Heart of Darkness: 1993 Camel Trophy
From the October 1993 issue of Car and Driver.
Malaysia—An orangutan ambushed a French tourist as he was strolling in Borneo and stripped him naked, the national news agency said Tuesday. The report said the male orangutan grabbed the unidentified tourist and pulled off his pants, shirt, and underwear as the tourist's wife looked on. The orangutan fled into the woods with the clothes. —Reuters wire service
This was more or less all I knew about the Malaysian State of Sabah, on the island of Borneo, before I allowed myself to be shipped there to compete in the 14th running of the Camel Trophy. Well, I knew a little more. In the airport, a sign warned that getting caught with drugs in Sabah would get you hanged, for instance, and that it was a capital offense to import either "cloth bearing reproduction of any verses of the Holy Quran" or any "video games machine"—the latter prohibition proving this is an advanced culture. I also had learned not to eat or drink anything I did not personally pack or purify. And not to drive into water deeper than five feet if it contains crocodiles.
Peter MacGillivray
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Car and Driver
The U.S. team in situ. Unusual suspects (from left): MacGillivray, Hussey, Hensley, and "bloody burden" Phillips.
Peter MacGillivray
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Car and Driver
Somewhat less comforting was Vince Thompson's admonition: "When you relieve yourself, remember that the jungle is not your friend."
Peter MacGillivray
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Car and Driver
Marc Day abandons ship and is yanked to safety.
Peter MacGillivray
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Car and Driver
Daily Rover repairs meant some mud on your pants.
Peter MacGillivray
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Car and Driver
Only a handful of humans have seen Maliau Basin.
Peter MacGillivray
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Car and Driver
Orangutans, displaying more sense than contestants, stayed in the shade.
Peter MacGillivray
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Car and Driver
Typical Trophy-built bridge required some impromptu forestry.
We stopped in a nameless village to examine the damage. I stayed in the Rover because I had bungee-corded my head to the roll bar and was thus finally comfortable enough to sleep sitting upright.
Car and Driver
Peter MacGillivray
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Car and Driver
Ace driver Tim Hensley (right) sat in the rear seat rarely. Dazed and raving journalist (left) usually bungee-corded his skull to the roll cage to sleep upright. Just like in his office.
Peter MacGillivray
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Car and Driver
The banana viper inflicts "just three or four days of fever."
In the morning, we examined each other's naked bodies for tiger leeches and buffalo leeches, just one of the latter rumored to be capable of sucking one liter of blood.
Peter MacGillivray
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Car and Driver
Peter MacGillivray
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Car and Driver
John Phillips
Contributing Editor
John Phillips first began writing about cars in 1974, at Car Weekly in Toronto. He later worked for Ford Racing, then served for seven years as the Executive Editor of Car and Driver. In the interim, he has written for Harper's, Sports Illustrated, The Toronto Globe and Mail, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, and Conde Nast Traveler. He enjoyed a one-on-one interview with Joe Biden and is the author of the true-crime saga God Wants You to Roll and the memoir Four Miles West of Nowhere. In 2007 he won the Ken Purdy Award for journalism. He lives with his wife, Julie, in the Bitterroot Valley. Read full bio
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