Join the Sole Sistas on The Put Foot Rally 2013

Above: The Sole Sistas together at last (from left: Carri- Anne Kelly, Nicky Taylor, Casey- Alice Polson and Siobhan Wilson).

There is this perception amongst the masses that Africa is not safe. There are hooligans who obtained driver’s licences from the back of Rice Krispies boxes, manically captaining vehicles across roads that have pot holes the size of the Blyde River Canyon, tsotsi’s who are ready to relieve you of your vehicle at a moment’s notice, wild animals that have decapitated the local pride are going to maim you, and my favourite, no border crossing shall be successful without a small ‘donation’ to the official you are dealing with. This is the perception, yes? Well Sole Sistas and the Put Foot Rally are here to demonstrate that perceptions are just that, fictitious illusions created by the fearful.

Above: The Put Foot Rally 2013 Logo.

Okay, so I’ve got your attention, want to know more?

The Put Foot Rally runs from 18th June – 5th July 2013, owned and run by the awesome okes at Mountainshak Adventures, it has been labelled as “the greatest social rally on the face of the earth”. What happens is once a year, approximately 60-ish vehicles start in Cape Town and make their way to Namibia, Zambia, Malawi to the finish in Mozambique, from there they drag their exhausted, yet happy crew’s home.

The aim is to show the crews involved that ANY vehicles can be used to travel across Southern Africa, prove that Southern Africa is accessible, safe, fun and affordable and changing tourism in Southern Africa by encouraging people to give something back.

It also means that there is no backup, medical or mechanical support. The crews plan their routes, fix their vehicles with chewing gum and industrial tape unsupervised and find their own little place to sleep, whilst getting to the checkpoints in each country.

Above: The Sole Sistas enjoying a day together at the beach.

Meet the Sole Sistas!

Crew number 4 is team Sole Sistas. Our motto is “Have Heart, will Journey”. Made up of Siobhan Wilson from Pretoria, Casey Polson from Umhlanga Rocks, Nicky Taylor from Kommetjie and Carri- Anne Kelly, from Noordhoek. To tell the truth, the four of us don’t know each other from a bar of Sunlights soap and have come together through what can only be described as a series of fortunate events.

Our whole team has been orchestrated through WhatsApp, e-mails and one meeting in January 2013. What I can tell you about Sole Sistas is that we have the best sponsors. We will be leading the way in our Toyota sponsored Fortuner 4×4, kicking round in our fantastic Superga shoes, not getting lost thanks to Tracks4Africa, looking good to the people online with the help of Matteo Conti Photography and IMod Digtial, while wearing shiny trinkets made for us and available to buy from Work of Art Jewellery Studios and keeping our hair from flying in the wind thanks to Buffs. We’re getting sorted.

Above: The Sole Sistas showings some love for charities they support.

What we’re really about…

You may have noticed one of the objectives of the Put Foot Rally is to encourage people to give something back. The boys have a sideline project in the Put Foot Foundation which raises cash and uses the moola to buy and distribute school shoes during and after the Put Foot Rally, to underprivileged kids.

The Sole Sistas have taken this task to hand and all of us believe in using the Put Foot Rally to conduct Acts of Kindness. Our kindness is based on three charities, we have pledged our first R20 000 to be donated to the Put Foot Foundation, from there on our donations shall equally be split between Project Rhino KZN and the Breast Health Foundation.

How You can help…

Every donation big and small will be recognised and appreciated; the Sole Sistas website has Given Gain links to all 3 organisations that simplifies the donation process. Perhaps you have some unwanted camping gear in the garage, if so, check out the ‘wishlist’ section of the Sole Sistas website and help us out by making our journey slightly easier or alternatively visit our ‘charities’ section of the Sole Sistas website and click on the appropriate charity and the Given Gain link to donate a small act of monetary kindness.

Your kindness can help change lives and be part of the Sole Sistas journey…

If you’d like to follow the sure to be hysterics of four women adventuring 8 000 – odd kilometres, you can find us on Twitter, @SoleSistas, and on Facebook, Sole Sistas Put Foot Rally Crew 2013, or just check out our Sole Sistas website.

Guest Post Author

Carri- Anne Kelly describes herself as being somewhat of a Princess, but don’t be fooled, she’s more than capable of holding her own against the guys in this year’s Put Foot Rally. With a love for high performance cars and an a hunger for adventure, Carrie- Anne’s ready to go above and beyond for a good cause.