Banger 2 Banjul
One old car & two old buddies on a 4,600km adventure
The Plan
On 7th January we will depart Dublin in a nineteen-year-old, bruised but capable Nissan Note as part of the 2025 Dakar Challenge, the original banger rally that’s not a rally that passes through Dakar but finishes in Banjul, The Gambia!
Our self-supported three week, 4,600 kilometres journey will traverse Ireland, Spain, Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal and The Gambia.
On completion the car and contents will be donated to charity.
A once in a lifetime opportunity to experience a multitude of nationalities, cultures, cuisines, religions and races.
Team Three in the 2025 Dakar Challenge are long-time friends Kev & Mark. Having grown up less than half a mile apart but with a two-year age difference they have lead parallel but sometimes intersecting lives. Both attended the same schools and worked for the same employer in the UK and abroad, yet at different times and in different places. In recent years a series of reunions have brought them back in close contact. A weekend together at the very final Adventure Travel Film Festival in 2023 brought them to the beer assisted decision that driving from Dublin to The Gambia in a really cheap car would be a good idea!
Kev is a travel junkie. Retirement at a relatively young age has allowed him to indulge his passion. Overland from the UK to Vietnam, by motorcycle to Nordkapp in Norway and by truck as far south as Ushuaia at the tip of South America are just a few of his achievements. The Dakar Challenge will take him over the magic century of countries visited.
Mark is more of a mild addict. Notable adventures have included the classic West Coast road trip of the USA from San Francisco to Los Angeles then inland to Phoenix, Arizona to see Willie Nelson. Camel trekking the Wadi Rhum in Jordan and extended fasting & yoga retreats in Thailand. His real passion is old cars and taking freezing cold dips in the Irish Sea.
Gallery
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