Day 20: Somerset West - Cape Town

Total Distance Covered: 2,010 km

Distance Remaining: 0 km

WE’VE ARRIVED!!!!!!!

We had a great surprise this morning…Lisa, a member of the Somerset West Rotary Club, joined us to hike the last 94 kilometers into Cape Town.

Then, as we hiked through Somerset West on our way to Cape Town, we received an unexpected phone call to inform us that Bidvest – a South African based holding company has agreed to donate R9,000 to the Hike. What a great way to start the last day of the hike!

We began this twenty days ago…the six of us hiking together through Johannesburg’s Soweto Township. What an amazing feeling to now hike through Cape Town – having crossed the country, covering 2010 kilometers – to finally reach the Waterfront.

As we hiked into the Waterfront, we were met by the Rotary Club of Cape Town, the Waterfront Rotary Club, and members of other clubs from the area. After a lot of hugs and pictures, and an interview with Die Burger – the main Afrikaans newspaper covering Cape Town and the entire Western Cape – we went to Mugg and Bean at the Waterfront to celebrate.

It was great to have so many people there to celebrate it with us, and the gifts and donations that were made to the hike were a wonderful surprise. What a great way to celebrate the completion of the hike!

After the reception, we walked back to where we’d parked the support vehicles. It was a bit sad to peel the Hike logos off the van…our long trek now at its end.

We checked out our tan lines and blisters…the physical record of the last twenty days on our bodies.

Kelly and Ikumi are flying back to Johannesburg tonight. Ryan is heading back home to Boston in the morning. Keegan is heading up to the West Coast to spend Christmas with Ruan’s family. And Jacob is joining his cousin in Cape Town…

so, with hugs and smiles, a very real sense of accomplishment and a lot of memories…we all said our goodbyes and hit the road.

The 2006 Rotary AIDS Hike – Johannesburg to Cape Town

2010 kilometers in 20 days to highlight the needs of the 20 million children that will be orphaned by AIDS by 2010.