It’s the early nineties, and two young men in their late teens are hanging out at the Muthaiga Mini Market in Nairobi when they notice a poster.
‘Rhino Charge. Find out more. Pay KShs 2,000 to register,’ it says.
They walk across the road to Triad House, pay up and get registered as participants, but there is a hitch: they don’t have a car, and they don’t have a team.
The good thing is they have friends, and over the course of the next few weeks, a kind parent gives them a car, another one lends their garage for the work needed to get the car ready and off they go to the Rhino Charge.
For those who love the adrenaline rush that comes with driving powerful vehicles over rough terrain in beautiful landscapes in the wilderness, this is the ultimate event.
“It’s truly an adrenaline junkie’s paradise because if you love adrenaline and you like to do difficult things, this is one of the best things you can do,” said Adil Khawaja, who was one of the young men described.
One of the unique aspects of the Rhino Charge is that while competitors know that they will get to test their machines, their driving and their wits, they never know exactly where they will do that.
A few weeks to the event, they are informed about its general location. They travel there on the Friday before and at about 5.30 pm, they are given a map with coordinates of the guard posts, the scrutineering area, and about 13 control points.
Every team’s target is to get to all the control points in the shortest number of kilometres. Speed is limited to a maximum of 40 kilometres per hour, with distance added if you exceed that.
Where they start off, the natural inclination is to drive in a straight line, but the course is set in a way that there will be rocks, rivers, valleys, trees, bushes, and other obstacles in the way, and that’s where the team comes in.
Each vehicle typically has a driver and navigator and four runners. The runners’ job is to go ahead of the vehicle and figure out the best way around it or whether going over them would be the better option. To get out of ruts and go over the obstacles, the vehicle is fitted with a variety of winches, an exceptional suspension system and a tough undercarriage, all of which are modifications done ahead of the event.
Over the years, the event got Adil and his teammates hooked. It inspired in him a passion for the environment to which he has contributed his knowledge and experience in the legal profession. He has experience with Care for the Wild in Kenya, served on the board of Kenya Wildlife Service as an honorary member, on the Arboretum Conservancy Community Forest Association, the National Environmental Council as well as the Taskforce on Forestry and Illegal Logging and Forests.
Starting out with a borrowed vehicle for the Rhino Charge, Adil now leads a team named AK44 and has helped build a vehicle, a powerful 6.2-litre, 500-brake horsepower machine that has been under continuous development since 2012.
The organisers of the Rhino Charge only give a competitor a permanent number if they are consistent in participating at the annual event, and Adil’s team now has 44 permanently and made it AK44.
Rhino Charge aligns with this passion, and so far, he has been among participants who have raised more than KShs 1 billion over the last 33 years, which Rhino Ark spent fencing Mt Kenya and Aberdare national parks, Eburru in the Rift Valley and will soon embark on Kakamega Forest.
This year, the event raised KShs173 million, and AK44 emerged the top fundraiser, with KSh60 million, and President William Ruto attending the ceremony to celebrate the winners and hand over trophies for the top teams.
All the preparations come to a head around this time of the year when the Rhino Charge is held, and the anticipation is palpable. This year, the competition was held in Laikipia County and brought together 65 drivers.
Adil missed last year’s event after falling ill the day before and was looking forward to this year’s adventure in the bush.
“I missed being in the camp with my friends, I missed being in charge, driving on the day. So this year, I’m really looking forward to meeting some friends who I only meet once a year, getting in touch with some of my teammates and cousins who fly from overseas who I see once a year. So, I’m very keen and excited to spend time with them.,” he said ahead of the event.
The annual event brings families and friends together. They set up camp, cook, catch up and cheer each other on when the cars come alive.
For the enthusiasts, the Rhino Charge is one of the highlights of the annual calendar, one of the things they plan for, along with school for the children and holiday destinations.
“You end up having an amazing day driving around. First, before you even get to the event, the organizers select a beautiful venue. So when you get in, you are wowed by the beauty of the venue. They’ve taken us to lots of places in the last 32 years, and never visited a site twice. Again, you know, it’s just the sheer excitement, the thrill of doing the event, being in the bush trying to go around to all the controls in the shortest distance. I can’t explain the feeling. You can’t bottle it, but it’s just awesome,” Adil concluded.
This story is part of Safaricom Newsroom’s coverage of the Rhino Charge competition, which supports the activities of the Rhino Ark Kenya Charitable Trust. Safaricom has sponsored KES 15 million in this year’s event. The M-PESA Foundation has also committed to support restoration of Kakamega Forest through the Rhino Ark Kenya Charitable Trust and its partners who aim to raise funds to preserve our ecosystems, biodiversity, and livelihoods through environmental conservation.
