For 2014, Rainer Zietlow set his sights on a significant north-south axis of the globe: under the motto “From Cape to Cape”, he drove from North Cape in Norway to Cape Agulhas in South Africa. The aim was to cover the distance in as short a time as possible.
The team set off on September 21 in a Volkswagen Touareg from North Cape, the northernmost point in Europe that can be reached by road from the mainland. The route then led across Europe via Germany and the Balkans to Turkey, and then on through the African continent, including Egypt, Kenya, and other countries, to South Africa. The destination was the southernmost point of Africa, Cape Agulhas, where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet.
The journey was extreme. It began in the frosty temperatures of northern Norway and passed through areas of Sudan with temperatures of 48 degrees Celsius. As expected, the most difficult parts of the trip were some African regions. Deep potholes in Sudan and Ethiopia, countless switchbacks in the African highlands, and the infamous “Road of Hell” with its corrugated and volcanic rock surface in northern Kenya were a challenge for both man and machine.
On day 6, the tour vehicle was involved in a traffic accident through no fault of its own, forcing the team to take a longer break. With the vehicle repaired, the team finally reached their destination in South Africa on October 12. Even with the forced break, the team set a new time record for this route. Excluding the time spent on repairs, the journey took just 8 days, 10 hours, and 26 minutes for 18,007 km.
To offset the CO2 emissions from the record-breaking journey and the previous scouting trip, the team supported "Food & Trees for Africa" by planting around 600 trees around Johannesburg in October 2014. Additionally, Rainer Zietlow donated to two SOS Children's Villages, one in Khartoum, Sudan, and one in Lusaka, Zambia.
