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The African Raid : 1973
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African Raid
Dreams will always be dreams, only sometimes it is the destination that changes... After rallyes like Paris-Kabul and Paris-Persepolis-Paris, something different was called for... and this something different was Africa.
A diagonal trek from Abidjan to Tunis, plus the crossing of what the Targui people like to call, with respect, "the desert of all deserts", the Ténéré. It was decided to allow 100 participants, between 18 and 30 years of age, to line up at the starting post. But of the 4,894 applications received, in record time, more than 1,000 met requirements.
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African Raid
Needless to say, the selection process was draconian. Leaving from Abidjan, the column's 60 vehicles were split into 5 groups, each accompanied by a Berliet L64/m3 truck carrying supplies of food, water and fuel.
Some 80% of participants had never visited Africa. Niamey... Agades... (where an engaged couple got married in the pure Touareg tradition)... the cliffs of Achegour... Dirkou... Chirfa... Djanet... what a way to discover the beauty of the desert... Tamanrasset... and finally Tunis.
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The 2 CV African Raid
Background
In Agades, Marie-Christine and Daniel (nick-named Auguste) decided to wed in true Touareg ritual tradition. The civil officer, wearing a gandoura and orange cap, advanced toward the hut in the middle of the camp, accompanied by Targuis witnesses.
In her tent, Marie-Christine was dressed by women. She emerged with a Targuis woman holding her arm, while "Auguste", his dark moustache sticking out from under his white scarf, waited with a straight sabre. Sambou Harikoïré, the deputy sub-prefect, read the act of marriage, then came the signatures, kisses and shouts of joy. The Africa Rallye newly-weds were united for better or for worse, and their honeymoon was spent in the dunes of the Ténéré desert !