Three friends and seasoned travelers, Nathan Riggs, Lee Gordon, and Justin Ledden are participating in the “touring edition” of the Budapest to Bamako Rally, a two-week off-road sojourn in which anyone, by any means, navigates over land and the Mediterranean Sea from Budapest, Hungary to Bissau, Guinea Bissau in West Africa. The rally kicks off in Budapest on Saturday, January 14th, 2012. In addition to taking part in the charitable activities associated with the rally, such as donating funds and supplies to local schools in Senegal and Guinea Bissau, Voyages Verts has partnered with All for Africa, a charity based in New York which supports local charities throughout Africa.
On January 29, 2012, with a bit of luck, we plan to arrive in Guinea Bissau in good health with our vehicle, gear, and traveling spirits intact. Lee and Justin have a vague plan to continue on and arrive in South Africa in the summer of 2012, traveling along the way with an assorted group of friends, family and fellow adventurers. The route, the timing and the activities will be to a large extent shaped by events on the ground and our hope is to visit and volunteer with All for Africa’s beneficiaries along the way. We plan on documenting this experience by filming a series of short documentaries and updating this blog.
Our vehicle for the expedition is a 1996 Toyota Land Cruiser GS, which we purchased in England from Footloose 4×4, an outfitter that specializes in equipping vehicles for just such an occasion. It has a diesel engine which we plan to convert to run on vegetable oil. Essentially, we hope to weave our way along the paved roads, dirt roads and through the desert, bush, and whatever else we encounter in West, Central, and Southern Africa for thousands of kilometers on vegetable oil.
southofceuta 
Speechless! This is the type of occasion when the word “amazing” is used! Second thought, is envy! Haven’t read every single word of the blog yet…but will do so. Thanks for sending the post to me! Love it! You know how to live!! :-))