Day 11: King William's Town - Grahamstown

Total Distance Covered: 1,077 km
Distance Remaining: 933 km

We’re all extremely sore and battling with shin splints, sore muscles, blisters, heat rash and sunburns, but we’ve now reached the southern coast of the country and passed the halfway mark of the hike…less than 1,000km left to Cape Town! There have been some very tough days and certainly more surprises to come, but we’re ready for the next 1,000 km.

Ruan, Keegan and Jacob had a tough time today, all suffering from really bad shin splints. At one point, Ruan was almost in tears from the pain, but we all pushed through and covered 120 km in good time. It was extremely hot as we hiked and “Revenge of the Heat Rash” was the theme of Kelly’s day. After hiking 15 km, her left leg had gone completely red and the skin was raised in a rash. By the time she’d covered 20km, the rash had begun to blister and was extremely painful. Despite the pain, Kelly was a trooper and kept going.

We arrived in Grahamstown and, thankfully, Keegan’s host was a pharmacist. Kelly made her third visit to a pharmacist on the hike to get some medication for her heat rash. By the next morning, the heat rash had disappeared…thanks Audrey!

Thanks to everyone in the Grahamstown Rotary Club for a great evening and a wonderful dinner (especially Debbie for the amazingly delicious Thai chicken). We had a great time in Grahamstown.