A very social safari

What does it take to see Africa through the windscreen of a classic car? Glyn Tucker talks to some of the survivors of the Classic Safari

Pounding the roughest roads of East Africa flat-out, the Safari Rally is as legendary in the hallowed halls of rallying history as the Monte Carlo – but the Classic Safari Challenge is a different kettle of fish altogether. This is a gentler style of rallying: here is an event that follows in the footsteps of the original, pioneering journeys thought up by British colonial types at their motor club meetings at a long mahogany bar in Nairobi in the early 1950s.

The Classic Safari Challenge is a throwback to the days of the reliability trial, where the clocks tick ever so softly. Some elements of this mildly competitive event are even optional, with the drivers deciding at breakfast each day whether the hangover from the party the night before can cope with foot-to-thefloor motoring.

Volkswagen Beetles and the Peugeot 404 used to dominate the early Kenyan Safari Rallies, with classes based on the price of the car in the Nairobi showrooms, and an emphasis on testing the standard car. This revival event from the Endurance Rally Association rekindles that spirit of adventure.

Designed for couples, it is a social affair, with visits to top lodges and remote hotels, and days off in game parks where crews don’t do any driving at all. Local guides are responsible for piloting the open Land Rovers that are used for early-morning game-spotting excursions. Everyone goes home having seen elephants, cheetahs, lions and rhinos, and having tasted antelope cooked on an open fire – washed down with the right South African wine, of course.

Medal sections are the talking point in the evenings. These are timed blats down remote roads, each of which is won by a different crew: you can bag one medal but not a second, so by the end of a month on the road just about everyone goes home having picked up a prize.

Those who want timed challenges down tricky roads are not disappointed, and nor are those who prefer a slower pace and the chance to take in some magnificent scenery. There’s room for crews of all types here.

First run in 2003, the Classic Safari has now been staged five times, and is still put together by Philip Young’s Endurance Rally Association team. The very first event carved its way across southern Africa from Cape Town to Hemingways Hotel on the north Kenyan coast; others have started from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, finishing in Cape Town, but the 2014 route, planned by Kim and Nikki Bannister, started and finished in Cape Town, venturing to the stunning Victoria Falls after a drive up through Zimbabwe and returning southwards through Namibia to the Cape Grace Hotel on Cape Town’s waterfront.