On my first one Message Shell Helix's expedition 'Extremely crazy', it went to the dunes of Atlantis near Cape Town to test the driving skills of the media from nine different countries. It was about driving up and down the dunes with as much taste and control as possible. A very fun experience. Our second day led us into the mountains and thus into the complete opposite. The rough roads and steep slopes required special care and controlled driving from every driver. Here it went in crawl mode, all-wheel drive and with far less driving force in order to allow steady progress. The first lap took us into particularly difficult terrain, which was the same as in the Malaysian jungle, where Adrien Brody had turned out to be an absent-minded driver. We tried not to follow his example and instead drove very concentrated in order to return the vehicles as possible in one piece.
The task was to overcome stick and stone and extremely deep gorges. On a particularly steep slope they played the song 'We're gonna die young' by Kesha on the radio. Not particularly encouraging, but our instructor Anton explained how we would have to overcome this obstacle. Ride to the top as slowly as possible and slowly roll down on the brakes. Do not steer, because the car would find its own track. And so it was. In the particularly deep trenches, the Land Rover Discovery dutifully raised its rear wheels and lowered them nicely. Slow and controlled. This is how you get a person and a mobile pedestal safely through the most impassable terrain that you can imagine.
I didn't really dare to use the steering wheel on one of the steepest slopes, but one of my team members had already registered, so I wasn't in the front row in the back seat when it went extremely steeply downhill. The outdoor photographer got a favorable position further down and camouflaged himself with some palm leaves. So you wouldn't see too much of the 'flat' result if the car hit him. But luckily everything went well and the photographer saved his life and a good shot with his camera.
As soon as we had completed the tour, today's tasks began. In the first, we had to pass the Land Rover Discovery, which was prepared with two crossbars, between the other poles. A simulation of the difficult route through the jungle, in which the prominent drivers had to drive around one tree or the other. The distances between the bars became narrower and shortly before the last goal I unfortunately got stuck despite all my team's efforts to instruct myself from the outside. But at least I got ahead as one of my team members who, funnily enough, always managed to confuse right and left. And I thought I was the woman here? We mastered the subsequent task much better, because it was all about real teamwork. We had to drive a Land Rover Defender over two wooden walkways with some recesses. This had to be filled with two wooden blocks so that the Defender could drive over it without touching the ground. Precision driving was the order of the day and of course good instruction from the team members.
I took over driving, because driving slowly and in control is my thing. The difficult thing was actually only switching with the left, because in Cape Town left-hand traffic applies and thus the steering wheel is of course also on the left side. After a few short attempts, I got the hang of it and was ready to go. We had 10 minutes and with flying colors we managed to get the Defender safely to the other side without having touched the ground once. Tschakka!
The next task was to drive slowly and in a controlled manner on two footbridges, but this time to keep your balance and keep the Land Rover Discovery level. Be it for just a few seconds. Each team member was allowed to try it and hit the seesaw with the vehicle. I managed to hold the scales straight away for a few seconds before I slammed forward. An incredibly funny toy. I wanted to go back again and went back onto the jetties. The others grabbed it as well as I did and in the last task we were able to show between some stakes how well we could park. As a woman not always easy and with a pair of stakes I actually had to start again, which unfortunately cost me a few penalty points. But in the end I also tackled this challenge, after all, as a city dweller, I always have to maneuver into tiny parking spaces in Hamburg. With my little Fiat 500 this is also less problematic.
After we had done all the tasks, it was time to be awarded the coveted 'Driven to Extremes' trophy. Even if my team had good results, we had to clear the field for the Russians, whose team member was named the best driver.
The Chinese team was awarded for the best team collaboration, but only with an honorary award and a strong handshake. After a funny group photo we went up to the mountains in Column to end this adventurous day on the mountain top, with one of the wonderful sunsets in Africa. I can only say to all the winners who will be invited to Cape Town in November to have these exciting experiences: Have fun, dare and enjoy the adventure! Worth it! Those who want to participate can take part in the competition Facebook or with a winning code that can be found on every Schell Helix bottle. The codes must be entered online. All information can be found on the Shell Helix Youtube channel.
