The Moroccan Roads

The Prologue

The lowlights -

Getting up at 3.30 am... Oh yeah, and getting stuck in sand 300 metres from the start line, in full view of the press!

The highlights -

• Sunrise in the Atlas Mountains...
• Getting rescued from the dunes by Martine and Monique the team from TOTAL Pau...
• And finally, finding all three flags, finishing in time, and only 2.12 km off the shortest distance!

Let's hope the real stages go as well (sadly today was just practice!)

Good or Bad?

Meknes

We arived at about 9 in the morning on Monday in Tangers, and immediately got lost looking for the TOTAL arrival party. Thanks to our friends at Mobil (does there seem to be a recurring theme here?) we found our way back onto the map!

We don't think we will ever have the same level of attention and service as we had at the TOTAL arival point. At 10 am we were greeted with food, drinks, dancing, and the obligatory press call. We set off at 11 and rocked up to Meknes 5 hours later. We had a few technical
glitches, but nothing that a bit of Tipex couldn't sort out.

Now that everyone is off the Scopoderm, it has become much more social. We have met fellow Gazelles from all over, including Senegal and Quebec.

After a hefty two hour briefing, we all went around the room and introduced ourselves including the number of times we have participated in the rally. 30 percent of the people here have
participated in the rally more than once, including one 12 time participant! The competition is a lot stiffer than anticipated! But we are still confident that we will place first amongst all Total Gas & Power teams...

The Gazelles were welcomed to Morocco by the Minister for Health and Development, who gave the opening speech at the welcome party, which was fantastic kick off to what we hope will be a great few weeks.

Today the TOTAL Gazelles had the earliest start, so any hopes of a last lie in were quashed by the alarm at 5.45... But this was a blessing in disguise as we had the rest of the day to scotch our maps, following the early morning calibration of our odometer and completion of technical and administrative verifications. Castel vineyards was again host to today's preparations, and pepared a fabulous bbq (they are also sponsors of the rally).

At 3 pm we departed en masse - bear in mind with organisers we are about 150 4x4s - and headed into Meknes for a parade. For approximately 2 hours we drove around town, with instructions to ignore all traffic lights and road conventions as the police stopped all traffic for our parade! The entire police force must have been deployed for this, and it seemed like the majority of the town came out to greet us, only marred by a somewhat embarrassing triple stall uphill in the old town. However, our embarrassment was soon replaced by slack-jawed bemusement at how the 6 foot 4 model and fellow gazelle found herself in the front row (surrounded by 5 foot beauties) for the group photo shoot - hmmmm... we wonder why...

As we headed back to the Hotel Dalia, the high point was watching Amanda from Team 150 Total South Africa wave the SA flag out of the window as she and Dalene drove along, and seeing how fast an arm can move when being mobbed by children grabbing at your flag.

Tonight will be a quite night as we have a 3.30 am start to get to Erfoud and begin the rally! We will try to keep this updated - note our mobile phones ae being confiscated tomorrow afternoon!

Just like any other Sunday (NOT!)

We've now been on the ferry for over 24 hours and have been feeling a bit loopy from the 'scopoderm' (seasickness patches only sold in France, with side effects including hallucinations)...

The ferry is full of Gazelles, so we've been busy checking out the competition.

Today we spent about 10 hours preparing our maps for the rally. All 26 have been measured, marked and colour coded. And we still have not yet reinforced them with the scotch tape! We have also been medically cleared, advised on what do in the event of snake/scopion bites (don't
worry Mum and Dad), tutored by navigation experts , have our entry visas, and all in all the ferry has been extremely busy!

Unfortunately the food has not matched London standards. Desperate attempts have been made to work off some of the stodge - you don't often see 5 women drinking water and dancing like idiots in the name of exercise!

Tomorrow we arrive in Tangers and drive to Maknes for briefings and technical checks. Look out Morocco here we come!

To the start!

Yesterday we set off from Paris to Sete - the departure city near
Montpellier in the south of France. It was a fully loaded day - first
to say our goodbyes (and take loads of photos!) at the TOTAL corporate
headquarters, and then about 800 km of driving to the south...

Our highlights included...

• Being treated like celebrities by the photographers / papparazzi in
  front of Tour Coupole
  
• Just missing a ride around the Arc de Triomphe
  
• Driving in convoy - 7 Total cars - to the south, and passing a Total
  tanker and beeping as we went passed
  
• Nearly running out of petrol and being forced to make an emergency
  stop at the Shell garage (how embarrassing with our 4x4 plastered in
  Total stickers)
  
• Losing the convoy and ending up in fog so thick we couldn't see more
  than a foot in front of us, and finding ourselves lost in an
  industrial wasteland
  
• Being pulled over by the police under spurious pretenses, but then
  receiving a personal escort to our hotel

We have spent this morning checking in and 'becoming Gazelles' (along
with a model and a star of the French equivalent of Pop Idol /
American Idol) and are soon about to board our 40 hour ferry to
Morocco.

Hot off the press!

Today Elodie from the Total Lubricants team circulated the following article. It is published in the French Psychology Magazine. The topic is "solidarite" - one of the TOTAL corporate values!

