Tours of Discovery. newsroom. Lifestyle Oct 28, 2017

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Tours of Discovery. newsroom. Lifestyle Oct 28, 2017"

Solomon Burns
6 years ago
Views:

newsroom Lifestyle Oct 28, 2017 Tours of Discovery Many adventures are hard to plan. But there are exceptions. Such as the 2018 Porsche World Expedition.

Only a few bushes and sweet grass can defy the heat and drought. The Porsche Cayenne S shouldn t even be in this particular part of Australia.

1 newsroom Lifestyle Oct 28, 2017 Tours of Discovery Many adventures are hard to plan. But there are exceptions. Such as the 2018 Porsche World Expedition. Its participants will explore six continents in the new Cayenne. A look at the lead-up to a unique journey around the world. The Simpson Desert is too dry for even the hardiest eucalyptus trees. Only a few bushes and sweet grass can defy the heat and drought. The Porsche Cayenne S shouldn t even be in this particular part of Australia. But yesterday the Porsche Driving Experience team encountered an unexpected obstacle on its scouting trip. You can t go any farther, shouted an employee from the Birdsville tourist information center. All the roads are flooded! Turn around right here! she ordered, making energetic circular motions to indicate we should return in the direction we came. Catja Wiedenmann, the director of the Porsche Driving Experience, is not so easily daunted, not even in the town of Birdsville at the edge of the Simpson Desert. That s a nice welcome, she remarked through the open window with a smile. The next town is nearly seven hundred kilometers away, and the roads are no picnic, even when not underwater. Wiedenmann had originally intended to drive the Cayenne south from Birdsville, skirting the desert. She would now have to make a two-thousand-kilometer detour to avoid the flooding. She considers the situation and opts for a shortcut through the desert. Forty-year-old Wiedenmann likes to push the limits. Her job offers her a lot of contact with Porsche enthusiasts who seek to explore and expand their driving skills. She and a small team are in Australia to prepare for what may well be the most spectacular driving experience Porsche has ever offered the 2018 Porsche World Expedition. Its participants will have the chance to drive the new Porsche Cayenne on challenging routes across the globe. Six tours on six continents, including some extreme stretches: over four thousand meter mountain passes in the Andes and through salt deserts in Bolivia, through national parks in Africa, on sandy country roads in Southeast Asia, alongside picturesque lakes in Europe, on winding roads in Central America, and through the Australian Outback. There s never been anything like this before, says Wiedenmann. And probably never will be again. The expedition is unique. And extraordinary. Things will get rolling in May with the Australian tour, which will start off in Brisbane on the east coast and head for Perth capital of Western Australia on the coast of the Indian Ocean. The European tour will follow in June, leaving from Norway s North Cape and ending in the Chamonix-Mont-Blanc in France. Four more expeditions of thirteen to fourteen days will follow in Africa, Central America, South America, and Southeast Asia. Each tour will be 3,500 to 7,000 kilometers long and involve a maximum of twenty-eight participants. Up to four of them will share a specially equipped Cayenne. They ll take turns driving, sometimes as many as one thousand Page 1 of 7

2 kilometers a day, in classic rally teams. That means starting at set times and arriving at their destinations each day within specified periods. The World Expedition is designed for passionate Porsche fans who enjoy unique experiences with kindred spirits and seek extreme driving challenges and who long for adventures that are simply priceless, says Wiedenmann. Dress rehearsal for worldwide adventures It s exciting just to prepare for these unprecedented tours. Wiedenmann, who came up with the original idea, has put together an experienced team of professional travelers, event managers, rally experts, medical personnel, photographers, and local guides. They have spent months selecting the best possible routes, determining daily stages, and finding outstanding accommodations. Each route is being tested from start to finish. Like this one now in Australia. We personally inspect every part of the route, says expedition leader Annette Loftus. A travel specialist from the United States, she works around the globe and knows its most beautiful spots. And its hidden gems that people should discover. That s her life: I m bored if I m home for more than two weeks in a row. The organizational team is currently working nearly every day to ensure the exceptional quality of the Porsche World Expedition. For example, Loftus is negotiating with authorities in China on the conditions for Chinese driver s licenses, which are also required for foreigners. She is having members of the Maasai guide her to a hot spring in a Tanzanian jungle. One week she might be discussing evening meals with chefs in Stockholm, and the following she ll be organizing a tent camp in the Australian Outback. She calls it the reality check: We inspect each room, test the food in every location, and cover forty thousand kilometers. Loftus and her scouts have already mastered the routes in Europe and Africa, during precisely the same weeks they ll be traveled next year. The Africa tour, for example, will coincide with the great wildebeest migration in the Serengeti. In one of the most tremendous natural events in the world, six million animals cross the Maasai Mara. Loftus has received special permission from national park authorities for the Porsche group. The expedition will be accompanied by rangers in the Serengeti, but participants will drive the cars themselves. Sometimes we even manage to achieve the nearly impossible, says Wiedenmann on setting off in the Cayenne for the Simpson Desert. An experienced Porsche driver, she quickly notes that the dirt tracks are challenging but also the perfect environment for the sporty SUV. As she drives on, she makes another decision: this impromptu shortcut is so much fun that it ll become an official part of the Australian route. Three days and five hundred kilometers of high-desert excitement, with a camp under star-studded skies just one more highlight of the Outback tour. At the foot of Uluru A breathtaking sunset accompanies Wiedenmann and Loftus to Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, before the sun vanishes behind the Australian monument. Known as a sacred place of great spiritual importance to Aboriginal peoples, Uluru draws visitors from around the world. Wiedenmann soon finds a suitable place to stop. We could have dinner here, she proposes. Afterwards, she and Loftus negotiate with the restaurant operators. Catering in May of 2018? No problem at all. But things don t always fall into place so easily. We often change our plans because something doesn t quite meet our expectations, or because the route isn t gripping enough, says Wiedenmann. Or because a road becomes impassable, like the one near Birdsville. Maybe it s precisely the departure from well-traveled paths that makes an adventure unique along with the reassuring knowledge that even perfectly organized tours leave plenty of opportunity for an adrenaline surge. Australia Page 2 of 7

