[imagesource:instagram/london.2.capetown]

Three friends – Karen, James and Spence – have taken on the monster task of road-tripping all the way from London to Cape Town.

After covering more than 11,000 kilometres and landing up on the west coast of Africa, the trio hit the hardest hurdle of their 59-day trip.

Their trusty Toyota Hilux named Edna snapped in half under the pressure of the journey. Edna has had her fair share of challenges while travelling through the continent, being in the middle of bribes from shoddy officials in some countries, navigating wild terrain, and crossing rivers and deserts.

In the episode ‘Day 39 of travelling from London to Cape Town’, Edna got severely stuck in mud in a forest on the Ivory Coast and on ‘Day 59 driving from London to Cape Town’, Edna’s clutch had to be repaired in Benin City.

But this time, Edna’s injury seems serious enough to cut their trip short.

According to the latest video shared by the trio on their Instagram page, @London.2.CapeTown, the mighty Toyota Hilux needs repairs after the vehicle cracked in two.

“Edna’s snapped in half. We’re posting this in real time because something awful has happened to Edna and we’re unsure if we can continue our trip,” said Karen.

 

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A post shared by Karen, James & Spence (@london.2.capetown)

Despite the difficult socio-political climate that we’re in – what with the war in Gaza – the friends have asked their followers for donations to help repair the vehicle. This also throws their luxury stopovers, enjoying top-star luxury accommodation and dining whenever they get a chance, into question.

 

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A post shared by Karen, James & Spence (@london.2.capetown)

Karen said that during the crossing from Nigeria to Cameroon, they had encountered the worst roads of the trip so far, putting a huge strain on Edna’s compromised chassis.

“This was the worst possible scenario and in this condition there’s no way we can drive Edna to South Africa. Repairing such severe damage will be expensive and take many days.”

She mentioned that they hadn’t budgeted for such an expensive repair, and so, to help with the costs of repairing Edna, they had set up a PayPal account in which donations could be paid. A few dedicated Instagram users, who have been glued to the trio’s journey from the start, have donated money, while others suggested Toyota needs to hop in and sponsor them.

Commenting on the unfortunate circumstance, Instagram users @percy_thendo said: “@toyota_sa @toyota_sa may we kindly intervene, our donations can only take Edna so far.”

Others noted that they were being far too idealistic thinking the vehicle was ever going to make it that far:

Another user, @busheditor, said: “As doctors you will know there are no pills for stupidity. Vehicles in the UK rust due to salt on the roads. It destroys the chassis. You should’ve properly inspected the chassis before purchase and now you are begging for money to continue the journey.

“That chassis was badly eaten by rusts and rewelded several times hence was supposed to be for short distance travel on tar ️. Very sorry guys!”

Somehow, the friends will figure it out and we should see them back on the road in no time. There’s still so much to see and so many border patrol officers who need a bribe along the way.

[source:iol]