Day 1

We had the ceremonial start downtown in Mombasa. The streets were littered with locals eager to see the cars take-off. It was a beehive! Jamii Borians were present and charged up. It was so touching to see them take the time to see us off. Oh, and guess who was there to lead the ceremony? None other than the Minister of Tourism - Najib Mohamed Balala. He gave all of us his best wishes and made a touching speech about the profound tradition of this race. Following his speech he left the podium to personally say farewell to the racers. As he walked by me, I kind of just stood there not expecting him to recognize me. To my surprise, he walked straight up to me and threw out his hand "Good to see you Mr. Funk!". I was stunned and honored...looks like our mission here is leaving an impression.

A half hour later, I was strapped to my car like an F-16 pilot blasting down some of the worst roads imaginable, trying to keep pace with these slippery veterans. I started with butterflies trying to escape my stomach through my mouth but quickly got lost in just making it around the next turn. For any of you out there that have played competitive sports, it was like entering the beginning of a championship game. You look at the other team and begin to doubt whether or not you're good enough to compete against them. They look big, strong and confident. However, shortly after the game begins, you make a few plays, you realize how you got there, and your instincts take over. Jean-Louis and I had a few unfortunate bumps in the road but battled through them to finish amongst the middle of the pact. If it were not for a few mechanical problems, we would have finished amongst the top few racers. That was a significant boost of confidence for us. The first day only consisted of 19km. The starting positions for the following 300km day were decided by your finishing time.

Day 2

Everything I heard about how difficult this race can be was realized during this day. First, we lost a tire. I must tell you, it is an eerie feeling to be driving at an alarmingly fast speed, then feel the front edge of your car sink and begin digging into the ground while watching your tire just roll away before your eyes. I can't help but laugh out loud right now. It was wild. We were buzzing on this day, despite the fact I almost tipped us over on a hill. I think Jean-Louis could have used an extra race suit after that incident. We were challenging some seriously unforgiving roads and doing great. Then, a flash flood! We nearly got washed away. It was like something straight out of the Dukes of Hazard, except this time Luke and Bo Duke do not miraculously make it over the jump. We were able to attain some help from some kind locals and another race team trapped in the same predicament. We got ourselves out and finished toward the end of the pack. BUT, we finished! There were a handful of competitors that could not say the same, and this was the first real day of competition.
 Our mechanics had their work cut out for them that night. I think they were able to get only about 1hr or so of shut-eye.

Day 3

This day had it all. Let me speak of what my kids saw first. Trevor was up at the crack of dawn in order to catch a ride with a helicopter. I knew he was going in the helicopter but I did not know how he planned to get his footage while tucked away in the back. I found out pretty early on into the race. As we are flying down the street, racing to our first checkpoint I begin to hear helicopter blades chopping above. I naturally look up and hovering above us, very CLOSE above us, is my son ratchet strapped into the helicopter hanging out filming us. The door is flung open and he is resting on the landing bars of the helicopter. It was quite the site and I think he got some great footage of us saluting him as he saluted us. Apparently, right after we passed his helicopter, they apparently got a call and were forced to head to another location to medivac another racer who had flipped his car and buggered up his shoulder really bad. Trevor later told me he spent much of the afternoon at the hospital. My other son Nathan was on the ground today. Trust me when I tell you he too will be hanging out of a helicopter in the days to come. Nathan left a brief time after us to follow and seek out good locations for capturing rally cars dashing through the course. Well, within the first hour of Nathan's departure, he apparently was helping rescue a race team member from his flipped vehicle. The vehicle was a service truck. These trucks trail their designated racecars and are on constant call in case anything goes wrong. If it does, the service car can enter the race and attend to the problem. Well, this service car needed it's own service car because it had flipped completely upside down and the driver was bleeding profusely from his head. Nathan spent much of his morning helping this man escape his vehicle and get proper medical attention. AND that is only my son's two stories! We were getting beaten to bits by the course and limped all the way through. We are having a major overhaul of our vehicle tonight and hope the Peugeot will begin to live up to its reputation as the vehicle that built Africa.

I must go check on my mechanics and then grab some rest. I hope you are visiting the site, spreading it and enjoying it. We are racing our hearts out for Jamii Bora and Microfinance and it is a worthy cause.  Join the effort to make a REAL difference.