He'd always dreamed of driving a horse box through Africa, so earlier this year George Purbrick did just that.
George's only qualifications were that he works for a global defence company that does business in many parts of Africa. And he's passionate about horses.
In March this year he and his wife, Dushanka (horses were involved at their wedding a few years ago) and their baby son took off from Surrey in the United Kingdom with their destination Gauteng.
It took him 3 weeks to find the horse box on eBay, says George. It was advertised for £6000 and he decided to buy it sight unseen, even though it was 25 years old and could go at a maximum of 60 km/h.
George took his family with as far as Casablanca in Morocco, from where he travelled alone to Dakar in Senegal after crossing the Western Sahara desert.
From there he shipped the horse box to Walvis Bay in Namibia and drove the last stretch to Johannesburg.
Their route took them through central France, across the Pyrenees and into Spain. They slept mostly in the lorry, but every third or fourth night stayed in local Bed & Breakfasts for a shower and a proper bed.
They visited Granada and other spots before heading for Gibraltar for the Gibraltar Straits, the shortest (and busiest in terms of sea traffic) crossing to Africa, landing in Morocco and heading for Casablanca.
Once on his own, George only had 8 - 10 days to get to Dakar in time for his sea journey down the West Coast of Africa. He told the club he drove 11 - 12 hours a day and slept along the side of the road. Once in the Western Saharan desert, however, he soon learnt to drive by night because of the intense heat.
His journey through the desert coincided with Ramadan, which meant the road was completely deserted, but where he did meet people, they were always very friendly and helpful.
He made it to Dakar via Mauritania in time to load the horse box onto a ship and head for home.
Announcement: At the meeting President Julian Nagy announced that Karlien Kruger has agreed to take on the presidency after Mbali Zulu's term ends in June 2024.
Karlien said she decided to take on the presidency after discussions with Mbali.
This good news will help to restore the proper succession process for the role of president with the president, immediate past president and president-elect working in tandem to ensure a smooth transition at the end of every Rotary year, and in that way gain continuity.
If any other candidates are put forward, there will of course be a vote, but this has never happened at New Dawn before.
Tomorrow: The meeting tomorrow will be used to listen to video recordings of keynote speeches at the Rotary International Conference in Melbourne last month, most notably that of the outgoing president, the Canadian Jennifer Jones and incoming RI president Gordon McInally.
Final arrangements for Mbali's induction in Soweto on Saturday will be discussed as well as arrangements for the annual Golf Day in August, so try to be there.
A Thought for the Week: A child is a fire to be lit, not a vase to be filled. - Francois Rabelais (1483/1494 - 1553)
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