James
James has always been interested in cars. The Mongol Rally was the first rally he took part in. He drove it with co-organiser George and found it to be a life changing experience. Since then he has driven from London to Jordan in a Nissan Micra and Senegal to Cameroon in a Renault 4.
He first went to the Balkans in 2004 on an inter-rail trip with the DJ for the launch party, Pelski. During this trip he was mugged, taken hostage, and had to dive from a moving taxi. None of these unfortunate events occurred in the Balkan countries, which he decided were altogether more agreeable than the supposedly safe parts of Western Europe. He has visited Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo and Macedonia and loved all of it. Lake Ohrid was chosen as the destination for the rally following 3 glorious days spent there last year on his way to Jordan.
Ben Stevenson
Ben Stevenson is a film maker from London who is going to be making a promotional film for the rally. He has recently completed a film about his record breaking attempt to drive an Austin 7 from London to Cameroon. His films have been screened at the Cannes film festival and the London, Moscow and Milan fashion shows. He has worked on the set of various TV shows such as Silent witness and Walters war and has helped produce adverts for companies such as Kitkat and Kingsmill.
Claire & Miona
Both have been DJ'ing in Berlin, mainly electro-tech-house. This bonus gives the pair the edge...
Claire Kurylowski - Online
George
George left England alone to visit Bulgaria at the heady age of 16. He stayed with Emi, the official Balkan Rally translator, who took him for four days of skiing and a couple of nights in Sofia. George was forced into strip clubs, casinos and cars with strange men offering drunken tours around the city at break-neck speed. Some say he returned a man.
The following year he amplified his love of all things Balkan with an inter-rail journey beginning at Gdansk, on Poland's coast and finishing in Sofia - were he missed his flight only to return by train. The Mongol Rally allowed both George and James to go and do it all again on their way to Ulan Bator, Mongolia. Most recently, George bought a mini bus off eBay before covering it in zebra stripes and making his way to Istanbul.
"I've always been astounded at the diversity of the Balkan's culture and it's right on our door step."
Emanuela Markova
The vast majority of the clubs we communicate with don't speak
English. Negotiating the terms of your discounts would be an
impossible task without the help of Emanuela Markova.
Emi speaks Bulagarian, Hungarian, Croatian, Serbian, Bulgarian,
French and English fluently. We would be lost without her...
Fox & Squirrel
Fox & Squirrel launched in 2009 with the aim to showcase Balkan and UK based creatives alongside one another. By doing so Fox & Squirrel aim to become a platform for creative exchange between the two regions but also to contribute to the expansion of a creative audience. Linking up with Balkan rally is a great opportunity for Fox & Squirrel to share with you en route all the hidden cultural, artistic and quirky gems that we have already discovered in the Balkans.
Fox and Squirrel blog