MY AFRICAN CONQUEST

<p><strong><em>‘Next year I’m going to be 80 years old. My car will be 20 years old. Together we’ll be 100. We’re going to drive to Cairo.’</em></strong></p><p><strong>‘And what route are you going to take?’</strong></p><p><strong><em>‘I have no idea. I think I’ll keep to the right.’</em></strong></p><p>When 80-year-old Julia Albu calls in to her favourite radio show with a zany half-baked idea she has no idea that it will lead her to the adventure of a lifetime.</p><p>From helping push a 30-year-old Toyota bakkie up a precipitous mountain pass in Malawi to being ‘adopted’ by the riotous ex-pat South African community in Dar es Salaam and being fed mildly hallucinogenic ‘herbs’ by her Ethiopian driver-guide nothing deterred 80-year-old Julia</p><p>Albu from her quest to drive through Africa from the Cape to Cairo.</p><p>She and her 20-year-old Toyota Conquest Tracy – a personality in her own right – travelled through 10 African countries from South Africa to Egypt (and beyond). Julia was accompanied by a series of companions who added texture to her travels: three of her four grown-up children her son-in-law and at least one person who began as a complete stranger and ended up as a friend for life.</p><p>Reminiscing about her long and interesting life along the way and maintaining a bright and upbeat outlook regardless of the circumstances Julia proves that you’re never too old to tackle that buck</p>