Senegal: David Turner and Jayne Wilkinson, from Erdington in the West Midlands were planning to be eating their mince pies while overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The expats from the West Midlands tucked into their Christmas dinner thousands of miles away from home. Four months ago call centre worker, Jayne and legal rep David left Birmingham in their Land Rover Defender 110 and have been making their way through Africa en route to Senegal for Christmas. Jayne, 51, said: “Our journey through Africa so far has been fantastic." The couple are considering this journey as the start of a ten-year trip to travel on seven continents.
Ghana: Another group of travelling Brits, supported by the Royal Geographical Society, celebrated Christmas in the back of a Land Rover in Ghana this year, after clocking up more than 10,000 miles, through 16 countries, as part of a continuing education project to raise awareness about the potential consequences of sea level rise for low-lying communities around the Atlantic. Now a third of the way through their expedition, the Atlantic Rising team of Lynn Morris, Tim Bromfield and Will Lorimer has visited 17 schools from Scotland to Senegal, meeting more than 5,000 students in communities directly affected by rising sea levels. Lynn, formerly a video journalist, said just before Christmas, "We are planning to spend Christmas day at a fishing village called Butre, We don't have any family or friends in Ghana and so are going to be making our own fun. We may well be decorating our Land Rover with some tinsel but we haven't seen any holly as yet. In terms of Christmas dinner we have a two-ring petrol stove and with no oven I don't think we'll be having roast turkey. The meal is more likely to be fufu - mashed cassava or yam - and stew, although we might try and brew some mulled palm wine to wash it down with."
To undertake the project, the team received the Royal Geographical Society and Land Rover's 2009 'Go Beyond' bursary of £10,000 and the use of a Defender 110 vehicle, which has been their mode of transport and home since they set off from Poole Harbour in September. After spending Christmas in Butre, the team will head to Brazil via a freight tanker across the Atlantic, to continue their expedition along the ocean's eastern edge. To keep up to date with the Atlantic Rising team, go to www.atlanticrising.org and for more information about the Go Beyond bursary visit www.rgs.org.
Still in Ghana; a man was given a 25 year sentence for defrauding a medical practitioner when a Circuit Court in Accra handed down the jail term to 30-year-old Stephen Bright Kwadwo Addae. He pleaded guilty to defrauding the medical practitioner of GH¢107,000 and 7,700 dollars under the pretext of purchasing vehicles for him. Addae was expected to purchase two saloon cars, a Range Rover and two articulated trucks for the medical officer but could not offer any reason for spending the money when the trial judge, Mr. Justice Joe Abangah, asked him where the money was. Police Inspector Michael Jubiok said in 2008, the complainant, Dr. Henry Broni Amponsah, engaged Addae as a driver and a year later discussed with him his intention to purchase some vehicles for the Swedish Medical Centre in Accra and Takoradi. Jubiok said the accused convinced the complainant that he could purchase of some auctioned vehicles at moderate prices including a Range Rover for his wife within three weeks. The prosecution said Addae deceived the complainant that the vehicle had arrived at the Tema Harbour and demanded GH¢17,000 to pay customs duty and GH¢30,000 for another four-wheel drive vehicle.
Nigeria: Coscharis Motors of Lagos, unveiled the 2010 Land Rover models recently following the launch of the products in Cape Town, South Africa. The vehicles include the latest Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Discovery 4 and Freelander 2. In his speech during the ceremony tagged 'Drive the next generation', the President of Coscharis Group, Dr. Cosmas Maduka, said the new models represent style, strength, adaptability, ruggedness, capability and luxury. He said that past Land Rover variants 'reflected the perfect niche vehicles for the growing demands of the family 4x4 market. Each variant had been built on innovative design and advanced technology.'
West African News
