ON February 16 the first ever Classic Safari Challenge sets out from the old port in Cape Town S.A. on a marathon drive through the heart of Africa to finish on March 06 at the luxury Hemingways Resort on the coast of Kenya.

The Classic Safari-Challenge is a long-distance endurance rally for vintage and classic cars. They drive unaided, in a pioneering rally like the original 1950s Safari Rallies, across the heart of Africa, via Namibia, Livingstone, up through Zambia, Tanzania and into Kenya. There are 30 cars which will be stopping off at very remote game lodges and off-the-beaten-tracks rest halts. It is a timed adventure rally and any driver who completes the full course and clocks in at all of the checkpoints will be presented with a gold medal at the prize giving ceremony to be held on the terrace of Hemingways.

The event is organised by the same team that ran the 90th anniversary of the Peking to Paris Rally and the first ever Around the World in 80 Days Rally.

Organiser Philip Young reckons that if you have sat in a car more than 50 years old, with no windscreen wipers, no windscreen even, and in some cases, no roof, you need somewhere mighty special to recover. Hemingways Resort in Kenya is arguably one of the loveliest hotels and soul-restoring spots in the world and Philip Young has chosen it as the finish as it is, in his opinion, a spot "hard to beat."

The oldest car to take part in the Classic-Safari Challenge is a 1920 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost driven by American Bill Larson. Other entrants include vintage classics such as open vintage Bentleys, Mercedes and MGBs, driven by enthusiasts from all over the globe.

For more information visit www.worldcuprally.com or Hemingways Resort, Watamu - Tel. 0122-32624/32724