29 December 07:
Entertaining day...

29 December 07:
Yipee on the ferry to France no breakdowns it's been a joy! The rally starts now.
Entertaining day! Long drive from Caen to Biarritz. Car rough as a bag of spanners, tyre blew while passing a truck. Fun, fun all the way. Tired!

30 December 07:

Caffeine Break

In Spain 2nd day. Just through Madrid at 4:30pm local time. No luck with new tyre so runnin' the gauntlet on old one. Have paid 250 Euros in toll fees and as many toll booths to get here! We have cleaned windows. More l8r! - Later: Somewhere between Madrid and Cordoba. Still 4 hours of driving left today. Spain top to bottom in one day - not recommended!

The Car

02 January 08:
En route to Fez (???) with four in convoy. All OK aside from mad Moroccan taxi drivers... Update: Just finished mammoth drive to Fez through the Rif mountains. 220Kms in 8hrs most of it in clouds! Visibility is only 5m. Stopped by the Polis in Fez. Still alive!

35 minutes away!

03 January 08:

Snowing

Weather update

Wet and cold in Rif mountains. Martin's team (I thought they were together...) mad as a bag of squirrels in front.

Lost in Morroco

06 January 08:
Towrags, camels, sand and wrecked ships(?). Oh and no fuel!

Driving through the desert

07 January 08:
A quick repair - more tomorrow...

09 January 08:
Enroute to border in groups of 6. Hope to be in Mauritania by late afternoon if all goes well at the border. Just crossed the tropic of Cancer. Gorgeous day, 27 degrees, cloudless sky. Signal erratic and weak. No MMS messages (pictures) will send more when possible.

11 January 08:
No news for the last couple of days... so keep them in your thoughts!

13 January 08:
Just left Novak Chott having spent three mad days driving and camping in desert. Lost one car in the group and another crashed but it survived. It's really hard on the cars but great fun!. Had fuel pump and overheating problem with the BMW but with some improvisation we're now going well and we're both having a ball. Signal too weak to send pictures at the moment. More from Senegal later...

Hold up at the Senegal border. Martin and I (Hamish) have been refused entry and have to to to N. Chott (?) to get a special visa. F***ing Fantastic! Then we have to do the whole thing again tomorrow... More later.

15 January 08:
Have had a hellish two days since being refused entry into Senegal but we're now safe and sound in Banjul! We were held at the border in Mauritania for several hours before being taken back to Novak Chott next day. We were told it would be a three day wait to get a visa so we then tried to get a flight to Banjul (?). Lost all contact with Hamish and the others as the phone died and the numbers were stored in the phone. No phone, no visa, no cash and no French - absolute hell! Car and team Ok and enroute - more later!

20 January 08:
Both Hamish and Martin have now completed the rally and are now safe and sound (though where, I've no idea). Will post a final paragraph when I receive it covering the final miles, hopefully today.

21 January 08:
Martin's story: Having managed to get a flight out ouf Mauritania i got to Banjul in Gambia safe and sound! I had lost all contact with home and the group so there was some concern for my whereabouts and safety... Sorry guys. When i managed to track down a charger for a Sony Ericsson phone in a a worldof Nokia, i contacted Hamish and the group and Eleanor back home... El was so concerned and having phoned Hamish in Senegal decided to try finding me though the Honourary Consulate, and so i was declared a missing person! Uh Oh! THankfully all was OK and i learnd the guys were heading toward Gambia at a rather reduced rate of knots! What probably should have taken a few hours turned into an epic across what was described as the worst track in the world with pot holes the size of baths! Almost 12 hours and 150Kms later Hamish and team Hof turned up at 11:30pm minus our trusty BMW. She finally gave up the ghost as the roads where too much for her! Fortunately the organisers where making plans to collect the Old Dear to ready her for the auction. So while she didn't quite make the finish line she was still going to bring some help to those in The Gambia... She gave us a lot of pleaseure too driving through some of the most inhospitable counrty known to man. A fitting end for a great car!!! I flew back to SCotland after the parade around Banjul of all the cars that made the run. All under police escort! We met the Mayor who thanked us for our efforts and in turn he allowed all cars to drive through the Presidential Arch. An honour reserved for the priviliged few! It was a great trip and one i will never forget. Hamish is due back tomorrow so am sure he will want to add his last bits