EXPEDITION PROFILE

The Surf Rally Safari - Southern Africa

  • Location: Southern Africa
  • Total Distance: 5000km
  • Distance to Date: 0km
  • donation goal: 50 000 USD
  • donations to date: 0
  • start date: Jun 23, 2023

Expeditionists:

profile pic of Thommo Hart profile pic of Lelo Elvis Munis

MISSION

To chase the swell and summer for a plastic free world where the surf of Southern Africa is clean for people to carve up waves and the marine wildlife is protected.

OBJECTIVES

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Chase the Swell. Chase an Endless Summer. Go on a treasure hunt for the perfect wave. Carve some waves with your mates. Discover the coastline of Southern Africa. Make new friends. Throw a party at secret spot. Raise funds and investments for a better, plastic free world. Have fun.

ABOUT

Ever wanted to hop into a 60’s VW van with just a board and your mates and adventure down the Southern African coastline like it was an Endless Summer of Barrels?

Well come and chase the swell with the Surf Rally Safari, 4000 km of sick waves, deserts, mountain ranges, forests, lakes, national parks, wild animals and empty beaches. The Surf Rally Safari, is no ordinary rally, it is a treasure map to some of Southern Africa’s best waves and 5 secret beach spots with the best of entertainment. So get your board, your best mates, and one classic mode of transport and join the hunt for South Africa’s best kept treasures. Adventure waits you.

Sign up to the Expeditionists to hear news and updates on the Rally as we busy develop a new website and prepare for the most epic surfing event in world for anybody with a board.

Click on the Be an Expeditionist in the Get Involved Tab and fill out the form - https://expeditionists.org/getinvolved#application

Why the Surf Rally

Why not? One cannot say NO to exploring Southern African’s best isolated beaches, meeting great people and experiencing the very best of cultures, traditions, food, drinks and entertainment that Southern Africa has to offer. The Surf Rally Safari provides you the best opportunity to bring out the beach bum, adventurer, the party animal and the conservationist. The Surf Rally Africa is no ordinary rally, there is detailed treasure map with clues to check points, camps, secret surf spots and parties that also has historical and cultural backstories to the places you visit along your grand adventure. Not only do you have to solve some puzzles to find your next rest stop but these puzzles and clues lead to 5 secret surf spots where teams will compete against each other and one massive party will be thrown with best beach and high seas entertainment available. And then there is the pull of igniting the passion, consciousness and soul of a true adventurer in taking on the journey to conserve the coastline of South Africa for the next generation to enjoy by fundraising for social enterprises, start-ups and charities fighting for marine protection and conservation and creating alternative solutions to the plastic crisis. Epic waves are only good if they are plastic free.

Although there are hidden clues scattered across the coastline of Southern African, you can map your own route to them because this is an UN-ASSISTED ADVENTURE. No medical backup, no mechanical backup, no planning assistance. Just the unknown, the true essence of adventure. There will be recommended camps for each night along the route of the treasure map to hang ten and chill with your mates in some magical places. But you don’t need to stay these, the road is your oyster and you have the freedom to choose where you want setup camp, surf, dorp, braai and be merry each night. Along the treasured route, there will be 5 check points to make sure some wanderlust competitors havn’t made the wrong turn or become highway bandits or pirates of the high seas. With the 5 check points, come five secret surf spots one has to find on the treasure map where a totally groovy party will be thrown and then the next day teams will take on waves on any surf device be surfboard, bodyboard, SUP, skimboard, kiteboard, windboard or body and compete for the ripper of the day.

This is a limited entry event, which means only a few people get to experience this event each year. We don’t want to create too much of a carbon footprint because that would just not be green.

The life of the Surf Rally Safari are our participating grommits, dudes, dudettes, pros and pirates and their out of this world modes of transport. Although there are no restrictions on what vehicle you may use, be a baby blue Vesper, a beast of pickup or a fire engine, this is a green rally so the greener you are the more likely you and your team are in for the prize money at the end. Let your imagination flow and design, build, hire, rent, buy or own the most groovy and magical motor there is. Who knows, maybe we will see the first solar power, electric or piss driven vehicle to enter and grace our coastline with its green magic.

The start of the rally is at the world’s second favourite city, Cape Town, and the finish line is on the white beaches and reef breaks of Maputo. From Cape Town, we will adventure out to the West Coast to explore some isolated beaches and fishing towns just pumping barrels. From The West Coast we will adventure through the Ceres and the Death Valley to the vineyards of Robertson and then down to the coastline of the Garden Route. From the Garden route the map will take you into the Eastern Cape where we will experience some radical landscapes of the Klein Karoo and the rolling barrels of the Wilderness coastline. From the pirates cove at the Barthhurst Arms pub, one will adventure through a rodent town and into the hills of Tokein’s imagination where we will find the shire and Frodo smoking a pipe. After a puff of pipe it is back to the pipelines of the Transkei where rolling hills, cliffs, cows and some heavy waves are found. Once through Pondoland, we will make our way down the Banana and Sugar coastline of KwaZulu-Natal where we will meet warmer waters, the Wall of Spears, the Mighty Tugela and the Zulu Nation. After showing our respects to Shaka by throwing a spear into the water to choose who takes on the North Coast Swell, we will cross the border into Mozambique and drink R&Rs while chasing the swell up to the Melting Pot of Southern Africa, Maputo.

The total period of time of the rally is 15 days. 15 days of breaking free and letting the adventurer and the beach bum in you take over on a wildest surfing rally in the world.

Rally Fee: R5000 per person

Min. Participants Per Team: 2

Max Participants Per Team: 6

Pirate Team Max: 8 (only if traveling in a large utility vehicle like a school bus or ambulance that will be donated at the end of the rally)

Each year, a chosen marine conservation charity and alternative plastic/waste business will be chosen as beneficiaries of the rally in which participating teams will chose one to raise funds or investments for. Each team will also be able to chose one marine conservation charity or alternative plastic/waste business of their own to raise funds or investments for.

Each team should try and raise above the minimum of 1000 USD from the time they register their team to the time they finish the rally.

The will be secret surf prizes for each of the 5 secret surf competitions and an overall secret surf winners’ trophy.

There will also be prizes for the:

• Best dressed team
• Best themed team
• Most classic ride
• Most useful ride
• Best raisers (fundraisers)
• Best plastic reclaimers (the team that collects the most plastic for recycling)
• The best beach bum
• The Rally Grommit

Rules:

1. You are on your own but obey the rules of the road.
2. Each participating member of a team has to pay the race fee to the rally in order for team to get their own profile page and ticket to the rally.
3. One can only get to your next destination using the treasure map, but that you may chose any route you like to the next destination.
4. Each team has to reach each check point to complete the rally.
5. Each team must select a swell chaser from their team. The swell chaser can either a surfer, bodyboarder, kiteboarder, wind surfer, SUPer or a naked (body) surfer. Each team can also enter as all swell chasers.
6. Each team has to raise funds for the chosen charity or plastic free business of the year and each team may choose their own charity or free plastic business to raise funds or investments for.
7. Each team needs to raise more than 1000 USD from the time they pay their race fees and create their team page to the finish of the rally.
8. Each team must manage their waste, pick up plastic waste when they can and recycle.
9. Each team needs to promote plastic alternatives and proper plastic waste management from the start of registration.
10. Each team needs to post and promote as much content on Southern Africa’s coastline and the conservation of marine wildlife as possible.
11. No driving while intoxicated
12. Each team needs to have a dress theme for the 5 secret spot parties

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