Check out this little video we put together…Just to give you an idea of the kind of terrain we covered in 18 days!

Its not like we have made some kind of breakthrough in the field of psychological research by saying that your perception of a distance, or more accurately, how long it seems to cover that distance, is affected by your state of mind before you set out but this has become more and more apparent to us as we have progressed through Southern Africa. We drove over 1700 km from Lusaka to Lake Malawi and back; 25 hours of car time in order to hit the third check point. Before we started the Put Foot Rally a 6 hour trip to Durban was a mind slog but when you get your head around bigger distances it is amazing how quickly the 6 hour mark comes and goes. Kevin the Rally car has now traveled over 7000 km since he set out from Johannesburg and our perception of distance has completely been altered by this Put Foot Rally 2013!

We only had a day and half to enjoy Lake Malawi! Was it worth it? Was it worth all the pain and discomfort of sitting in a citi golf for 25 hours. Was it worth the frayed nerves that come with night time driving on pot holed and livestock covered roads? The answer is a unanimous “YES”. You just have to check out the pictures from this post to see why. Unforgettable memories that have almost been made more special by what distances we have had to overcome…

It also didn’t hurt knowing that when we got back to Lusaka we would have a hot shower and luxurious Protea Hotel bed to climb into…We love you Protea Hospitality Group!

the light at the end of the tunnel

Our final and 4th stage has very kindly been sponsored by:

KFP

After an incredible day and half in Monkey bay we made our way over to Senga bay (about a 2 hour drive) to make the next check point. As we have learnt, the Put Foot guys don’t hold back at the check points and the food and party that is laid on is always madly awesome. Malawi was no exception and the “Lumo” themed party was loads of fun! check out some pics (of quality that declines in converse proportion to the amount of alcohol that was consumed).

our porch has a 180 deg lake view!

Lumo themed party set up

Booze and fire…always smart

Later that night

even later on

RealFin

This post does not need many words…the following pictures should give you some vague idea of our insanely special Lake Malawi is:

Boat trip out to the island

Boooya

Local Fisherman doing their thing

Like an aquarium – only its a lake

Fresh water tropical fish – are you for real real

Fish everywhere – EVERYWHERE!

Snorkel Snorkel

Better for in the water

RealFin

Good bye Zambia (for now) and hello Magical Malawi. In the very short distance we have traveled after leaving Zambia yesterday morning, Malawi has managed to bathe us in her charms! The roads are good, more open, the landscape is beautiful and even the police check points seem nicer somehow (the police are more like information kiosks where they stop you to simply ask how you are doing and point you in the direction of your destination). The roads wind down the pass from Lilongwe to Monkey Bay on the lake making the drive way more interesting and fun. Baobabs and hilly outcrops dot the countryside…its awesome – I already love this place!

The pass down to Monkey Bay From Lilongwe

Baobabs…Everywhere!

Like I said…Baobabs

A massive thank you to Realtime Financial Solutions for sponsoring our stage 03 through Malawi

RealFin

We woke up on the morning of the 27th to find Kevin looking very sorry for himself with a more than sagging roof rack. It had probably been broken for a while with us blissfully ignorantly driving along – lalalalalala…life is golden….lalalalala. But with some bad roads ahead we needed to get things fixed up and out of this came one of the highlights of our trip so far. On the side of the road in a tiny town somewhere between Lusaka and Chipata we met Lizwe who went to work manufacturing us a new rack! What a legend:

Kevin looking sad with a broken roof rack

Lizwe the legend manufacturing a new rack on the side of the road

I really like this man

A much happier Kevin the rally car

Drake Fund Advisors

Between the shoe drop and the checkpoint party (numero dos) we got to go see Victoria Falls! Many kinds of impressive.

Above the falls

Below the falls

in a jungle below the falls

the water goes down and then up again

So magnificent…and the falls too

So much water

Don’t jump Mand’s

A baobab

Drake Fund Advisors

Travel in Africa, particularly Southern Africa is extremely challenging and uncomfortable! Check out the kind of conditions we have had to endure over the last 3 days – how we have managed I don’t know:

How must I shower in this

and sleep in this

We have been astounded by the presence of Protea Hotels in Southern Africa. While researching our Rally Route we realised that the Protea Hotel locations coincided remarkably with our stop overs – who would have thunk. You can travel through most of Southern Africa including Namibia, Zambia and Malawi staying in Protea Hotels all the way.

We have been insanely fortunate to have been hosted by Protea Hotels over the last 3 nights. We spent 2 nights at the Protea Hotel Livingstone which we used as a base for Check Point 2 and for the Put Foot Foundation shoe drop. We are tonight in the Protea Hotel in Lusaka. Both hotels are insanely plush and offer such great relief from the long hours on the road. The staff are so friendly and helpful and are probably the highlight of our stay at Protea Hotels in Zambia.

Protea Hotel Livingstone Team

A true Zambian Oasis

This stage has very kindly been sponsored by:

Drake Fund Advisors

Not just for the sake of alliteration! Pete and Amanda’s mattress got a puncture in the night and brought to an abrupt end the string of four nights of camping in a tent. Camping has been fun and rekindled all the childhood memories but when you are on the move and constantly setting up and breaking down your home, the flame of fun is extinguished quite quickly. On the banks of the Kavango river at about 23:48 the mattress let out its last breath and Mand’s and Pete were forced to climb into Kevin and spend the remainder of the night. Needless to say Mike and I did the majority of the driving from Ndhovu River Lodge to Katima Mulilo the next day with Kev’s back seat now providing a place to rest weary heads. When we arrived  at the border town of Katima Mulilo there was no question that we would be staying in a hotel!

Check out Amanda in bed and then some other pictures from Ndhovu River Lodge:

Camping in a car

Beers, Hippos and happiness!

Sunrise

On the banks of the Kavango

Novare Investments

As you have probably noticed…we have been a little quiet on posting and updating you on our progress in the Put Foot Rally. This is due to a number of factors including limited internet connectivity and endless hours on the road but mostly due to the dangerous nature of what we are doing. We are really putting our bodies on the line in the name of charity and ask you to show your support by making some danger donations to Abraham Kriel. If we don’t make it out alive we need to at least know that it was worth it. To illustrate just how dangerous it has been check out some of the signs we have encountered.

Elephant…just in case the sign is not clear

Bat eared Fox or Wild dog…or both

Kudu (presumably this sign is referring to all antelope otherwise they don’t care for Impala much)

Cow – these are everywhere and probably warrant a sign

oh…we were obviously just kidding about it being dangerous…Namibia has been nothing but hospitable and we have never felt unsafe…and also expect a string of posts as we have just arrived at Protea Hotel Livingstone and have some rapido wifi! Oh…and this place is insane…a little Zambian Oasis!

Thank you once again to Novare for sponsoring our first stage through Namibia

Novare Investments