The Portuguese reporter Fernando Laidley and José Guerra, in Luanda, Angola, with the VW Beetle used to complete the first trip around Africa by car, in 1955. [4120×2652]
Fernando Laidley is nowadays probably an unheard-of name for most people. He was a Portuguese reporter who organized and concluded in 1955 the first trip around Africa by car, using solely a single VW Beetle, because of their reliability, availability of spare parts (the car broke down a number of times, but survived) and air-cooled engine. The journey started in Lisbon, down the east-African coast till Cape Town and up again through the West coast of Africa till Lisbon again through Tangiers, and lasted about 10 months. Later on he published his chronicles (he wrote to several newspapers along the journey) into a book, and a number of other books covering different topics, from land journeys he undertook to the Portuguese war in Africa.
dezassete
Fernando Laidley is nowadays probably an unheard-of name for most people. He was a Portuguese reporter who organized and concluded in 1955 the first trip around Africa by car, using solely a single VW Beetle, because of their reliability, availability of spare parts (the car broke down a number of times, but survived) and air-cooled engine. The journey started in Lisbon, down the east-African coast till Cape Town and up again through the West coast of Africa till Lisbon again through Tangiers, and lasted about 10 months. Later on he published his chronicles (he wrote to several newspapers along the journey) into a book, and a number of other books covering different topics, from land journeys he undertook to the Portuguese war in Africa.
[Here’s a map of the route](http://ultramar.terraweb.biz/Livros/FernandoLaidley/17_FL_RA_007.jpg).