2 weeks ago Jamila and I made the decision to enter the Rallye Aicha des Gazelles in the Moroccan desert in March 2012. The excitement! This is the biggest women only rallye in the world. It's not about going fast but about driving the least amount of km. It's about endurance, solidarity, effort and achievement. No GPS, no mobile phones. We sign an agreement swearing we won't cheat. We'll use a compass and a 1/100000 map( whatever that means!)

All we need now is to find sponsors! 3 months to do that. Jamila likes working under pressure, I'm not so keen but hey, I'll try anything once. So we have a list of major potential sponsors and a list of minor sponsors. I'm so optimistic that I worry that everyone will want to sponsor us and we won't have enough space on the car for their logos. My husband Ian says we'll cross that path when it happens.

I've talked to 3 companies renting 4x4 for the event. I've talked to them about learning to drive a 4x4 in the desert and Jamila and I are booked for a driving stage in January. 3 days South of Zagora.

We'll learn to use a shovel to dig ourselves out of the sand!
And I found the picture next in the Gazelles album. Just looking at it I go pale.

Off to the gym, we need to be fit.