And so it begins… the Deccan Odyssey. In June 2023 we will start the ride of our lives! My intrepid adventurers are going to start a 1100km (756 mile) trip – ‘kilometres’ sounds like a more impressive distance – from Panjim in Goa, up to Pune and then across to Bombay/Mumbai – it will always be Bombay to me!
Let me set the scene and tell you a little about Us… Us being the madcap wanderers. We have three teams so far undertaking the journey. My own ‘Team Sakala’ which consists firstly of Sarah Hand, who has done many mind bending fund raisers with me over the years including Wing Walking a couple of years ago, as well as cycling many miles in Brazil, Kenya and of course at the training camps in the UK. And second is Martina Osie-Bobie, personal Chef Extraordinaire, who also puts up with my madness and agreed to skydive over Salisbury Plain last Summer.
We then have Amanda Duke and her son Tom, who are a family team. Amanda has visited India several times and is an art teacher and artist… one of her collections has taken Jaipur, with all its colours and textures, as its inspiration. Tom, we will get to know over the coming months.
Our third rickshaw is The Sussex Prairies rickshaw; their team being Anna Tidey and her friend Yasmine. Anna is the sister of Pauline McBride who, along with her husband Paul, is the proprietor of the Sussex Prairies – beautiful gardens just outside Henfield in West Sussex. Pauline and Paul love India and Pauline was hoping to accompany Anna on this journey. She was unable to as it is peak garden visiting season so Anna has taken up the gauntlet along with Yasmine to complete the quest.
