Monkeying Around

Fourteen men were dropped in the middle o f the Sahara Desert in Morocco and told that they had six days to get to a specific location along the Atlantic Coast 1,000 kilo metres away. The kicker: they had to traverse alien territory and battle harsh environment on 49-cc monkey bikes

- Harket Suchde

THE ADVENTURISTS IS A BRISTOL (UK)-BASED ADVENTURE tour company that on the face of it is completely bonkers. Why you ask? Well, their idea of adventure is a tad extreme, like you might-not-make-it-out alive extreme. Scary? Yes. Awesome, absolutely! Which brings us perfectly to their latest venture: the Monkey Run. Let me quote directly from the press release they sent us to tell you what this ride is all about: “The Monkey Run took place for the first time this April and involved fourteen brave/stupid guinea pigs being led blindfolded into the Sahara desert, twelve hours from Marrakech, and told they had to get to a destination on the Atlantic Coast, 1,000 km away, six days later. The only slight glitch, they had to travel the 1,000 unknown kilometres on a monkey bike.”

They also had an entertaining turn of phrase to describe the said 49-cc monkey bikes: “If a gigantic all-terrain dual-sport bike is a way of announcing to the world that you’ve got a tiny willy, a monkey bike serves to remind folk that you’re hung like a donkey.”

Erm...okay then. Moving on, at least some of these 14 men made it out relatively unscathed and were able to share their thoughts on this ride of a lifetime afterwards. Here is what they had to say:

Thomas Schultz

On what he expected from this ride:

When I signed up for this adventure, I expected everything to go wrong. And it did.

On how long it took him to get lost en route:

Four kilometres. I lasted four kilometres before I got lost along the western edge of the Sahara. I eschewed any form of compass or map in exchange for a bottle-opener and an emergency warm beer. My only regret about getting lost, I wish the beer had been cold.

On the ride itself: