TEN years ago a group of pensioners drove a converted fire engine almost 9,000 miles across Africa to raise money for Cancer Research UK, retracing a journey they took 45 before.

The plan had been to drive it to Germany and back to its original owner, who drove it to Cape Town for the 2010 World Cup, but problems with the suspension, visas and shipping meant after 4,660 miles driving from Cape Town to Kenya, the men had to turn back.

Neil Kennedy, 68, from Magor, along with old friends Roger Humprhys, John Savidge, Tony Long and Bill Archer, set off in the 37-year-old Magirus Deutz in July 2011 on the epic trip.

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The journey mirrored one the group, along with six others, took in 1966 when they went on a three-month road trip from London to Cape Town.

At a reunion in Cape Town in 2007, the idea was pitched to do a 'return journey' but starting in South Africa.

The group raised more then £1,200 so far.

Mr Kennedy said: "It was one of the best holidays I've had."

Here's how the Argus reported the preparations for the original adventure on October 4, 1966:

Gwent man prepares for African trip by van

A trip across the African continent. That is what awaits Mr Neil Kennedy, of Cocker Avenue, Cwmbran, at the end of this month.

Neil, a 23-year-old engineer, is a member of a 12-man expedition which plans to go from Algiers to Cape Town. The party will travel and sleep in three sturdy vans.

"We are in no hurry," says Neil. "The object is to see as much of Africa as possible. i doubt if any of us will be unduly worried if we don't reach Cape Town until next summer - although the idea is to arrive there by February." Nor is he concerned about the potential dangers. For he, and three members of the current expedition, have only recently returned from a four-month trip to Pakistan in a six-year-old van.

Three young Londoners - roger Humphries, Tony Long and John Savidge - advertised for a fourth man to complete with Pakistan-bound party, and Neil replied.

"Replying to that advertisement was the best day's work I have ever done," he said. "We drove nearly 14,000 miles through 18 countries, including Bulgaria.

2The final objective was Nepal, but the Indo-Pakistan war stopped that. We only as far as Peshawar, in Pakistan, but it was a great trip."

His memories are mostly of the unexpected events rather than the routine tourist attractions.

"Pakistan was marvellous," he said. "People actually queued up to invite us to eat with them and our van was given a thorough overhaul free of charge. The garage owner provided us with a meal while we waited.

"Then there was the Khyber Pass, with armed tribesmen riding past our van. The authorities warned us to keep to the road, as beyond it they could not be responsible for the actions of the tribesmen."

Most of all, however, Neil remembers what he calls "the almost terrifying loneliness" of the desert areas they crossed in the Middle East, and things himself well-prepared for the Sahara.

The obvious question, of course, is what has induced this adventurous young man to lead such a nomadic existence.

"Well," he admits, "I finished a five-year apprenticeship at Saunders Valves and decided I had to go - anywhere. As an apprentice I did a good deal of hitch-hiking around Britain and developed a taste for travel.

"As soon as I was qualified as a tradesman I tool a job in Leicester and then another in Amsterdam. After that came the Pakistan trip. Now, of course, it is next stop Africa."

And after Africa?

"Well," says Neil, "there is plenty of the world left."