The route through the continent s heart of gold, where drivers follow in the footsteps of the indigenous peoples, covers more than five thousand kilometers from Australia s calm

Brisbane Fraser Island Simpson Desert Uluru Great Central Road Perth Europe This adventure starts with a charter flight to the North Cape in the land of the midnight sun.

3 The route through the continent s heart of gold, where drivers follow in the footsteps of the indigenous peoples, covers more than five thousand kilometers from Australia s calm eastern coast, through its seemingly endless Outback, to the ocean at the western city of Perth. Brisbane Fraser Island Simpson Desert Uluru Great Central Road Perth Europe This adventure starts with a charter flight to the North Cape in the land of the midnight sun. The group drives down through Scandinavia s gorgeous scenery and Central Europe s idyllic villages to Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, the home of Porsche. It ends in France at the foot of Mont Blanc. Oslo North Cape Stockholm Atlantic coast Stuttgart Stelvio Pass Chamonix The Alps Africa Page 3 of 7

Johannesburg Makgadikgadi Victoria Falls Ngorongoro Serengeti Central America From the Yucatán Peninsula to the misty jungles of Panama, this is a route with fabulous flora and fauna.

4 Africa too promises a host of striking impressions, from Johannesburg through Botswana and Zambia to the jungles of Tanzania. The wildlife and natural beauty here can hardly be surpassed. Johannesburg Makgadikgadi Victoria Falls Ngorongoro Serengeti Central America From the Yucatán Peninsula to the misty jungles of Panama, this is a route with fabulous flora and fauna. The adventure begins in the Mayan heartlands and continues through the jungles of Belize, past smoking volcanoes in Guatemala, and through charming colonial towns in Nicaragua. Following wildlife highlights in Costa Rica, this eight-country tour ends in Panama City. Cancún Mayan temples Jungles Volcanoes Colonial towns Panama City South America Page 4 of 7

The route from Peru to Argentina covers more than five thousand kilometers of sand dunes, salt fields, dirt roads, and breathtaking mountain passes.

Lima Machu Picchu Lake Titicaca La Paz Salt fields Buenos Aires Southeast Asia This is a tour to indulge the soul.

5 The route from Peru to Argentina covers more than five thousand kilometers of sand dunes, salt fields, dirt roads, and breathtaking mountain passes. Alternating between plains and heights, it speaks of even more marvels yet to be discovered. Lima Machu Picchu Lake Titicaca La Paz Salt fields Buenos Aires Southeast Asia This is a tour to indulge the soul. It starts in Bangkok and passes palaces, temples, and other historical sites from ancient kingdoms on a route through Thailand and Laos to the Himalayas. It ends in China s Shangri-La. Shangri-La Himalayas Lijiang Pu er Laos Cambodia Bangkok Porsche World Expedition 2018 Australia: May 11 23, ,400 km Europe: June 9 22, 2018 Page 5 of 7

14 days 7,000 km Africa: July 10 22, 2018 4,700 km Central America: August 4 16, 2018 3,900 km South America: September 15 28, 2018 14 days 5,800 km Southeast Asia: October 16

383 Info Consumption data Cayenne: Fuel consumption combined 9.2 9.0 l/100 km; CO2 emissions 209 205 g/km Cayenne S: Fuel consumption combined 9.4 9.

6 14 days 7,000 km Africa: July 10 22, ,700 km Central America: August 4 16, ,900 km South America: September 15 28, days 5,800 km Southeast Asia: October 16 28, ,500 km More information: Text first published in the Porsche customer magazine Christophorus, No. 383 Info Consumption data Cayenne: Fuel consumption combined l/100 km; CO2 emissions g/km Cayenne S: Fuel consumption combined l/100 km; CO2 emissions g/km AUTHOR Barbara Esser mail@barbaraesser.net AUTHOR Christina Rahmes Editor-in-Chief of Christophorus and has also written for publications such as Porsche Klassik magazine. c.rahmes@delius-klasing.de Page 6 of 7

dk Link Collection Link to this article https://goo.gl/pxnlv3 Media Package https://newsroom.porsche.

7 PHOTOGRAPHER Theodor Barth Has worked for Porsche and Bugatti, SZ Magazin and 11 Freunde. His work focuses on reportage, people and fashion. PHOTOGRAPHER Kim Tonning Link Collection Link to this article Media Package External Links Page 7 of 7

Incentive Destinations in Southern Africa

Incentive Destinations in Southern Africa By SALT Concepts 2017 / 2018 South Africa GENERAL Breathtaking Landscape and Activities Luxurious accommodation and exquisite food High class standards with an