Hello Everyone,

I have decided that I need to personally challenge myself by attempting something that im not entirely sure I can complete in one piece. Whilst still being just about young and reckless enough to not know that I definitely can't! 

So, to those of you who Love me, there is a chance this may make me a better person and to those of you who hate me, there is a chance this might kill me so you all have good reason to donate generously....

I'm doing this for CHARITY, it is a FIRST , I might DIE, I and I WON'T ask you again so please give generously as these children need you to support me in this.

Please help me reach my target and in doing so change the lives of these children, it costs £150 to repair a child's face which sets them up on an equal emotional footing as the rest of us for life. Thats about the cost of a weekend hangover to many of you...

 

The Mototaxi Junket and the Search for the Lost City of Asuncion (But Not Really Because it's the Capital of Paraguay)

What's all this about?

Take the smallest and least practical vehicle available in an entire continent and throw it at some of the most ridiculous and least hospitable terrain on our good earth. From the driest desert in the world, to the most dangerous road in the world, to the biggest rainforest in the world the.

The machine of choice is the humble Mototaxi. Invented in Peru and not really perfected anywhere. Built from a motorbike and a few bits of pipe these hardy little ferrets are designed for pootling around the back streets of cities. Which makes them perfect for dirt tracks, waist high mud, the Andes and sand dunes.

The Mototaxi Junket is a highly dangerous adventure. We risk both our health and our lives by participating in it. This event is written in a light-hearted manner, but you must not underestimate the risks involved in undertaking this kind of adventure.
Our chance of dying is significantly increased for the duration of Our time partaking in the adventure. This adventures is not a glorified holiday, it is an adventure and so by its very nature is extremely risky.
This is a pioneering adventure because it is the first time it has ever been tried. This means that many of the risks are unknown to anyone. Parts of South America can be very unsafe, amongst any number of other things there may be a risk from political instability, muggings, armed robbery, kidnappings, animals, deadly insects, traffic accidents, tropical disease, adverse climate or just simply getting lost.
On the Mototaxi Junket we will be completely responsible for Our own safety. If we get into a difficult situation, we and only we will have to get Ourelves out of it.
We are going to be the first people on the good planet Earth to drive South America's most indigenous and frankly crap vehicle across 5000km of jungles, deserts and mountain passes. That makes us officially "Pioneers", which makes this officially the one and only Pioneers Edition of the Mototaxi Junket and the search for the lost city of Asunción (but not really because it is the capital of Paraguay.) Our name will be carved deep into the pages of

Adventuring history.
What this also means is that no one can answer questions like how long will it take? What is the best route? How much petrol will a mototaxi swallow while crossing the Chaco Desert? These are some of the unknowns that will make this a truly great adventure.

The Charity
Operation Smile provides free reconstructive surgery to children and young adults suffering from facial deformities. Clefts are the 3rd most common birth defect worldwide and it is estimated that a baby is born every 2½ minutes with a cleft which can affect their ability to breathe, eat, drink and speak. Teams taking part in the Mototaxi Junket will be supporting Operation Smile projects in Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay.

Here in the UK, most cleft cases are repaired in the first year of a child’s life, however in the developing world, families are often too poor and many do not even know treatment is available for them. Over 75% of cleft cases in the developing world go untreated, often resulting in children living a lifetime of isolation, unable to go to school, make friends and distanced from their communities and all because of a facial deformity that can be repaired in as little as 45 minutes and for only £150.
Since its foundation in 1982, Operation Smile has grown to be one of the largest volunteering organizations of it’s kind. Working with a team of more than 5,000 medical volunteers in 51 countries, Operation Smile has changed the lives of over 120,000 children.
Partnering with local hospitals, Operation Smile provides all the medical equipment and supplies needed to ensure that every patient receives the same standard of care as they would in the western world. Operation Smile also provides free training and education programs to local experts to ensure our work continues all year-round.

The Boys

Mark Tuhill a 30 something single financial advisor from east london, while his unmapped journeys to date have taken him far and wide, they will never have challenged him as much as this inevitably will. Normally laughing in the face of adversity, never taking no for an answer you’d think he’d be the ideal candidate for this pioneering adventure, but has years “living the dream” numbed his primal urge for heroism and adrenalin?  Mark didn’t sign up to this, his Co-driver friend Lloyd surprised/forced him. Mark’s been making excuses ever since, his best excuses to date - “I cant, I don’t speak Portuguese!” , “Im not waterproof!”, “But there’s snakes there!”, What about bandits,robbers and drug cartels? “  Was Mark really the right choice for co driver to the unknown?

Lloyd Morgan, also a 30 something and smith of all trades from the east of london, is somewhat of an old hand at pioneering adventure after successfully completing the Mongol rally 2006 and recently having made it back from 4 months living off the land in Thailand. Therefore it doesn’t surprise me that he feels the need once again to take himself out of his extremely comfortable zone and test his tenacity and survival skills. However, as with other great adventurers of the past and present, Lloyd may have ripped off more than he can render on this occasion? Lets hope his added years and experience this time around, will avert the duo from certain possible death. ....although it will serve him right if it doesn't for involving his older wiser friend  in such a ridiculous and dangerous debacle....

 

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