The older I get the more infuriated I become with that which I do not know.
Places i've never been to, every country I haven't been to taunts me.. "ha ha you haven't come to see me".
I go into book shops like Borders or Books etc. during my lunch hour and every book that interests me that I haven't read mocks me from shelves. All the American writers i'm reading, the French writers I haven't finished yet and all the Japanese I want to read..
And the Russians !! The Russians wrote big f***ing fat books that i'm never going to get through.. like "Peter Petrov Petrovolovic my good friend.." and i'm like ahh! i'll never know what happened!
So I want to read all those cool books, see all those cool films and go to all those countries.. and this makes me realise that there is no excuse for boredom!
Which brings me back to the point, if you don't go you'll never know.
You can read all the books you want but it's all like empty facts. Like if you read a book about Egypt it's kind of cool, you see a photo of the Sphinx and it's kind of cool, but then you go to Egypt and stand in front of the Sphinx and for seven long minutes you'll stand there with your mouth open thinking *******!!
And your week in Egypt is 14 hours a day saying stuff like NO WAY ! Get the f*** out of here !
So anyway the point of this trip is to go out into the world and see new countries that I haven't seen before. To make things even more interesting i've put various limitations on transport to make it more like and adventure/challenge, and I would like to invite anyone else interested to attempt this epic journey.
The Routemaster Rampage is a motor rally from London to Capetown along a route that will be decided on this site. The main vehicle to be used on the rally is a red double decker London bus - the Routemaster. Feel free to get involved on this site and mould the shape of the Rampage. In particular, if you have undertaken this type of journey before, we’d love to hear from you.
The number of Routemasters being driven will depend on interest in the rally. If the Rampage does become an endurance event or race, then a number of Routemasters could be seen rampaging across the European and African continents.
Rampage Route
The route at present is set to rampage past at least the top ten sights in Africa. These include: Marrakech, Morocco; Pyramids of Giza, Egypt; Omo River Region, Ethiopia; Virunga Mountains (Tracking Gorillas), Uganda, Rwanda, DRC; Masai Mara, Kenya; Serengeti, Mount Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar, Tanzania; Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe/Zambia; Timbuktu, Mali; and ending up in Cape Town, South Africa. The Rampage route will change over time - please share with us your experiences of Africa so we can create the ultimate route-map together.
Pimp My Routemaster
The Routemaster buses need to be customised for the rally to ensure a enjoyable journey between destinations. We’re shopping around for ideas on what to do to the Routemaster - feel free to include your ideas on the blog.
Who is organising it?
Dave Griffiths
The Routemaster
Background Information
2876 Routemasters were constructed between 1954 and 1968, with at least 7 main types plus an almost limitless number of variations to the basic specifications. Some of these variations were there when the vehicles were constructed, but a far greater number were the result of modification and improvement through a service life now stretching for more than 45 years.
The Timbuktu rally is the ultimate African adventure, taking in mountains, deserts and a camel or two in a 3000 mile quest to reach the town of Timbuktu in Mali.
Timbuktu was once a great city where the "rich king of Tombuto hath many plates and sceptres of gold, some whereof weigh 1300 pounds. ... He hath always 3000 horsemen ... and a great store of doctors, judges, priests, and other learned men, that are bountifully maintained at the king's expense".
Today, Timbuktu is an impoverished town, and our journey will be providing help to some of Africa's poorest people in Mali. Timbuktu is a UNESCO world heritage site and with local contacts we will be ensuring that your vehicles do not damage this fragile town.
When can I sign-up?
Sign-up will be opening in 2008 along with full details of the charity projects we are supporting in Mali. Make sure you are on the mailing list to keep updated.
Chat about this in our forums.
