Day 1
Johannesburg to Umkulu Base Camp, Orange River (near the Vioolsdrif Border Post).
Distance: 1 400 kilometres
The rally gets going!
Right so this is it, The Put Foot Rally is underway. If you’ve been living under a rock, find out here what it’s all about.
After an early, military-style wake up courtesy of Rally Chief Daryn Hillhouse, we headed to The Start Line at The Wanderers Club to see the Johannesburg teams off. The same was happening at The Toad in the Village in Noordhoek, Cape Town. Crews started rolling in at around 05h40 in a mix of Land Rovers, double cabs, sedans and hatchbacks. One team pulled up in a sexy 1961 Mercedes Benz, another in an old-school mini Mini and another, The Silly Buggers – who some might remember from last year’s rally as the guys who practically pushed their Datsun through Africa – rocked up on three Big Boy scooters, complete with aftermarket neon, probably bought somewhere in Chatsworth. Check out the photos from the JHB Start Line on Facebook.
Spirit of Ubuntu on the Road
As soon as all the crews were on their way, we hit the road in our own wagon: The Put Foot Rally HQ Taxi, christened ‘Spirit of Ubuntu’. It’s an eight-seater minibus with a table in the centre, an inverter to charge laptops and phones and a USB WiFi dock. It’s the Put Foot Rally’s mobile HQ and media hub.
Put Foot Rally Taxi HQ (complete with GRID-IT Organiser)
It looks spacious, but don’t be fooled. It’s crammed to the max; soccer balls, socks and goodie bags occupy every fathomable space under the seats, crew gear and boxes take up the rest. Most of it is to be given out with school shoes at ‘shoe drops’ along the way for The Put Foot Foundation. It’s the reason why we’re on this wild adventure in the first place.
We picked up Put Foot Foundation ambassador Mike Sharman, on the way out of Johannesburg and headed to Potchefstroom for breakfast where we barely squeaked through the height restriction chevron at the Wimpy Drive-Thru.
Not Mike Sharman
We hit the tar again. The road from Potchefstroom to Upington is fraught with … nothing. The road goes on forever, oncoming trucks tear up the stretch of asphalt conveyor in quick succession; both sides inexorably flanked by endless wheat fields. We dodged a few potholes and kept heading due West.
Wheat fields and sky
Our GPS turned out to be as useful as an ashtray on a motorcycle. It reset itself at the most critical of moments and even when it was working, it was uncertain. One of our crew members, Pete, pulled out an A2 Map … old faithful.
‘Where’s Upington, boet?’
We turned down a dirt road to Delareyville, which I thought sounded disturbingly like a Steve Hofmeyr song. The stretch further on, near Vryburg, was peppered with two-tone clad families, more potholes, donkeys and dust. It’s a gem, to someone, somewhere.
The donkey lane
Just before we got into Kuruman, Bob Skinstad called Mike Sharman for a quick interview on 2OVfm. I was sitting in front, and hearing Mike tell Bob what the whole thing was about put the epicness of Put Foot Rally into perspective. So far, teams have raised over R350 000 for both the Put Foot Foundation and Project Rhino KZN, the second charity benefitting from the rally. It’s an incredible achievement and it’s only gathering more momentum, the rally Twitter feed is testament to this. Keep track of the #PutFootRally hashtag to see what it’s all about and visit the Put Foot Foundation’s donation page to see how the donations are rising.
Mike Sharman on the phone to Bob Skinstad
We passed through Pofadder and Springbok in the dead of night. We arrived at Umkulu Base Camp on the South African side of the Vioolsdrift Border Post to Namibia at around 02h30, 18 hours on the road. I was too tired to put up my tent. Mike Sharman’s tent was already up, courtesy of fellow Put Foot Foundation Ambassador Dan Nash. I needed a big spoon, Mike Sharman was it. Thanks dude.
Little spoon, big spoon
Today, Day 2, we head across the border into Namibia and up to Windhoek, but more of that in the next post.
Follow the rally on Twitter: @PutFootRally, @BangersandNash, @MikeSharman, @TysonJopson and find the Put Foot Rally on Facebook.
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