations is underway right
now, so here’s an exclusive for you from one of the games. :)
We got into a small
car in Marrakech, and this was a journey we won’t soon forget. The guy was
driving like crazy.
…
All of a sudden I hear
a beautiful voice, crooning in my ears. Adam was immediately in negotiations to
sell me as the future husband. I’ll definitely be back in 15 years :)
Due to the border crossing, there were only
supposed to be two challenges on yesterday’s stage. Since some teams were
trying to get to the location of these tasks through the minefields, the race
judges decided to scratch both from the itinerary. “I find it hard to believe
that someone would risk their lives just to get 5 points on the Budapest-Bamako”
– one of the judges commented on the teams with death wishes.
