Day 5: Viljoenskroon - Welkom

Total Distance Covered: 347 km
Distance Remaining: 1,663

We had a special treat this morning. We hiked to Bothaville and had breakfast with members of the Bothaville Rotary Club, a small but very active club. The food was delicious and, again, we were blown away when the club donated to our cause.

Jacob’s previously fractured foot continues to hurt and Ryan’s blisters are getting much worse, so some of the Rotarians helped arrange an appointment with a local doctor in Welkom. After an examination by the doctor and a shot of Voltarin in the butt, the guys were sent back to us with directions to rest their injuries as best they could and try to minimize impact for the rest of the hike. A prescription far easier said than done!

We hiked a little over 100km today – a slow day for us, but the heat was taking its toll and we are down to only four hikers at 100%.

Our plan was to hike all day and all night to cover as much ground as possible. However, that quickly changed tonight when we started hiking after sunset and hundreds of flying beatles began to attack us. After a quick run back to the support vehicles and a brief discussion, we decided that, given that we were covering much more ground than we thought we’d be able to, we can afford to only hike in the daylight.

By this point we had already ourselves out to the middle of nowhere, so we decided to drive back 60km to Welkom in hopes of finding a place to sleep.

Thanks to the generosity of a fine young station attendant, we were allowed to park our cars and sleep at an Engen gas station. It was quite amusing watching everyone take turns trying to bathe and then wash their clothes in the small gas station sink.

A quick change into t-shirts and underwear and we were soon fast asleep in the support van and car. NOT a good night’s sleep, but it was certainly an experience…and I’m sure quite a show with the six of us walking around the gas station parking lot in our underwear, brushing our teeth and getting ready for bed.