Preparations

Having received the news that we were in a group bound for Banjul leaving on the 29 December 2006 all panic broke out! To help calm our nerves we arranged to meet Paul and Rupert from Super Trooper for a drink. The evening was great fun and we learnt a lot, particularly the need for patience when crossing boarders. Shortly afterwards Rupert sent details of a Suzuki Samurai for sale in Bristol, so off we went for a quick mosey. On seeing the number plate we were sold, a deal was struck and XTCold joined the team. Considering the cost she is a brilliant little car surprisingly solid and runs well when she can be bothered to start. We just need a service, a tax, some fluffy dice, etc. and the three of us are ready to go...

Chris	Rupert, Russell & Jo
XTCold

Milton Fete - Update 29 June 2006 by Chris Fisher

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The most important thing is that we have begun our fund-raising. Steve Barlow, a colleague, started the ball rolling with a sale of plants raising £51. Whilst Steve was busy growing and selling his plants we have been agreeing the team logo and developing the flyer. These have been developed with the help of our backroom team, Phil the web wizard and Martin the graphics guru.

Last Saturday we took XTCold along to the Milton Fete. Milton Fete is a traditional celebration of village life complete with Morris Dancers and Pony rides. On our stall we had more plants to sell and a lollipop lucky dip, which the kids loved. The stall was managed by the rest of the back room team, Debbie and Tristan. By the end of the day we had raised a further £72 and many promises of help.

So what next? Well we are hopeful of doing more fetes and two different bands have offered to play charity gigs. There is of course the pledges which have started to come in. And we are hopefully of raising some corporate sponsorship. So with another £9,877 still to go I guess we had better start writing.

Thought that you might be interested in our latest adventure which saw us at the Clyst Hydon rave last weekend. We knew that it was going to be good when, on the Friday morning, XTCold refused to start and shouting made no difference. One frantic lunchtime later and still no luck so it was on to plan B which involved getting lost in Dorset and arriving late on the Friday night in Devon. We camped next to Gower Power, who appear to know something about carburettors on SJs, so providing we can do something about our map reading skills we may yet make it to the Gambia. We decided to calm our battered nerves with a visit to the local hostelry where a scary woman refused to feed us so it was back to the campsite with a take away for some camp songs. Unfortunately Russ only knows 'row row row your boat'........

Saturday saw Alex 'power skate boarding' until he fell off (one skateboard, 2.5 litres of diesel power). So battered and bruised we took him for a full English breakfast at the lively seaside resort of Sidmouth. Sidmouth is for the young in heart. Where other towns have cycle lanes, Sidmouth needs them for Zimmer frames. Still we weren't daunted it was off with the shoes and in to the sea for a paddle.

By the time we got back to the campsite things were really starting to heat up. Fortunately the weather was getting cooler so it kept us in balance. After a few beers Russ retired to his tent for a snooze, for the rest of the afternoon snatches of row row row could be heard coming from his tent. During the afternoon we made a number of friends from group 3. Then it was on to the evening entertainment, two excellent bands and several beers later we called it a night. Of course we didn't sleep, the rain and the cows saw to that.

A new coil and XTCold is like new, well we're getting a spark.

Pageant Webmaster's comment - Ibrakeforcake and IceCold teams were obviously at the same launch party. It is interesting to compare their descriptions of the event. see Ibrakeforcake description

Ice Cold's first vehicle, a 1989 Suzuki Samurai, came in striking camouflage livery. The journey to The Gambia goes through areas where it might be mistaken for a military vehicle, so a competition was held to design a new paint scheme. This competition is now closed, and the name of the winner will be announced soon.  The new paint job is a roaring success. Whether this makes it less likely to be shot at is another matter.

