Ever heard of the Paris - Dakar rally? Fast, expensive cars and highly paid professional rally drivers seeing who can make it through West Africa in the fastest possible time - a trip of speed, excess and money.

Well, neither me nor Simon are world famous rally drivers.  Nor do we have an excess of money.  So, instead, we're taking a £100, 20 year old truck and heading to Mali in the Timbuktu Challenge 2008... a charity event involving driving nearly 5000 miles from Plymouth to Mali (via sand dunes, minefields and several notorious border crossings).

On Boxing Day 2007, we will be attempting this journey in a car featuring:

- An indeterminate number of miles on the clock.  But it's a lot.

- 4x4 that doesn't actually work.

- 14 MOT fail points, including an unsafe chassis, collapsed suspension, and seized brakes

- Fluorescent "go faster stripes" so bright they reflect in your face when driving

How could this possibly go wrong?

When (or - more accurately - if) we arrive in Bamako, Mali, the cars will be auctioned off to local people, with the proceeds raised going to local charities. In addition to auctioning the car we would like to raise a bit extra for Build Africa (www.build-africa.org) - a charity committed to supporting African children gain a better future through supporting education and entrepreneurship.

For more information about the rally itself and the charities/areas it helps visit: http://www.plymouth-dakar.co.uk

And for more information about our team and our progress visit: http://www.jsgreenwood.com/timbuktu

PLEASE GIVE GENEROUSLY!  :)