Meeting the Reliant Robin World Record Holders
Good day, March 11th. Today is a really, really big day. I actually stayed around Cape Town for an extra day so that I could meet Seth and Ollie. Seth is from Canada and Ollie is from the UK, who I met first in Ivory Coast. They were driving a Reliant Robin, an English-made car which is a 3-wheel car, 2 in the back and 1 in front. The last ones were made in 2002, and theirs is either 2001 or 2002.
They had basically decided that they needed to drive the one that they bought to Cape Town from England. Those two guys met on the Mongol Rally in 2018 and hatched up a plan that they would drive all the way through Africa trying to set a world record with the Reliant Robin they call Sheila.
The Epic 131-Day Journey
They have had a big adventure. If you go online and look for a three-wheel Reliant car that went all the way across Africa to the south, you’ll find it on CNN, South African newspapers, and the BBC has video coverage of it.
I really wanted to meet them again on their entry day. They came to the Engen gas station, Engen Wijnlands Zuid on the N1 as their first stop. There were already about 30 people who got acquainted with them through social media and Instagram. It was really good to see them one last time, and they did their trip in 131 days, only having to replace the engine, the gearbox, the axles, and brake hubs.
Journey East Through Teutschkloof Pass
Then it was my time to go east, and I decided to go by way of Paarl and ride across a pass called the Teutschkloof, which is 820 meters tall. I got the benefit of seeing some pretty interesting sceneries and mountainsides. There was an accident close to the top, but the police was there to direct traffic.
Past Paarl, I was able to visit the Omul Bakery again that we had visited before – they just make such good stuff. Then I took the N2, which is just a fast way to go east.
Discovering Prince Albert
I made it to a place called Prince Albert. Prince Albert was a surprise to me. It’s really in the desert, but it was a really nice town very much relying on tourism. There’s plenty of places to stay, so I ended up in a hostel house by just knocking on their door.
There was Esme and John that were the owners. John is 80 years old and known as John the Donkey, even though his last name is Klaassen. He’s known as John the Donkey because he’s also a tour guide who takes people to the mountains and caves. He shared stories about being a peanut farmer for 20 years closer to Lesotho and working in Zambia.
They pointed out a restaurant where I had some curried lamb that was really delicious. It was a really good visit. If you ever get around to Prince Albert, stop there. It’s a really fun place.
