Launched on Saturday the 7th of April from Cape Agulhas in South Africa to fulfill my dream of becoming the first woman to circumnavigate the African continent solo.
I initially started out on a bicycle but that went a little pear shaped when I was attacked and my belongings stolen in Northern Angola in 2011. The good news is that Angola is now my biggest and main sponsor and they also found all my gear four months later and returned it to me in South Africa! How amazing!
This journey will see me travelling from South Africa, up the West coast of the African continent to Morocco. From Morocco I will turn East and travel through the Northern African countries to Egypt. From here I will make my way down the East Coast back to where I started. However the official finish line is in Luanda, the capital of Angola. I will be traveling through a total of 23 countries and covering a distance of nearly 40 000 kilometers.
List of countries done so far: Namibia, Angola, Congo, Gabon, Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Cote D'Ivoire, Mali, Senegal, Mauritania, Morocco. Total Mileage thus far: 18 000 Kilometers in 5 months. Facebook Profile: www.facebook.com/jolandie.rust Facebook Page:https://www.facebook.com/jorust.com.wildatheart Twitter: www.twitter.com/jolandierust
My bike (DAX) and all my gear is currently still in Morocco. Due to some visa difficulties I was forced to return home to South Africa. Both the Algerian and Tunisian embassies refused me visas on account of my having to apply for said visas in my country of residence. I am currently in Johannesburg working on fixing all the visas I will need for the rest of my journey around Africa.
What's comes next?
Once I have returned to Morocco I will make my way across Northern Africa to Egypt. From Egypt I will then start turning south to make my way home via the eastern coast of Africa. After Africa? People are already asking me: What's next? And I do have an answer to that question! Once I have completed my tour around Africa, it's straight into training for the Dakar Rally! That's right! The next big dream is to become the first South African woman to compete in the biggest, most famous motorcycle rally in the world! Associations: Whilst riding around the African continent I am also representing FIM Africa. FIM is the governing body for all things motorcycling in the world. I am currently their Africa ambassador, whilst also promoting women in motorcycling.
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