Norman, Stefan and Thomas met while studying in Dresden. Now, as the “Gatwick Taxi” team, they are taking part in the 21st “Dresden - Dakar - Banjul” rally in November this year.
What is the “Dresden-Dakar-Banjul” rally?
The “Dresden-Dakar-Banjul Challenge” is a charity rally that starts in Dresden and ends in Gambia’s capital Banjul. Once they reach their destination, the vehicles are auctioned off for a charitable purpose and the journey home begins by flight. On the over 7000km long journey you travel through at least seven countries. A large part of the route leads through the African desert. The event is organized by the association “Breitengrad eV”. The proceeds go to various Gambian aid organizations, as well as needy schools, hospitals and other aid projects.
How did you become aware of it?
One of our members, Thomas, lives in the immediate vicinity of the organizers. After a bit of research, we really liked the rally. Because of the non-profit nature, the focus here is primarily on fun and the challenge of doing it with a minimal budget. You also get the unique opportunity to experience the African continent with its impressive culture and landscape from a completely different side, away from the tourist centers. We are all taking part for the first time, but the rally itself has been around since 2006.
Do you travel a lot (by car)?
We all love traveling and have traveled all over the world. The only thing we are missing is Africa. Almost every day of vacation is used for excursions and vacations together. Brazil, Argentina, USA, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Japan and South Korea are only a fraction of the countries we have already traveled to during our studies outside of Europe. Our goal is to always make your vacation as affordable as possible, but still experience the country in its full diversity. In addition to air travel to other continents, we recently discovered the motorhome with which we traveled for two weeks towards Serbia, Bosnia and Montenegro.
Where does your passion for cars come from? Are you also studying something like that?
We are actually a diverse team with a car mechanic, a frequent driver and someone who doesn't even own a car at the moment. Some people see the car more as a means to an end, while others can't spend enough time on and in the car. This mix allows us to distribute the tasks ahead very well. However, none of us study anything in that direction.
You call yourselves “Team Gatwick Taxi”. Where does this name come from?
This is an insider that came about through a vacation to London together. We needed a taxi for the transfer from Gatwick Airport as public transport in London was closed on December 25th. is completely set. The taxi itself can be booked via an online mask. However, this incorrectly allows booking to and from a location within a radius of up to 10,000km, which gave rise to the idea of traveling directly with Gatwick Taxi instead of flying (From London to Banjul the transfer would cost £3,095 for 4 people and " “only” take just under 17.5 hours). Since the distance of our rally is roughly similar, we quickly agreed on the team name.
How are you preparing?
Most of the preparation time actually goes into the car. It must be thoroughly prepared for the desert. This includes a thorough vehicle check, oil pan protection, additional storage space on the roof and at the rear, adjustment of the suspension and much more. You also need a visa for Mauritania, but fortunately the organizer will take care of that. You should definitely get vaccinated against yellow fever and hepatitis A/B, as well as take malaria prophylaxis. You also need to carry a strong insect repellent in your hand luggage, otherwise you won't have much fun outdoors in some areas of Africa. We are also busy collecting ballpoint pens so we can donate them locally. Many families in Gambia simply cannot afford pens and paper and therefore cannot send their children to school. We want to counteract this
Has a car ever broken down in the desert?
Definitely, very often! However, by traveling together in a column, you can constantly help each other out of trouble. This means that complete failures during the rally are a rarity, as there is always a way around it. Local car repair shops can also be found in every smaller village, but the distances between them are not to be ignored.
What kind of car is this that you are driving? Will the car last?
The car is an old Mercedes C250 Diesel built in 1995 with around 320,000 km on the clock. Thomas, who is providing the car, has owned it for 5 years now and has already driven 120,000 km with it without any serious problems. Because this car is still relatively simple in design (compared to today's brands), even without an engineering degree, you can easily repair many things with a little technical skill, at least to a makeshift extent, so that progress is possible even in the most remote areas. There is no ADAC down there and a few spare parts are also on board. But we are confident that the “good star on all roads” will reliably get us to our destination on its last big journey. The biggest danger is basically driving errors that we could make and could possibly lead to damage to the chassis. But we will try to stay in contact with other participants via radio during the journey, so that many mishaps can be eliminated by joining forces. We will soon be installing a chassis to gain some ground clearance for the rough terrain.
What are you most looking forward to?
Our two highlights are definitely the drive through the desert, which stretches across several countries, and the longer stay in Banjul, the capital of Gambia. But even as we drive through Europe we will see some corners that we didn't know before. We also set ourselves the goal of traveling to the maximum number of countries on the way to Banjul.
Does the journey involve any dangers that you are aware of?
The greatest danger is actually a total failure of the vehicle. Otherwise, the organizers have a lot of experience and are prepared against most dangers. The border crossings, like the desert journeys, are undertaken together. Politically, the countries of West Africa are stable.
Can you follow your trip via social media?
In any case! We are busy posting and are happy about every follower. You can find us as “Team Gatwick Taxi” on Facebook.
You start when the semester has already started. Do you take extra time off for this?
Since the rally is organized centrally, the date is fixed. But of course we are happy to take time off for such a unique event and luckily it fits well into each of our schedules.
Are you still going on holiday there afterwards?
At the end of the 2.5 week rally we still have about 4 days to rest in Banjul to recover. Afterwards we all have to study or work again – our duties call.
Norman, Stefan and Thomas are taking part in the 21st “Dresden - Dakar - Banjul” rally as the “Gatwick Taxi” team in November this year.
