Day 7: Bloemfontein - Aliwal North

Total Distance Covered: 647 km
Distance Remaining: 1,363

We hit the road this morning and hiked all day long…almost no cars, constant heat, and very little to look at. All in all, extremely boring with nothing of interest to note…

And then, absolutely out of nowhere….LOCUSTS!!!!

Kelly and Ikumi were hiking together to catch up to the support vehicles ahead when a cloud of locusts – over a kilometer long – engulfed them. The girls tried to run, but the cloud was too big and they couldn’t get out of it until it had passed. Absolutely frightening for the girls…it was GREAT ENTERTAINMENT for the guys! Keegan and Ruan – hiking 10 kilometers ahead – were treated to a hysterical cell phone call from the girls as they were being swarmed and Ryan and Jacob – waiting for the girls with the support vehicles – thoroughly enjoyed watching the girls frantically running out of the cloud of locusts as it passed.

Who needs Reality TV with entertainment like this?!?!

After the incident, we kept on walking and pushed through the longest day of the hike. With 2-4 hikers on the road at all times, we logged a combined 25 hours of straight hiking and covered over 200km today!

200km may not sound like a great feat. But if it takes two steps to cover a meter of ground…then to cover 200km, we had to take over 400,000 steps today alone! With Ryan’s wounded heal, Kelly’s heat rash and blisters, Ruan’s shin splints, Ikumi’s heat rash, Keegan’s knee problems and Jacob’s stress fracture…we’re feeling every one of those steps and even one more kilometer seems like a VERY long way to go.

Today was very tough, but we were extremely lucky that the temperature has dropped slightly and we were able to put in a full day’s hike, starting to make up yesterday’s lost ground. 90 degrees with some clouds we can handle. It’s when it’s constant sun exposure and in the mid- to high 90s that it really seems to drag us down and we all get worn out.

One thing is for certain…you have to give the girls credit. There aren’t many women that could hike all day long in 90 degree heat, go through such a traumatic ordeal, and still look this good! Now that’s HAT HAIR!

We had a great surprise when we arrived in Aliwal North…it just so happened that our arrival coincided with the Aliwal North Rotary Club’s Christmas Party. We spent the evening at the absolutely stunning Conville Estate, ate the most amazing food and had a wonderful time. The Rotary Club had even made us little presents (with a breakfast bar and menthol foot rub gel…the perfect gift after our longest day on the road and still another 1,100 km to go)! It was a really sweet idea and meant a lot to all of us so far from our homes at Christmastime.