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1949 Trip Down Africa in a Jeep

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old News Articles • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

On December 06, 1949, New York Artist and former Gallery owner Elenore Lust drove her WWII jeep  into Capetown, completing a 13,000 mile trek from France to South Africa. Their trek took them across ten countries. During one long stretch in the Sahara Desert she and her husband Paul Koston, who didn’t know how to drive, had to spread wire mesh on the sand, drive atop it, then roll it up, move it to the front of the jeep, then drive forward again, a process they repeated many times.

Unfortunately, I could not locate a photo of her and her jeep, but I was able to find a photo and an obit, which shared that after teaching art in South Africa, she returned to the US and began teaching art in Pennsylvania up until her death.

This article from the December 07, 1949, issue of New York’s Daily News provides some details about the trip.

1949-12-07-dailys-news-ny-elenore-lust-desert-crossing

Here’s the only photo of Elenore I could find. It was printed in the June 08, 1988, issue of the Philadelphia Inquirer:

1988-06-08-philadelphia-inquirer-elenore-lust

Her obituary was published in the April 24, 1997, issue of the Philadelphia Inquirer:

1997-04-24-philadelphia-inquirer-elenore-lust-obiturary

 

2 Comments on “1949 Trip Down Africa in a Jeep

  1. Bob

    That’s quite an undertaking for people who know nothing about engines and one not knowing how to drive!

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