The Plymouth-Banjul Challenge rules normally insist on vehicles being left hand drive. However, exceptions are made for certain types of vehicle, such as ambulances. Ice Cold took advantage of this, and has bought one. It is a Ford Transit with a 2.8 litre petrol engine. Alex reports: "Ambulance running well and sat on my drive, no serious knocks or rattles and made the journey from Caerphilly without a hitch. In summary: Clutch good, Brakes need bleeding, Handbrake needs adjusting Steering ok, Lights ok but indicator needs fixing, Engine Cooling system ok. Engine sounds fine and ticks over nicely. Excellent twin battery arrangement. No apparent oil / fluid leaks. Good internal lights. Internal heating good. Oxygen system and shaver point. No whines or knocks. Exhaust new. Enough space to have a dinner party. Tyres not great. Interior and exterior good. Clock slow. No radio. Plenty of power but not much ground clearance. No serious apparent rot. Manual ner naa ner naa noise." More details when we have them. See also the vehicles section of the Ice Cold website.

Sorry that it is so long since the last update, summer just got in the way! But we haven't forgotten to carry on fundraising and as you will have seen we also have a Welsh awbulance. In July Jo and I went to meet Omar which was great fun, a real learning experience. On the way home Jo casually dropped a bombshell by announcing that she was about to move to Warrington! Not wanting to let an opportunity like this pass we arranged some fund raising events on Jo's final day. This coincided with Russ's car design competition and so following a large amount of bribery during the day the final design was a pink jeep with flowers down the side..... Thanks have to go to all of Nirex's staff as between them they raised over £300 - WOW.

Our next planned outing was to the Abingdon 4x4 Festival on the 23 September. Alex & I decided that we'd use our finely honed painting skills and paint the XTCold pink. Unfortunately they don't sell cheap pink paint, so we made some. It came out very ucky and has gone on with a rather tasteful pebble dashed effect - I can see the orders rolling in now as we set a new trend across the UK- we've even questioned whether we should give up our day jobs.

The 4x4 festival was great fun. Several people paid to sign the car. There are a range of different messages and designs, some of them are even publishable. Several of the stall holders made generous donations including the Thames Valley 4x4 Club (http://www.tv4x4.co.uk/) who very generously donate a complete set of off road tyres for the Suzuki and also donated was a set of nets to hold down luggage. At the end of the event XTCold was looking cool and ready to go, well as cool as pink jeep with flowers can!

The Awbulance now has an MOT and I am suggesting to Alex that it might look good in pink, I think we have got some paint left.... Our next event is at the end of October, when Nirex are hosting a joint fund raising day for Breast Cancer Awareness, Pageant and Health the Gambia. Tristan is also trying to arrange for us to go to one of his school assemblies to talk to the kids - how scary is that?

On Monday 11 December I was invited to take XTCold to Ringwood School as part of the fundraising efforts for Pageant. this was the longest run that I had done in XTCold, she went beautifully. I even got her up to 70mph on one windy down hill section - flying! Curiously she has an alarm when you reach this speed, I can't imaging why as she is shaking and whining so much there is absolutely no doubt that you are approaching 70mph. When I eventually found the school, my map reading has still not improved - it is going to be down to Russell to make sure that we get to the Gambia. All the pupils were very impressed and the car is now covered in graffiti - she really looks the part. There are further pictures from Ringwood on this news page.

Saturday saw Russell and me spending Russell's money on XTCold, she is now resplendent in big off-road tyres, air horns and a number of spotlights. So that is it, one week to go and scarily we are almost ready....

Pageant is indebted to the IceCold webmaster, Phil Purnell, who transformed communications from the team into postings on the IceCold blog, and allowed us to steal them. Initially blog postings were copied verbatim, and we then edited them down a bit after the moment had passed. There is a link after each update to the original blog posting, which will allow you to read Phil's timeless prose in its unabridged form.

IceCold in France - update 29 December

We have no reports about IceCold's departure, but the first field report showed that they had reached Perpignan, [map] after a very rough ferry crossing. (see also IceCold blog)

Both IceCold teams limped into Bayonne [map] on Friday 29th, and made some running repairs. The ambulance suffered a cracked exhaust, which was expertly fixed by Alex in the traditional manner (i.e., with a baked bean tin). There were rumours of a recurrence of the slight water problem for the jeep. It was a sterling effort by the teams to get through France in a single day, reaching the hostel in Bayonne at about 9pm after a marathon 14hr odyssey after leaving the ferry. (see original on IceCold blog)