The article notes that the rally will be 70 team (actually it is about 100) who will spend 8 days in the Sahara in Morocco covering 2,500 kilometers (we think this may be more as it probably does not include the drive from Paris to Sete for the ferry). Apparently a psychologist will be accompanying us on the rally! We can't wait to read what he writes!

The bet...

We work on a trading floor - and traders love to bet.

Apparently the latest wager is which of us would triumph if we come to blows during the rally!

We DEFINITELY ARE NOT PLANNING this! Our motto will be to have a cup of tea and relax when the going gets tough. And on that note, we are still waiting for the eBay delivery of the kettle to arrive (inch'allah!)...

Ecoute - Audace - Transversalite - Solidarite

Someone today asked why TOTAL would sponsor an event like the Rallye des Gazelles, and indeed why they would sponsor individual employees to participate in the rally.

This is a good question. The TOTAL corporate values are Ecoute (listening) - Audace (Boldness) - Transversalite (this translation is hard but basically means functioning without silos) - Solidarite (Solidarity - or Team Work - or Mutual Support). The Rallye des Gazelles really embodies these values.

In addition, TOTAL as a Group of companies has embraced diversity and efforts to give opportunities to women in the Group. The rally is a great example of enabling new skills and building confidence for women.

We are just so fortunate to work for a company that gives us such opportunities! And to be able to use the rally as a way to grow individually and gain experiences that we hope will also translate into the workplace environment.

Becoming a Gazelle...

Ouarzazate - where you learn to be a Gazelle...

The tabletop mountain that we grew to love...

The "cheich" - mandatory for any Gazelle...

Caroline and Hameed from Novateam - we love Novateam!

Donna models "the beast" - yes the elbow is fine!

Cat and Claire - the other members of the real first place team!

Line dancing under the stars...

Gaz Gaz Gaz!!

A quick recap of our desert training adventure...

The Dunes -- Sadly we were split up on the dune training day as our 4x4 axel was about to break (nothing to do with us bashing it around the dunes the previous day). All went really well although we seemed to jinx the cars we rode in and spent a lot of time learning how to use the shovel to dig out the tires!

The desert party -- as a farewell to Rissani a big party was thrown for the TOTAL Gazelles in the desert. Highlights included line dancing under the stars, We Are the World with all arms locked and lots of swaying, and the song and dance that greated our slow cooked lamb meal.

The challenge -- we won!! Actually we came in second but that was because we got stuck in the sand for 20 minutes... It was great fun working on the challenge with Cat and Claire. Who would have thought a "balise" (in this case a shovel stuck in the sand) would bring us such pleasure...

The return -- hairpin turns in the pitch dark with cliffs on the right and no guard rails. Enough said... The situation was lightened by some liberal use of the "talky walkies" as the convoy took turns singing their national songs... Not sure if She'll be coming round the mountain andWham! rap qualify as national song, but we did get some positive feedback!

Next step -- buy sleeping bag, tent, etc... About 10 days until departure!! Off to bed now - getting slowly used to the 4 am start times!

From the desert...

This weekend we are in Morocco to learn how to drive in the desert, and also to learn how to navigate (not in a classroom environment). We spent this afternoon on the dunes... For novices we didn't do too badly, although a few swear words and a bit of sweat (and a shovel to help another team) were involved. As we write, it is getting dark, our French instructor is screaming at the team stuck in the dunes (not us) and we are watching night fall and going nowhere fast...

Two weeks and a bit to go...

We have completed a few days of introductory training, named our team, built our blog, found a charity to raise funds for, and are almost ready to go... Thanks to the support of our colleagues and their wizardry with regard to wikipedia searches to help us to understand the French words for "hose clip" we are almost done with our equipment purchasing. This week from Thursday afternoon until the earliest hour on Tuesday we are heading to Ouarzazate for desert driving training - and a bit of map and compass skill building. And then before you know it we will be off to Paris to pick up the Isuzu 4x4, packing up, and setting off on the 14th for the adventure of a lifetime!

From March 14th we are participating in the 2008 Rallye Aicha des Gazelles, which officially sets off from Sete in France to Morocco for two weeks of off road driving and navigational challenge.

Our participation in the 2008 is generously sponsored by Total Gas & Power. To further show our commitment to one of the key aims of the rally - empowerment and skill training for women - we are also using the event as a chance to raise funds for Women for Women International. Women for Women International provides women survivors of war and conflict with the tools and resources they need to rebuild their lives, families and communities. Even a small gift can make a difference: $15 helps a woman in Rwanda start a savings account to fund her own business; $45 teaches a woman in the Democratic Republic of Congo how to read and write; $60 buys 10 health kits for women in Afghanistan - the health kits include bandages and iodine and allow the women to provide their families with basic healthcare; $200 provides a woman in Bosnia and Herzegovina or Afghanistan a micro-credit loan; $250 provides 12 women in Nigeria with rights awareness and leadership training... You can learn more about WfW International by clicking onto their website (link on the right) and of course -show your support for both our participation in the rally as well as for our chosen charity by clicking onto the link on the right.

Thanks to everyone for your support - and remember that with our team number "147" you can check on the official rally website (link to the right) to see our progress during the event. Wish us success in our daily quest for those challenge flags!