Our story begins in a little village on the border between Zimbabwe and Botswana. Unusually, James was the first to arrive, in his 1985 Mercedes 230E. Next up is Jeremy with a 1981 Lancia Beta Coupé. Finally, Richard turns up in an Opel Kadet made in 1963, which he immediately bonded with and named Oliver.To reach their destination on the Namibian border, the guys have to negotiate the vast openness and primordial sludge of the Makgadikgadi salt pans, the choking dust of the Kalahari Desert, not to mention the treacherous rivers and hungry wildlife of the Okavango Delta. Along the way, they encounter more or less every dangerous animal known to man, including hippos, elephants and the apparently testicle-crazed honey badger – as well as gas shortages, flying vice-presidents and the Stig’s African cousin. Incredibly, the cars survive everything Africa can throw at them, including being dismantled, crashed, drowned and shot. Of course, the hosts are well-motivated to keep their cars moving: anyone who breaks down irreparably will be forced to complete the journey in the spare car – an irritatingly unstoppable Volkswagen Beetle. Nevertheless, when Namibia comes into view some 1,000 miles and almost a week later, the scale of their achievement really dawns on them. Plus they have learned a valuable lesson: if you live in the leafy suburbs of Surrey or need to cross an African country, you don’t need a BMW X5 or supercharged Range Rover. All you need is a Beetle.
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