Gibraltar (or thereabouts) - update 31 December

The teams reached the hotel just outside Gibraltar [map] around 1100 UK time. No more jeep crises but it seems the ambulance is having a few new problems, with something in the drive-train and an interesting range of fluid leaks rearing their heads. While waiting for it to cool down prior to inspection, our intrepid explorers wandered into Gibraltar itself and duly sourced a roast lamb Sunday slap-up nosh and a couple of cold ones, so at least the essentials were attended to. (see original on IceCold blog)

Arrived at Tangiers - update 1 January by Phil

As soon as the convoy rolled off the ferry in Tangier on New Year's Day, the local Customs decided that the ambulance wasn't a tourist vehicle and needed an import permit. The documentation was eventually obtained and also a statement from the British Embassy saying they would sort out the bill if the ambulance failed to make it out of Morocco. The ambulance was released on 3 January, but the team also took the opportunity to look for a new universal joint (UJ), which took them another day. They finally left Tangier on 3 January, taking the UJ with them to fit later. The team were around a day and a half behind schedule, and needed to make up that time to reach Marrakech and rendezvous with other teams for the desert crossing. (see original on IceCold blog)

The team rolled into Rabat [map] on 3 January - one day behind schedule. They didn't bother to fix the UJ, as Alex discovered a reasonable speed at which the van didn't vibrate. They were (at that time) confident of reaching Marrakech on 4 January in time to be grouped. (see original on IceCold blog)

Crisis in Khenifra - further update 4 January by Phil

At a town called Khenifra, [map] about 350 km (about 220 miles) from Marrakech, the ambulance was having drive-train problems, probably as a result of the failing UJ. Local mechanics were confident that they could effect repairs. Also despite the delays quite a few PBC teams were behind them, so there was now urgency to reach Marrakech on schedule. As an adjunct to the customs saga, it turns out that the ambulance is now adorned with an official Moroccan Royal Seal keeping the doors shut, which has become an object of some admiration among the other PBC teams.

By 1300h the ambulance was on the road again, "Quiet and no fumes, cost 70€ and some cigarettes".  (see original on IceCold blog)

At Marrakech - updates 5 January by Phil

The teams arrived in Marrakech [map] around 2000h on 4 January. They decided to take the day off (5 January) to recuperate. The ambulance had an oil and filter change but was still making knocking noises. These were diagnosed by the Gower Power team as dying gearbox main bearings, which would rapidly become terminal. Meanwhile the jeep was running fine. Attempts were made to source a new gearbox without success, so they decided to keep going come what may. IceCold had formed a loose convoy with Rene's Kitchen Girls, Gower Power and one of the BMW teams (Teamcannonball?) so they weren't alone. (see original on IceCold blog)

The teams arrived in Marrakech on 5 January, and the following morning took the ambulance to the local engine doctor, who said it wasn't the gearbox, but the noise was due to using the wrong type of fuel (leaded in an unleaded engine), causing it to knock. It's a monster engine (2.9L V6) so it's possible that knocking could be confused with gearbox noise. The fuel was drained and replaced, but then the fuel pump failed. Work to replace this was underway when this message was sent. (see original on IceCold blog)

 Get your motor running...
...but not get on the highway just yet. The fuel pump was, as usual, just the first thing in a long line of disasters that once again led to non-departure. There was also a language problem, so the Moroccan mechanic and Alex could not communicate. They are still unsure what the problem was and how it was fixed, but after eight hours of hard work by Ishmael, Omar and Mohammed, the ambulance was running again. The team decided to spend another night in Marrakech, leaving the next morning at around 0530 heading for Dakhla via the mountains. (see original on IceCold blog)

Laayoune looming - update 7 January by Phil

Today the ambulance purred it's way through North West Africa with nary a hiccup, and they were now back on track. They left Marrakech at 0530 this morning and drove steadily to reach the Tizi n'Test pass around 0920, Agadir [map] at 1300 and were about 500km N of Laayoune at 1600. They planned to drive till they dropped and start early next morning. (see original on IceCold blog)

