Day 3: 24 June
Namibia – Etosha Safari Camp, Etosha
We all agreed that is was the coldest night any of us had ever experienced. Temperatures dipped to below freezing overnight and none of us had a good night’s sleep. I was one of the first to wake up and as I opened my tent I saw a mass of water – we had camped right next to the Lake. We had arrived after dark so we weren’t exactly sure where we were (this seems to be our theme of the trip). Bad idea.
The rest of the teams packed up and left. We shot some video and photos for our story and headed towards Windhoek. It was an hour’s drive to Windhoek and then another three hour’s drive to Anderson Gate at Etosha – Checkpoint 1.
It was a day of cross-country driving. Other than a quick stop to buy ten blankets from PEP in Windhoek, we missioned straight to the first checkpoint. We managed to navigate our way through the city and carried on along the B1 and then turned off on the C38. I made myself a little kitchen in the back of the car and made the guys ham and cheese sandwiches on some rather dry bread. Anything is better than nothing I was assured!
There was a giant orange arrow and sign that read CHECKPOINT 1 as we entered Etosha Safari Camp. The signs led us into a festive campsite of Put Foot Ralliers. Evan kindly figured out how to put up my penthouse suite (aka the rooftop tent). I approved and moved in there with all my kit, which included three more heavy blankets. I then saw that two of my doctor friends from Hoedspruit were camping next door to us! This rally just keeps getting better.
Most people had arrived and were already in the spirit of the party. The Redsock Friday team hosted the party. Theme: Flower Power. And we all had to wear red socks. The teams got behind this in a big way and so did the staff at the camp. They put on a superb first checkpoint with an enormous buffet and a very well stocked bar. There were over 110 people seated at tables around the campfire. The vibe was electric. Everyone was mingling with everyone, everyone was on a high from a brilliant first three days – everyone was in party mode!
It was one of the most entertaining nights I’ve had in a long time. I went to bed after 2 am. It can only get better from here.
Album of the day: Jimi Hendrix’s Live in Monterey – like a rolling stone
Enter our Bobs for Good Foundation competition by donating money for shoes that we’re dropping off on the Put Foot Rally and stand the chance of winning a three night stay in Livingstone.
Follow our trip on twitter @Evan_Haussmann @christiefynn @going_homeless @Put_Foot_Rally or search on Twitter for hashtag #putfootrally to see all the tweets from the rally teams.
The Getaway team would like to thank:
4×4 Mega World for their fully kitted out VW Amarok
K-Way – the official gear partner to the Getaway team on the Put Foot challenge
MapStudio for their Southern and East Africa map
