Two “mothers and daughers” at the Rallye
RALLYE AÏCHA DES GAZELLES 2019
Around the rally
There are two American teams in this year’s edition with rather a special relationship: Teams 208 (Karen HOEHN / Dana SAXTEN - Hoehn Adventures) and 209 (Jo HOEHN / Susanne SAXTEN - Hoehn Adventures). Karen is the mother of Jo Hannah, and Dana is the mother of Susie. Dana, the only one of the group who has never done the Rallye, explains how it came about: “Karen said, ‘do you want to do it?’ and then I said yes, and then Suzie said, ‘well, we can’t let our moms go to Morocco without us’, so she said, ‘we’re going too’. It kind of just evolved.” Karen adds: “Jo Hannah got Suzie involved. They always wanted to do it together. They’ve been friends since they were 4 years old.”
The Mothers and long-time friends are enjoying their Rallye together: “We’re having a lot of fun, laughing a lot. For the most part we’re getting all our checkpoints. We had one terrible day, put that behind us and now on to better things!” And the third member of their team, a Land Rover nicknamed Bella, is “running great. Bella is really knocking it out of the park, she is just doing great, we are really happy with her”.
Karen did the Rallye in 2016, at the same time as her daughters Jo Hannah and Susannah. “When I did it in 2016, I loved it but it was so intense, with the sandstorms and the long days, I thought people who come back are crazy. Then 3 months later I was dying to come back, and I’ve been following the Rallye every year. It’s just a great rally and I’m just thrilled to be here again.”
Like a scavenger hunt
What is their favourite thing about the Rallye? For Karen, “We love the game part of it. It’s like a scavenger hunt, searching and the finding and the puzzle of it, it’s fun. And you use parts of your brain that you don’t use every day which is really good.” Dana adds, “I love the driving, the scenery, camels, donkeys, I mean the scenery is just incredible. Sometimes I feel we could be in a scene from 2000 years ago. You have to surrender yourself to the whole thing: being dirty, being lost, driving to the wrong CP, frustration and joy; it’s a roller coaster…”