Tan Tan, so good they named it twice - update 8 January by Phil

The team pulled into Tan Tan [map] on 7 January in time to catch the end of Deportivo la Corunia vs. Real Madrid on the telly which puts them 850km (530 miles) from Dakhla, target for 8 January. This splendid achievement put our intrepid explorers pretty much back on the timetable. (see original on IceCold blog)

Leaving Laayoune, Driving for Dakhla - update 2, 8 January by Phil

Laayoune [map] was reached at about 1040h after an early morning drive through the fog, with 500km to go to Dakhla. (see original on IceCold blog)

They arrived at the campsite in Dakhla [map] just after 1700h, earlier than predicted. The only minor hiccup being the gear stick coming off in Joe's hand forcing a quick roadside repair. The ambulance was welcomed warmly by the other teams, most of whom were convinced that the Moroccan Customs Pound was the closest it was ever going to get to the Gambia. These teams had decided not to move on next day, and as IceCold had just driven 931 miles in two 14 hour stints, it was decided form a convoy and move off from Dakhla on 10 January, which gave IceCold the chance of some well earned R&R. (see original on IceCold blog)

Deserted in Dakhla - update 9 January by Phil

It was now discovered that the ambulance's brakes had failed, so instead of R&R IceCold were reduced to scouring the stalls of an African autojumble for bits. Fortunately, these were a little easier to source than the parts which went wrong last time. They were up and running again by the afternoon, but without servo assistance, so braking required calf-straining vigour. In the meantime the other teams had changed their minds and set off for the Mauritanian border. (see original on IceCold blog)

Is this the way to Nou-a-dhi-bou - update 10 January by Phil

IceCold caught up with some of the other teams and formed a convoy of four vehicles on the dusty trail to Nouadhibou, with a few hours from there to the Western Sahara/Mauritania border.
(see original on IceCold blog)

Hello Mauritania - update 11 January by Phil

The convoy reached the border around midday on 10 January, were processed by Moroccan customs (who currently police the border) just after 1400. They traversed the heavily mined 7km (4 mile) no-man's land and presented their credentials at the trio of huts that constitutes the Mauritanian side of the border and were through. A guide was swiftly procured (a condition for passage of PBC teams is to use a local guide in the desert), then it was on to the campsite at Nouadhibou. [map] By then it had started raining after many days of unbroken sunshine - crossing the Sahara in the rain has a certain cachet, don't you think? The convoy decide to take an extra day to cross the desert, planning to arrive at Zebrabar campsite in Senegal on the 14th January. (see original on IceCold blog)

After a very nice Chinese meal, it was finally off into the desert. Thanks were due to Freya and Co, met at the Sahara Regency Hotel in Dakhla  [map], who organised mechanics for five poorly vehicles in the convoy, found the restaurant etc. The guide for the convoy was called David (Arabic Da'ud or Dawud).
(see original on IceCold blog)

And ye, that on the sands with printless foot...* - update 14 January by Phil
*The Tempest a5 s1 1.33.

A convoy of seven vehicles entered the desert; the IceCold pair, a Renault R19(Camel Tow), a Peugeot 405 (Def.Intrepid), a Beetle (Getcha Motor Running) a Fiat Uno (Engineered to Destruction) and a Fiat Croma (2Porsche2Push), ably guided by local lad Dahia. They were already experiencing unfamiliar conditions - rain, wind and cloud cover are not normal - and things proceeded to get steadily worse, with the wind whipping up the dunes into a sandstorm.  With visibility severely reduced and airborne sand getting into the works, the first casualty of day one was the 405. Repairs being out of the question, the 405 was abandoned and its occupants distributed amongst the remaining vehicles. The campsite was reached that evening. A Bedouin style tent was erected, which fell over in the night, forcing everyone to move into the vehicles.

