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

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

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