Team 171 – Ivy Howerton “I encourage American women to come experience this incredible adventure!”

Ivy Howerton first learned about the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles from a news article that showed up in her newsfeed about Grace Kelly’s granddaughters [Jazmin Grace Grimaldi and Pauline Ducruet] taking part in 2018. “I looked it up and thought, ‘That looks interesting… I’ll do that!” She then joined Facebook in order to post the following message on the “Toi + moi = gazelle” Facebook page: “Hey, want to do the Rallye in 2019. Anyone want a non-French-speaking partner?” Sandrine Grillet replied to her post, and the rest is history. “I tried to learn French in the last six months but I’m not fluent by any stretch of the imagination. I appreciate that Sandrine takes the time to try to communicate with me despite the language barrier.”

Ivy is the team’s navigator, although the two teammates sometimes exchange roles. The beginning of the Rallye presents a steep learning curve: “I’m learning a lot, learning to translate between the map and the terrain around me.”

How did she find Leg 2 yesterday?
“Interesting… we got very lost, but decided to go in a direction that had more landmarks and that worked out. We actually were able to find our way back!”

And is she worried about tomorrow’s leg in the dunes?
“I think it’s going to be tough. Dunes are really tough, and when you get stuck, it’s a lot of work to get the vehicle out. We need to do a better job of figuring out the path to take through the dunes, to help avoid getting stuck…”

This year’s Rallye lineup includes 5 American women. “This event isn’t well known in the United States; I would love to see more American teams here,” remarks Ivy.
Her message to American women in search of adventure: “Come and challenge yourselves in the Moroccan desert! This is something you wouldn’t normally do, an opportunity to see landscapes that are ever changing. It’s absolutely amazing!”