ROTARY AIDS HIKE A HUGE SUCCESS!!!
In just 20 days...
spoke in 20 communities in 4 provinces...
Yomiuri Shinbun (Japan) covered about our 20days walk from Johannesburg to Cape Town on their New Year's Eve Edition!
Leading the Way in the Fight Against AIDS, six international students in South Africa will hike 2010km - from Johannesburg to Cape Town - to raise awareness of the AIDS Orphan Crisis and highlight the needs of orphans and vulnerable children in Africa. エイズ問題に関する意識向上のため、5人の国際親善奨学生が、2006年12月、ヨハネスブルグからケープタウンの距離を徒歩で行進します。エイズ撲滅のための道を切り開きます。
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
Then, as we hiked through Somerset West on our way to
We began this twenty days ago…the six of us hiking together through
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
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
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 –
Total Distance Covered: 1,916 km
Distance Remaining: 94 km
We were all extremely tired this morning and had a hard time getting out of bed.
After a delicious breakfast, we hit the road. Now that we’re getting so close to
It was quite amusing at one point…having hiked 8 kilometers, Ikumi came up to the van complaining about something poking her foot through her shoe…She took the shoe off and found a screw had gone all the way through. WOW!
The view of Somerset West as we came over the mountain was absolutely gorgeous...it’s hard to believe we’ve come so far.
We had a great afternoon and evening with the Somerset West Rotary Club!
Only 94 kilometers to go to
Total Distance Covered: 1,823 km
Distance Remaining: 187 km
Ryan and Ikumi cooked us a delicious breakfast and we were able to relax all morning which was a great change of schedule! Over the last few days, we’ve been able to cover a greater distance than we had mapped out, so we were able to take today off.
So…after hiking over 1,800 kilometers, what does one do on their rest day? HIKE SOME MORE! We spent the whole day playing tourist and walking all over the beautiful city of
We headed up to the berry farms at the base of the mountain and had a great time raiding the blackberry bushes…the area was stunningly beautiful!
While the day was mostly one of rest and relaxation, we were still quite productive. Around 5:00 this evening, Keegan gave a great interview on Cape Talk Radio – spreading our message throughout the
We’ve been really lucky to have received great media coverage throughout the hike…especially with radio stations. Ryan, Ikumi and Kelly were interviewed on Kaya FM in
We spent the night at the stunning Athenian Villa Bed & Breakfast (www.athenianvilla.co.za) in
Total Distance Covered: 1,775 km
Distance Remaining: 235 km
The day started off amusingly. As we packed our bags and were preparing to leave this morning, Kelly & Ikumi accidentally locked themselves in the bedroom. For 10 minutes, the girls struggled with the door, trying to free themselves. Thoroughly amused by the situation and wanting to tease them a bit, the guys were none too helpful in getting them out.
After having breakfast and saying our goodbyes to Kate, Guy, Georgie and Thomas, we hit the road. It was just another day on the long road…we covered a good 144 kilometers and were quite worn out by the end of it all and in a good bit of pain.
We haven’t written much about the injuries and the pain we’ve gone through over the course of the hike, but there have been several hours and days of excruciating pain.
We’ve hiked through blood, sweat and tears. And while it’s been extremely challenging physically, and often quite painful, it’s been an exceptionally meaningful, amazing experience and we are so happy to be making this trek across
The land is absolutely beautiful here and the natural flora and fynbos of the region is unlike anything we’re used to.
We enjoyed the fine company of Marie & Garrick over dinner and headed off to the Swellendam caravan park for the night. The guys all shared beds and slept on the floor in order to allow the girls to have their own beds. WHAT FINE YOUNG GENTLEMEN!
Total Distance Covered: 1,631 km
Distance Remaining: 379 km
It’s a great day…Ikumi is back! Her bus arrived in George this morning and we picked her up and hit the road. She’d worn her hiking outfit on the 17-hour bus ride, so she was ready to hit the pavement the moment she arrived. Words can’t express how happy we are to have her back…it just hasn’t been the same the last five days without her!
To celebrate Ikumi’s return…we decided to splurge and open up the jar of mayonnaise! For two weeks we’ve eaten tuna out of the can everyday without anything but a little salt and pepper to enhance the taste (which woefully is NOT enough). Without proper refrigeration we’ve been unable to open the mayo for fear that it would go bad. So, to celebrate her homecoming, we threw caution to the wind and treated ourselves with a can of warm tuna AND MAYO!
Kelly was absolutely amazing today. Hiking for two hours straight, Kelly covered 19 km (on the best of days, at our fastest, we average just over 16km in 2 hours). Ruan and Keegan tried jogging three times to keep up with her walking pace, but couldn’t handle it and finally had to give up (Ryan did a much better job of keeping pace with her today). By the time Kelly reached the support vehicle waiting for them, the rest of the hikers were almost 2 km behind her. Despite the longer legs on the guys, no one could keep up with her. Way to go Kels!
