Similar to the world famous Paris Dakar, the East African Safari Rally is a cross country race which includes some fast plains, treacherous off-road terrain, and mountain roads that are responsible for fatal accidents from time to time. The mountains are not the only fatality that the rally has seen, I've known (not personally) drivers to end up in one of the many rivers along parts of the course. This in itself is not usually fatal, however, most rivers in Kenya are known to have unfriendly inhabitants that most people refer to as crocodiles.
The
East African Safari Rally is a three day race in which drivers from across the world
compete. It is a grueling race that tests the capabilities and limitations of each
individual, each team, and definately every vehicle. In the 1997 Rally, Patrick Njiru,
another Kenyan champion was knocked out of the race within 5 hours of the start. The
vehicles plays a very in portant role, it has to be able to take brutal beatings due to
the rough terrain and dust accumulation. Many drivers are knocked out of the race
with engine failures due to the dry, hot, dusty conditions. Other times the drivers
are unable to make repairs in time to make the check point, or they have gotten stuck in
the water and mud if the weather has been bad. As you can see, there are times that the
roads appear to be more like water-ways. This is actually a road not a river or creek and
this is not uncommon during the rainy season, usually May - July.