The value of the ambulance moved from invaluable to priceless in one fell swoop on Saturday 13 January, when the conditions defeated the Renault. The convoy now had to distribute 14 people amongst the four remaining (already heavily laden) vehicles.  Unfortunately all the medical hardware collected by Alex for the Gambian hospitals had to be jettisoned to make room. Dahia, the guide, promised to return to salvage it and pass it on to the equally needy local medical facilities. The ambulance coped well with the desert conditions and the Suzuki Jeep continued to perform faultlessly. The convoy pulled into the campsite cum hostel in Nouakchott [map] late in the afternoon to recover their strength for the push to Senegal on Sunday. The next section was reputed to have the worst 'roads' of the whole trip, and given worrying reports that the Transit and Ambulance sections of the meatwagon were slowly parting company, this was not good news. (see original on IceCold blog)

It was decided that the whole convoy should leave for Zebrabar [map] campsite early on Sunday morning. They anticipated that the Mauritania exit/Senegal entry border crossing would be the worst of them all. After a difficult journey, serious border problems were confirmed, and it was 11 at night before all of the vehicles were through the border area. It was then about 55km to the campsite.
(see original on IceCold blog)

Zebrabar R&R - another update 15 January by Phil

They reached the campsite at 1:30am on Monday morning (15 January). They spent much of the day relaxing on the beach. The plan was to set off on Tuesday in one big convoy, and a 'customs escort' was procured to see them across Senegal to the Gambian border. (see original on IceCold blog)

Sayonara Senegal - update 16 January by Phil

A convoy of 28 vehicles left Zebrabar about 11 on Tuesday morning (16 January), with about 300 miles to the Gambian border, so they hoped to be there by 6 in the evening. (see original on IceCold blog)

Gruelling Banjuls - update 17 January by Phil

The convoy reached the Gambian border around midnight after a nightmare crawl along Senegalese roads which have 'potholes the size of... England'. Everyone sailed through Gambian customs, nice chaps who even took the trouble to say 'Welcome to Gambia', unlike every other border guard they've encountered. They were furnished with escorts by 'Uncle Sam Security', sent as guides by the hotel, who took them to a secure compound, where they spent the night in their vehicles waiting for the ferry to open. In the morning the IceCold teams were first up, and thus first of the PBC-ers in the ferry queue. Many Gambians got up even earlier, so there was still a long wait, since the ferry only takes 6 vehicles at a time. The Safari Garden Hotel is about a mile the other side of the river. (see original on IceCold blog)

Chris and Alex went to Bakalarr school before crossing the river to say hello. (see Chris Fisher's report below) Against just about every mechanical and bureaucratic setback possible, the ambulance and the jeep made it to the Safari Garden Hotel in Banjul and arrived absolutely bang on target. The total mileage on the ambulance was 4116 miles from the start in the NIREX car-park. (see original on IceCold blog)

After his return, Chris writes:

I have now been home a few days and am starting to get my life back into some sort of order. As you will have seen from the website the trip was not without its difficulties but overall a great and enjoyable experience - I would do it all again tomorrow.

There were parades through the ceremonial arch in Banjul, and other celebrations. The ambulance was prepared for delivery next day, and other vehicles readied for the first of the auctions also planned for Tueasday. (see original on IceCold blog)

In all the Ice Cold teams raised around £9000 in sponsorship, split between Pageant and Health The Gambia. £2125.78 has already gone to Bakalarr School. A further £2677.41 has been received and Pippa will take this to the school during her forthcoming October visit. This brings the total raised for Pageant to £4803.19. As noted above, the ambulance was donated direct to a clinic. The Suzuki Samurai Jeep sold for 76,000 Dalasis (about £1,363) in a charity auction at the Safari Garden Hotel. Clearly the pink livery had an effect on someone. This takes the grand total raised well over the £10k target.
(see posting on IceCold blog)

The Plymouth-Banjul Challenge started in 2003 as an ironic tribute to the Paris-Dakar Rally. Instead of highly expensive cars driven by world class rally drivers, with large back-up teams, this challenge consists of small teams on strictly limited budgets, and at the end of the challenge, the cars are auctioned for the benefit of local good causes. For further information, and news of other teams, see our 2007 Challenge Page.

The links below give access to Team Pages on the Plymouth-Banjul website, any Field Reports they might send back by text message during their journey and their own websites. If you are using the Plymouth-Banjul website, be aware that there is another team called 'Ice Cold in Banjul' (T7341). 'Our' team is T7315.

The IceCold website progress section shows a list of waypoints on the route, with links to Google maps and other information about the places. You can also see lots of pictures taken during the 2006 Challenge on our Shap Ahoy pages.