TOYOTA CONNECT W
hat do you do when you turn 80 and your faithful Toyota Conquest is 20? You plan a trip around Africa, of course. And once you’ve completed
that epic experience, you pack your car off to Europe and start all over again. At least, that’s what Julia Albu’s done. She defies any stereotype you may
have. Dressed in her favourite Mieliebag pants and long-sleeved shirt, her Emthunzini hat jammed on her head and her Crocs on her feet, she puts younger explorers to shame. The Jakkalsfontein resident has driven her 1997 Toyota Conquest, nicknamed Tracy, across Africa and Europe to raise awareness of literacy – and she’s had a ball.
THE JOURNEY SO FAR Following the death of her partner of
33 years, having raised four children and been a gogo to her nine grandchildren, Julia decided it was time to take charge of her own destiny. “Who else would I choose as my partner in crime? For a quarter of my
life, Tracy’s been my trusty steed,” she says. “I’m doing this trip because I can. My car certainly can, and so can I. The older I get, the younger I feel.” In a car that had already clocked
almost 400 000km, Julia departed from the Cape’s West Coast in June
THE GUTSY GOGO MEET JULIA ALBU, THE FEISTY 81-YEAR-OLD
SOUTH AFRICAN GRANNY WHO’S EMBARKED ON AN EPIC ROAD TRIP AROUND TWO CONTINENTS IN HER TRUSTY 1997 CONQUEST TO RAISE AWARENESS OF LITERACY
2017. “I’m blessed to have friends all over, many of whom volunteered to drive parts of the route with me, so that I was never alone,” she smiles.
A WARM
AFRICAN WELCOME Her trip through Africa was easy, she
says. Tracy took on the challenge remarkably well and Julia encountered warm, welcoming people wherever she went. “It took approximately five months because I had to make some stops on the way for repairs.” At no point did she fear for her safety. “The highlights were the people I met who invited me into their homes and shared a meal with me, realising a dream of sitting in the Simien Mountains in the Ethiopian highlands with the gelada monkeys and being privileged enough to attend the Masai games in Ndutu in Tanzania.” Her greatest challenge, she says, was
the roads in Uganda, which were a real challenge for Tracy’s wheels. However, she feels blessed to have met the people she did. “Most didn’t speak English, but
22
WORDS: BRENT LINDEQUE, THE GOOD THINGS GUY (
WWW.THEGOODTHINGSGUY.COM). ADDITIONAL TEXT: KIM BELL. IMAGES: SUPPLIED
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101
