Take the Biofuel Pledge

"If the BioTruck team can make it all the way to Timbuktu on Biodiesel, I pledge that my next tank will be Biofuel."

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Preparation

Most expeditions sensibly prepare their vehicle before they set off. We haven't quite done it like that. The final week was so hectic dealing with the torrent of media enquiries that the BioTruck preparation plan was largely ignored.

Thankfully a local mechanic agreed to give the BioTruck a safety check and 5 hour service, but even so on the morning of departure we were desperately strapping down the cars and roping Annie a journalist from the Independent in to put the sponsor's stickers on the cars.

No time for pics and we were off. The ferry terminal was heaving with no less than 4 TV crews and 2 photographers. John arrived and was immediately thrown into the deep end being interviewed for BBC South in front of the grubbiest collection of semi-scrap vehicles I've ever owned.

The 3 day drive to Spain has taken 5 days as all the teething problems we didn't address before we left home have become major issues.

The additive-free fuel was freezing in the filters, and Ecotec advised us to add 5% fuel if the temperature dropped below 0, an eventuality we hadn't planned for as we headed for the Sahara , but over the Pyrenees we were forced to stop and camp 2 nights in a row as the low altitude and icy cold gelled the fuel.

We fixed the headlights, put on the rest of the sponsored stickers, repaired a brake hose, and finally changed a blown out tyre just a few miles from Malaga .

A radio interview on Radio Europe lead to a fantastic offer of accommodation and hot showers at Trevor's house in a quaint village near Malaga , and tomorrow at the crack of dawn, fully prepared, we head to Africa ...

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The Expedition set off from the UK on the 26th of November and arrived in Timbuktu on the 26th of December 2007.

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