BENIN – OFFICIAL FINISH – Grand Popo - Friday 27th November

This day was full of emotion as it was going to be the official completion of the trip. Many teams were unsure they would finish due to the technical and physical pressure of the trip, but we all have without exception completed the 5th and final Touareg Trail hardcore edition. As a group we all convoyed together and took an off road track to Grand Popo where we would officially complete the trip. There was lots of singing and celebratory drink upon arrival in the town. The Mayor turned out to welcome us and we did two parades of the town, waving at the local behind our police escort. We were so pleased to reach the end, everyone was very excited resulting in excessive use of the car horns and soaking each other with water and beer! A bit crazy but a welcome release knowing we had made it the 6000miles at last. At 12pm we drove onto the beach at Grand Popo and lined up on the sand. After enjoying a coconut filled with rum we all ran into the sea to celebrate. The waves however were huge and several people got knocked down by them including both our official trip cameramen. Fortunately nobody was seriously hurt. The rest of the day was spent enjoying a well earned rest and a nice dinner before everyone went to bed relatively early, worn out from the day’s excitement.