Sangat Pedas

Amsterdam - Dakar: A Boyhood Dream And Charity

| 0 comments

As a boy you dream of far away places, living adventures Indiana Jones style and change the world. But once we grow up and become adults reality kicks in. You get your first job, buy a house and before you know it your caught in a live dictated by the responsibility for your family and making money. I myself at times escaped by working in 4 different countries so far, learning about other cultures and getting to know new amazing people.

My good friends Sjoerd and Bas had their own approach to escaping reality and live a dream. Driving in an old beaten up car from Amsterdam to Dakar for charity. Which is not only a personal challenge but will definitely put their life long friendship to the test.

The rules are simple, buy a car for maximum € 500 and spend maximum another € 250 on repairs and bring it from Amsterdam to Dakar. Under the team name “Gaserop” (“PeddleToTheMedal”) Sjoerd and Bas bought a 20 year old Mitsubishi Pajero, did some serious repairs and drove off into a 7,500 kilometers adventure. Crazy shit, just as we like it. Taking the bull by the balls and defying the odds.

Nice touch is that this rally is in support of the foundation HandToHand, dedicated to help kids in Gambia. So when Sjoerd asked me if Tokobagus could pitch in a bit it was pretty much a no brainer. Even though this sponsoring doesn’t help Tokobagus, sometimes you’ve gotta look beyond just your own interests.

The Mad Max look is totally back and ubercool! Kite surfing in the desert. A different approach to car repairs. The beauty of the dessert. Racing against camels, a cactus in a stunning dessert sunset while doing an occasional laundry. Oldskool navigation, towing a less fortunate team and the confirmation that really only the Dutch like drop. This while having to see the Tokobagus logo 12 hours a day.

While writing this post team Gaserop seems to have crossed the border between Morocco  and Mauritania and are struggling through the dessert at a somewhat sluggish speed of 27 km/h. But, they’re getting close and it seems the two 38+ friends together with their 20+ Pajero are gonna make it.

Sangat Pedas takes a deep deep bow of respect and wish Sjoerd and Bas the best of luck in the last stints.