(Jamaica Gleaner) Cecil Beharie had always wanted a Land Rover. Not just any Land Rover, as the renowned rugged ride comes in a vast range of styles and trim levels. The ‘Guyanese-Jamaican’ wanted a four-door Land Rover, sedan style with a covered back.
“From I was young, driving Land Rovers for my uncle and uncle’s friends, I said I had to own one,” Beharie said.
He got it three years ago, but not in quite the condition of the typical dream car.
“My Land Rover is like a big prize for me. I got it in 2009 at a Government auction as an unserviceable vehicle. I bought this Land Rover not knowing if it would ever run again, not knowing what was missing,” Beharie said.
A lot was missing from the 2001 Land Rover Defender 110 TD5 – engine parts, brake parts, air-conditioning parts and even the fuel tank. Beharie, who runs Power Steering Specialty on Central Road, St Andrew, sourced all the missing components and had them installed, all the while not knowing if the investment would have tangible results.
The element of risk made the completion of the project even more exciting. “When we hooked up all the parts it was like a major event. We put in the battery, turned the key and it started like a brand new car,” Beharie said. It has been running like a gem ever since.
Into the hills
Beharie has put 11,000 kilometres on the clock since acquiring the Defender at 69,000 kilometres. Almost all that distance has been on hill runs, as Beharie said on weekends he goes into the hills of Jamaica. Cinchona Gardens (“I must have the record”) and Whitfield Hall among his regular destinations. There is also Mount Airy, en route to the old boy’s home.
So the Land Rover has earned the Jamaica sticker on a rear left window time and again. But below that are stickers for Guyana and Brazil, which Beharie put on after debuting as a driver in the safari across the Pakaraima Mountain last April. He had participated as a co-driver in two previous stagings of the safari and points out that he was the first foreign driver to take a vehicle to Guyana for the event.
He will be going again this year, leaving from Georgetown on March 30. The over 500-mile journey one-way begins at midnight and the 20 vehicles will be driven through the early morning and all of the next day before the first stop. After that there will be nightly stops on the four-day journey to Orinduik Falls, on the river border with Brazil.
Beharie points out that “it is not a race. You go as a convoy. After a day of survival, the camaraderie at nights is out of this world”.
The route goes past a number of Amerindian villages, Beharie saying that the safari stops are a big event for the residents. With Guyoil, major petroleum products company in Guyana, sponsoring the safari, drums of fuel will be placed along the route to Pakaraima Mountain for members of the safari.
In getting there, Beharie is being sponsored by ELARC Welding Supplies, whose managing director LeRoy Morris made the connection between Jamaica and Guyana in business as well as motoring terms. “Guyana is one of our largest market. It is a great match,” Morris said.
Beharie will be the sole Land Rover driver in the convoy, on which Toyota is well represented by the Land Cruiser and Hilux Vigo. “This year I understand there will be vehicles from Suriname and Brazil,” he said. Last year there were muddy conditions and Beharie already has a winch installed on the front of his Land Rover. “We expect to do a lot of winching again. You can’t survive a Safari without a winch,” he said.
The heavy-duty suspension parts installed for the first safari run were not taken off and Beharie is considering changing the tyres. The Hi-Lift jack is in place on the roof and Beharie is ready to go.
And a few months after returning from Guyana he will show that he is good on his feet as well as behind the steering wheel, as Beharie plans to hike to Blue Mountain Peak in August.
He looks at the Land Rover Defender with an air of satisfaction, having fulfilled a boyhood dream. “It took me over 60 years, but I own one,” Beharie said.
