Land Roving in 1997 – Exploring North Africa With Amadeus Matzker

November was knocking at the door but it wasn't the weather alone that motivated my friends and I to start planning our next tour to Africa—it had been 10 months since we were last there.

It was raining outside as we drank Kölsch, the local beer, in a Cologne bar and channelled our thoughts toward Africa. Our small group comprised my school friend Ralf, who spent most of his time in Bamako, Mali, our experienced travel partner Hans-Christian (aka HC), our Belgian logistics and Africa expert Jan, and myself, Amadeus Matzker—Land Rover specialist and racing driver from Cologne.

This tour needed to be something special with off-road driving our foremost priority. We wanted to spend as much time as we could amidst some of the most exhilarating terrain the Sahara has to offer, the Sahel. That this entailed passing through some politically unstable regions wasn't too much of a concern because we had experienced several Touareg ambushes in the past.

The plan was to drive through Morocco, Mauritania, Mali, Algeria, Nigeria, back to Algeria, and finally to the ferry in Tunisia. The stage from Chinguetti to Timbuktu would be particularly spectacular: approximately 2,000 km of free navigation without any opportunities to replenish supplies en route. Consequently, our cars had to be extremely capable off-road with a range of 3,000 km.