Check out this little video we put together…Just to give you an idea of the kind of terrain we covered in 18 days!
Back to Reality
We rolled into a chilly Joburg on Saturday afternoon, in desperate need of a shower, some clean clothes and a long overdue afternoon nap. Who says three weeks of holiday is easy? Kev has really surprised us on the trip, returning an average of 15km per litre, no flat tyres, no mechanical difficulty and besides a window that won’t stay up was the perfect car for a long trip like this. We rewarded him with a day at the spa on Sunday and he is now looking like new. They had to wash out some Etosha dust, lake Malawi beach sand, Zambezi mud and a variety of bugs from all the countries we visited, not to mention the coffee stains from numerous early morning garage coffees where Kevs bonnet was used as a table. Coming home on the N1 was a surreal experience. We have been negotiating tiny roads littered with goats, people, bicycles and at times elephants and now we were confronted by multiple lanes (an endangered species anywhere North of SA) and fast moving traffic. It took us a while to get out of the slow lane an accelerate above 80km/h!
Clean me
So shiny
KFP
Categories: Stage 04
Tags: Abraham Kriel, fund raising, Put Foot Rally, Put foot Rally 2013, Southern Africa Travel
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The Finish Line!
Team AK and Kev rolled into the finish line at Itumela Lodge in Palapye Botswana, not the beach in Mozambique but an equally awesome finish to a real African adventure! We were greeted at the finish line with a cold and well deserved beer, had our photo taken, set up the tents for the last time and got ready for the last checkpoint party. We covered 9000 kms across five African countries, saw some really amazing places and met some very special people, all accomplished in Kev, the little Citi Golf. It has been an awesome adventure and one we will never forget.
Finish Line
KFP
Categories: Botswana, Check Point Party, Stage 04
Tags: Abraham Kriel, Botswana, charity, Childcare, fund raising, Put Foot Rally, Put foot Rally 2013, Southern Africa Travel
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Last Night
We left Kasane and headed for Nata on Wednesday. Our progress was halted slightly by a herd of elephants crossing the highway! As you head down Botswana it gets drier and flatter, similar to what we experienced in Namibia a few weeks ago. We found a camp site near Nata and Kev got stuck for the first time on this trip. I would love say he got stuck on a 4X4 course, but we somehow managed to beach him on the road into the CARAVAN PARK! We set up camp, made what we now think may have been a donkey or goat stew with some beer bread and hit the hay. Hard to believe we will be at the finish tomorrow.
Nata
Ellies – you can never get enough of them
Don’t get stuck Kev
Categories: Botswana, Stage 04
Tags: Abraham Kriel, Botswana, charity, Childcare, fund raising, Put Foot Rally, Put foot Rally 2013, Southern Africa Travel
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The Pans
We took a trip onto the Makgadikgadi pan yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately Kev couldn’t join us as the roads get rather hairy. So we hopped into a landcruiser with our guide “KK” and headed off. The pans are flooded at the moment and will dry out again in Sept. We were treated to one of the best sunsets of the trip. Check out the pics!
Landcruiser…and also the vehicle
So flat
The pans
Shaaaaaame!
Too much the perrdy…not Michael…the sunset
KFP
Categories: Botswana, Stage 04, Uncategorized
Tags: Abraham Kriel, Botswana, charity, Childcare, Put Foot Rally, Put foot Rally 2013, Southern Africa Travel
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Charming Chobe!
We really do love alliteration! After Kev’s boat cruise we pulled into Kasane and found a cheap and cheerful camp site on the banks of the Chobe River. It took a while as half of SA is up here at the moment! We booked a sunset cruise and had hippos and crocs swimming around the boat, herds of elephants crossing the river in front of us and huge herds of buffalo within spitting distance. After all that we were treated to an amazing sunset over the river. It really was an incredible experience and we would highly recommend making a trip up to this special place.
Yawn
Shame
Hippos and croc
Ellies
More Ellies
Spotter
How perrdy
Special place
You will never regret watching every sunset
KFP
Categories: Botswana, Stage 04
Tags: Abraham Kriel, Botswana, Chobe, Put Foot Rally, Put foot Rally 2013, Southern Africa Travel
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Kev on a ferry!
We pushed on from Lusaka to Livingstone to get an early jump on the border at Kazangula the following day. We arrived at the border post to find masses of people, long lines of trucks, road works and hundreds of money changers! Luckily we found a kind gentleman who, for a small fee, helped us negotiate the crossing in quick time. Once we stamped passports, paid our tenth local municipality tax and the ferry fees we got in the queue for the ferry. Kev had to pick up some pace to get through the two meters of Zambezi between the shore and the ferry, but he negotiated that with little effort. The Botswana side of the border was a complete opposite to Zambia, with a beautifully paved ramp to receive us and about five people, a goat and a rather mangy looking dog. Hello Botswana!
Kevin on a ferry
Looking good
Zambia to Botswana
So Happy old Kev dog
Mike and Kev
KFP
Categories: Botswana, Stage 04, The Vehicle
Tags: Abraham Kriel, Botswana, charity, Childcare, fund raising, Put Foot Rally, Put foot Rally 2013, Southern Africa Travel
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Perception of distance
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
Categories: Stage 04
Tags: Abraham Kriel, charity, Childcare, Malawi, Put Foot Rally, Put foot Rally 2013, Southern Africa Travel, Zambia
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Check Point 3 – Senga Bay Lake Malawi
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
Categories: Check Point Party, Malawi, Stage 03
Tags: Abraham Kriel, fund raising, Malawi, Put Foot Rally, Put foot Rally 2013, Southern Africa Travel
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The Sensible One
On our first stop in Lusaka we said goodbye to Amanda, the sensible one. She had to get back to varsity and work. We made a few rules to keep safe on the trip, like no night driving. African roads are full of people, animals,crazy truck drivers and bicycles. Not 4 hours after her flight left we drove for about three hours in the dark to get to Chipata. It was the the scariest, most pot holed stretch of road we have ever encountered. Once we arrived in Chipata we then discussed making use of the 24 hr border and getting an extra day on Lake Malawi! Luckily we decided against it, but the quality of decision making and quality of living has definitely decreased since Amanda left! From dodgy roadside motels to Russian sausages from street vendors, we definitely miss the sensible female influence.
The sensible one is the one in the middle – just to be clear
The sensible one is the one on the left – just to be clear
The sensible one is on the right this time – just to be clear
Drake Fund Advisors
Categories: Abraham Kriel
Tags: Abraham Kriel, Childcare, fund raising, Malawi, Namibia, Put Foot Rally, Put foot Rally 2013, Southern Africa Travel, Victoria Falls, Zambia
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