Thrill awaits at Annual Rhino charge at Doldol in Laikipia

The Kenya Premier League (KPL) takes a break this weekend for Kenya’s version of the FA Cup, the GOtv Shield.

SuperSport commentator Herbert Mwachiro is also the local football analyst on my ‘Saturday Sport’ show on Nation FM, and has the latest:

The match of the weekend is the all-KPL tie between Tusker and Western Stima, with Stima having never beaten Tusker in six years, while Tusker will be on a high after beating Gor Mahia in Meru last weekend.

Talanta have a good budget for a team in the Super League, and have former national team captain Musa Otieno in their technical bench.

In other news from this week, it was good to see Harambee Stars coach Adel Amrouche take a stand and leave Dennis Oliech out of the squad after Oliech absconded from camp.

This is not the first time Oliech has clashed with the national team’s hierarchy, and the striker has to realise that no player is bigger than a team.

He needs to grow up and hopefully he’s learnt a lesson this time. It was also good to have Arnold Origi back in the national team. He’s a mentally strong keeper and will bring a positive attitude to the Harambee Stars defence.

AFC Leopards had a good week under new coach Hendrick Pieter de Jong, winning all three matches in the group stages of the Nile Basin Cup in Sudan.

  However, the same can’t be said of KCB , who had to sack four players for indiscipline, and this is a lesson for budding sportspersonalities trying to reach the top of their disciplines – remain focused and enjoy their talents whilst they can.

SHOWDOWN

Now as you read this, the annual Rhino Charge will be underway in the Doldol area of Laikipia County.

This extreme off-road event, which brings together all sorts of motorsports enthusiasts and people who go just for the madcap entertainment in the middle of nowhere, was conceived in the late 1980s by Rhino Ark founder Ken Kuhle at the members’ bar of the Muthaiga Country Club, who then consulted rally fanatic Rob Coombes to organise an event to raise funds to save the rhino population at the Aberdare National Park.

Coombes got together with Brian Haworth to organise the first event in the Suswa area in 1989, which attracted 31 entries.

Today the Rhino Charge Committee runs this world famous event, with teams having to reach controls at various points on a course in the shortest possible distance while having to raise as much money as possible for the conservation of the fragile Aberdare ecosystem.

In 2010, the Rhino Ark Charitable Trust announced its formal commitment to support the conservation of other critical ecosystems, which started with Mau Mt Eburu and Mt Kenya, and money raised by the Rhino Charge plays an important role in this.

Looking at the results history, the winners vary from the likes of Ian Duncan and Rob Collinge, each three-time winners, to famous names like Carr-Hartley, McRae and two-time winner Mark Glen dominating the history sheet.

The event is as much about the ‘experience’ as much as the competing.  Huge organisations like Nakumatt are involved due to the worldwide publicity that is generated.

The Rhino Charge documentary is beamed around the world showcasing Kenya’s beauty, which is priceless publicity for a country struggling to cope with travel advisories.

INCREDIBLE RALLY STORY

There was an amazing story that emerged from the KCB Nakuru Rally last weekend.

23-year-old Nikhil Sachania was paralysed a few years ago after a quad bike landed on him.

However, he participated in his first rally at Eldama Ravine on Saturday, finishing the event in 31st place in a customised Mitsubishi Challenger, and caused a great deal of emotion afterwards by being carried to the ramp to collect his finishers’ prize. Sachania is, however, not the first disabled Kenyan to participate in a rally.

— The writer is a sport journalist and runs a consulting firm.

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