We finished up early today and hit the beach to hike our last 5km...a nice treat at the end of a long day. The beach was beautiful, but a bit dangerous. There were thousands of jellyfish close to the shoreline and many were washing up onto the beach. They look like little jelly bubbles with a long bright blue jelly string. In Afrikaans, they’re called Blou Blasies (Blue Blisters)…and if you make the mistake of stepping on one of them on the beach or have the misfortune of swimming into one in the ocean, a blister would be the least of your worries as the searing pain of the blasie is debilitating for days. So, while it was fun to hike on the gorgeous beach, we had to spend most of the time staring at our feet (to make sure we didn’t take a wrong step) and couldn’t actually enjoy the view of the ocean breaking on the sands or the gorgeous mountains in the distance. We’re all exceptionally sore and injuries are beginning to accumulate, so we can’t afford to lose a hiker to, of all things, a jellyfish sting.
Kate & Guy (and their great kids) were our hosts for the evening in
A friend of Kate’s is a doctor who quite graciously offered to treat the blisters. The process, however, turned out to be quite disgusting and immensely painful (but hopefully effective). The liquid is drained from the blister with a syringe and then surgical spirits (alcohol) is injected in its place, causing the most immense pain for about 10 minutes. Jacob had to hold onto Kelly through the painful ordeal as Ruan rubbed her back and patted her leg (Keegan took the semi-sadistic photos of the ordeal so that we could save these beautiful memories for posterity…and so we can share them with you all). Ryan was next to be treated and after the blister treatment found out he had sand under the skin of his heal. So, without warning, the doctor literally ripped the skin off his heal and poured alcohol over it in order to prevent infection. The flesh of the heal being pealed off was, without question, the most painful looking thing we’d ever seen in our lives. It showed a lot of strength and character for Ryan to remain positive and not get upset through the whole ordeal. We can only hope it will speed up the healing process and he and Kelly will be able to hike through the pain over the next few days.
Total Distance Covered: 1,516 km
Distance Remaining: 494 km
It was a very special day today. We hit the road at 7am and put in a strong 4 hours before we were met by some of the members of the Rotary Club of Knysna (pronounced Nie-S-Nuh), the wonderful woman heading the Knysna AIDS Council and 14 of the vulnerable children her program provides for (only the 14 were around this time of year as most of the children supported by the program were with extended families and caregivers for the holidays).
The kids were absolutely precious and it was so much fun to talk to them and play a bit as we all walked through the town together. As before, it was great to see the kids and be reminded of the purpose of this long trek across
It was a beautiful day as we hiked through the ostrich farms of George and Knysna. At a few points, the road became quite dangerous, however. As Keegan and Ruan hiked out of Knysna, there was 2 kilometers of road with no safe space to walk. A gorgeous stretch of highway, the sheer rock face of the cliffs rises two feet from the edge of the road. On the other side, the road immediately falls away to the water of the bay. A beautiful, winding road to drive…you would be hard pressed to find more unsafe hiking conditions. Ruan and Keegan had no choice but to hike on the road itself, trying to stick as close to the cliff face as possible as the cars rushed past less than a foot from their bodies. Thirty minutes and a lot of nervous energy later, they made it through that stretch and were very happy to be back on regular roads.
As we all hiked towards George, a dozen paragliders flew overhead and the most beautiful dark blue waves were crashing pure white into the sand in the distance. The ocean is stunning here and in places, the rocks of the cliffs bank down onto the beach and into the water…it’s absolutely beautiful.
Hiking up and around a massive hill, we were surprised to find six large adult baboons walking only a few yards away. All of the “WARNING – Feeding the Baboons is Prohibited” signs we’d seen since entering the
Fortunately, we made it past without incident, attack or any unrequited baboon love interest.
As we came into town, we were met by members of the George Rotary Club. The daughter of one of the club members had brought along her pet rabbit and Jacob quickly became attached and we weren’t sure if the poor girl would ever get her bunny back!
We’ve been lucky to see a lot of absolutely gorgeous architecture from the road…especially some of the old
We had slightly different sleeping arrangements in George. Ruan’s aunt and uncle live there, so Ruan and Keegan stayed with them to help celebrate his cousin’s birthday. It was a great time, although the guys were worn out from the day of hiking and had to head to bed 6 hours before the party ended. The rest of the gang – Ryan, Kelly and Jacob – stayed with members of the George Rotary Club and had an excellent braai that evening!
Most importantly…we’re all really excited to be getting Ikumi back! After struggling with the incompetent bureaucracy of the Department of Home Affairs for two days to try to work out her visa issues, she’s taking a 17-hour bus ride to catch up to us. She should be arriving at the bus station tomorrow morning around 9am…barring any unexpected breakdowns of the bus. It’s been a tough five days without her (emotionally and physically). Ikumi has an amazingly calming influence on the group and it just hasn’t felt the same without her. Her absence has also meant we have to hike, on average, an extra 24 km each day…so having her back will be a blessing for our feet as well as our spirits! COME HOME IKUMI!