Team 56-Rhino Charge 2018

Rhino charge 2018 took us towards the Massai Land, Elangata Enterit Enkutoto. We came across lots and lots of greenery not forgetting all the dust on the dirt road. It was about 77kms from Narok town. We got to the venue & checked in on 31st May (Thursday afternoon) where we set up our camp and waited for nightfall to see the beautiful milky way that came along with the dark. It was absolutely stunning.

 1st June- we woke up early to prepare for scrutineering, this is where gave in the pledge of 1.5m that we had raised as a team, got our score card and drew from a hat to know from which guard post we would start our adventure the next day. After the pledge we moved towards the line up so the officials could check our car had met all safety rules and regulations and most importantly to fit in the GPS that would keep track of our course throughout the charge day. Thereafter we had drivers briefing at 5:30pm, the clerk of course (David Low) alerting us on what we expect and what to stay clear off, out there in the bush. Once the briefing was done, we lined up to get the maps, coordinates and instructions. All teams rushed back to their camp sites to get cracking on their routes and to decide whether they would go clockwise or anticlockwise.

2nd June- the charge day
We were up at 5:00am set to take off for the line up at 6:00am, we were starting at Greensteds so we drove in a convoy with 6 other cars that were starting with us at the same check point, the official kicked off the teams at 7:30am. We started off our day with lots of energy and adrenaline, our target was to finish the charge by visiting all 13 Guard posts.

We were a team of six (6) – the driver Harveet Singh, the co-driver Mandeesh Bassan, and four (4) runners -Haanee Khan, Qahir Neky, Akhil Behal and Ajitpal Kalsi.

We headed through thicket, whistling thorns, river crossings, hills and steep downhills. It was a very tough charge but Team 56’s journey went like this ; we lost the rear left shock in the first half hour but continued our course later to discover the front winch dint work after a short circuit occurred. Team 56 kept on going, we got to the Gauntlet- as rocky as it was our car baby lime showed how tough she was, through the 3km course she broke the second shock, lost whole control arm 30 meters to the last guard post but still pulled through and made it to the guard post just in time.

To summarize our journey, we must say the car drove extremely well and managed a total of 8 guard posts by the cut off time of 5.30pm. We would like to thank all our supporters and sponsors who made this happen this 2018!! Thank you ???