The Who?

While planning this rally, we had a good read of the Adventurists website and reading material.

At that point (after we signed up I may add), we realized that our intrepid team  would be comprised of two drivers, no mechanics, no medics, no support crew and no real idea of the scale of the challenge we had just agreed to undertake.

In terms of the drivers, we have Michele and Elena.

Michele an IT consultant by day; but come twilight, his alter ego is revealed, and he becomes an adventurist, traveler and cook.  Breaking his leg in 5 places during a meeting with a lorry while on the Plymouth-Dakar challenge, he wrote a cooking book during his convalescence. The book made it to Amazon UK’s top 25 African Cooking books, and is heralded as the most comprehensive Gambian cookbook. It brings together the traditions, flavours and love of many families all over the smiling coast.

A year later, undeterred, he returned to the Sahara in the same car (with door replaced) and went even further by completing the Timbuktu Challenge in 2011. After three years in the city, he decided to sign up for the Mongol Rally because, in his words, “You need to go and live your life. Being alive is not enough. If you can do that, and do something for a good cause, then you are essentially morally bound to do so. Just don’t pretend to surf your car’s roof rack, with a coke-bottle as a replacement driver/cruise control while in the desert. That’s dangerous.”.

When asked whether driving through 10,000 miles unaided worried him, he brushed the question off and stated “We are not alone. While we may be only two in the car without an official support crew or plan, a large number of friends, family and organisations have come together to help prepare. Similarly, other Mongol Rally teams will be on the route. Leaving someone behind is a no-no and we will help, no matter how much they scream that they want to stay in the hospital in Somestan.

Elena is an avid rock climber, geologist and explorer. An MSA Rally Marshall, she’s not new to endurance events, having marshaled the White Hat Rally in 2014. That said, the Mongol Rally is her first endurance rally of such epic proportions. Talking about the rally, it’s obvious that Elena doesn’t get easily worried. In fact, when asked if she thought driving through the Gobi desert in a Micra was going to work, she replied “Bring on inevitable breakdowns and longing for gadgets and tarmac! Fingers crossed we will make it safely to the finish line!” – A true adventurist!