African adventure completed

Aug 15 2008 by Our Correspondent, Dumfries Standard Friday

MR VIOLA’S Dumfries Academy Physics students should ensure that all homework which was set over the summer break is ready to hand in on the first day of term.

Mike Viola, together with Dumfries-born rally driver Steven Clark, has successfully completed their charity drive to Cameroon, and will be back at school on Tuesday.

After setting off from London on July 18 the pair have negotiated the West African rainy season, where flooded roads forced them to backtrack to find another border crossing from Nigeria into Cameroon after getting stuck in a river.

Earlier in their adventure, with Mike not having had enough time to organise a visa for entry into Benin, they crossed from Burkino Faso into Benin off-road, and drove through plains where the grass was taller than the car.

Fortunately, they suffered no technical problems on their journey apart from a lost front number plate.

They also encountered a high number of border control police who all seem to have been born in August.

The number of guards who requested to be given birthday gifts and souvenirs was well into treble figures!

The winner of Steven’s competition to guess the total number of miles driven will be announced upon their return.

The lucky person who guesses the closest will get to co-drive for Steven on the Castle Douglas-based Merrick Stages Rally in September. This event forms part of the Scottish Rally Championship in which Steven is competing in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 4.

In his absence, Steven’s father, Gretna based rally driver Ivor Clark competed in the car in last weekend’s Speyside Stages in Elgin and finished in 25th place overall.