I was lucky to take part in Put Foot Rally 2014, travelling over 8000km in 18 days through 4 southern African countries in a 1981 VW Kombi.  This was to help raise funds and awareness for the Put Foot Foundation; an experience I cannot recommend highly enough. So for anyone who follows me on Twitter or Facebook, you will understand why I continually promote them! Whether you are in your early twenties or late 50’s, this rally is a blast.  The mix of people and ages on this rally is, in my opinion, what made it so fantastic.

I found out about Put Foot Rally from friends, Andrew & Shane in Eshowe and I was super keen.  So I went onto the website and saw there was a Facebook group for the various crews; to keep in touch and look for crew members!  Each crew is allowed up to 5 people. I saw Cat looking for members, and so I emailed her to discover she was in Pinetown, only a couple of hours away.  We met up and that was that!

Many thought I was a bit nuts signing up to do this trip with people I didn’t even know, but it was without a doubt the best thing I ever did. I flew down to Cape Town where I was collected by my team, Torque of the Town; Cat & Mike (engaged), Simon, (Mike’s friend from Bournemouth) and Jade, (a random like me from Halifax, England). It then came to light that with all mine and Cats list making and preparations, the boys, who were left to pack the car, decided that the camping box, containing all cooking and eating utensils was going to take up far too much space.  So naturally, they left it behind. And so our hilarious journey began!

Just your average paper plate & ice cream lid filter.

shoes

Etosha Pan

Registration Day

Joes Beerhouse … early evening

Madibas Mafutas

Oh! A nob!

Team Pole Pole

Bundu Bashers

Fish River Canyon

Rock & Roll Wrinklies

Cool Runnings at the Finish Line

TOTT at The Waterfront in Livingstone

Torque of the Town, Cool Runnings & Challenge Accepted.

Mzolis

Tropic of Capricorn

Queen Anne’s Revenge

Missing in Africa

Registration Day

Rock ‘n Roll Wrinklies

Team Dixie-Normous

Sundowner Boat Trips

First Checkpoint

TOTT in Namibia

Dishing out soccerball love

Cape Town Shoe Drop

Queen Annes Revenge

Bush Mania

Team Hard Core

Team Triton

Party Animals these two. #patrone

Etosha

Canon Road House

We travelled from Cape Town, through Namibia, Zambia, and Malawi. We saw the most amazing places and scenery, and most of our photos are of people.  Why; because it turned out that is what it was all about – awesome people. I could spend days writing about all the things we saw, laughed and weed over, but I would be here forever.  I will say:

When travelling in a car and someone is sick and asks for a plastic bag, check it for holes first.
You can wee into a bottle with a shewee travelling over 100km per hour
One plastic spoon can be shared amongst 5 people over more than one meal.
Rum & gin sachets – best invention ever.
Always have US Dollars. Always.
You can laugh your way through anything – if you choose to.
Patron is a dangerous substance that should be consumed in small quantities.
An air filter can be fixed with an ice cream tub lid & a paper plate.

2015 rally kicks off next month.  To find out more visit www.putfootrally.com, www.facebook.com/putfootrally and www.twitter.com/putfootrally. You are too late to register your own team, but you never know if some teams are looking for extra crew last minute. Check out the 2015 Facebook Group.

Related charity I have discovered – The Shoe That Grows.  Lastly – Jade and Ashley from Team African International and joined up and are taking part in the Mongol Rally! Amazing … you guys!!!