02/06/2014
Expedition Africa quick report
Bring it on team arrived in Durban and got a transfer to Port Edward (start/finish line). Everything was so beautiful and organised. We got a house at the resort. Just perfect!
A few hours later we were involved in a community project, where each team got to teach a local kid how to paddle. It was a nice experience, even with the sea being very wavy. The kids loved it!!
The opening ceremony was fantastic and we could really appreciate a bit of the culture through the dancing and singing presentations. All the teams had their own table named and race bib. Teams were called one by one to the stage for a presentation.
Day 1
Time to get up early and prepare for the start line. The only maps we had got on that stage were to cover the first 3 legs. Later on we would get the maps for the next legs.
The surf was massive and all the teams were very apprehensive with the imminent swim. The race started and it wasn't so easy to share a space with 80 boats fighting against massive waves. We waited for the perfect time and went as fast as we could. Reading the waves and being patient to find the better gaps in between waves. Boats were flying everywhere, being kicked by the waves. But we made it, and crossed the worst part, guaranteeing us the top 6 or 7.
It was a good paddle till the CP1, where we would get the GPS Tracker and our backpacks. After that we went to the trek leg. Nice and easy flow, but as soon as we started one of our team mates didn't feel very well, getting dizzy and feeling weak. We managed that along the way and kept the top ten in return to the TA2.
Now we were about to start a massive trek leg, 80km + 10km canyoning. Of course we had to prepare the maps before. We got around 5 or 6 maps. Virgin maps, no north lines and no CPs. We had to plot check points and decide the best route. This first transition took us 40 min. While me and Sakkie Meyer worked on the maps, Emily Wilson and Saulo Onze worked on foods and water.
Time to leave. We had a long way forward.
We got to the abseil and it wasn't that fun... As an abseil instructor I can say that wasn't the best spot for an abseil..... The rope was rubbing along sharp rocks with no protection. Also you couldn't abseil straight down... You had to change direction several times to avoid trees and rocks, you could easily swing as a pendulum and hit the wall with force.. We had Saulo get stuck in a tree for 20 minutes:)
The nav was very tricky because of the many additional tracks along the course which weren't marked, specially at night time... We helped a few teams along... One of them, coming in a totally wrong direction... And they joined us till the CP11.
It was a long night and we decided to have no sleep.
Then, straight to CP12. Which was suppose to be very obvious, but took us bloody 5 hours to get there.
Exhausted and with only little breaks for eating, we decided to take 2 hours sleep.
Day 2
Frustrated about spend hours to get the CP12 we tried to push it a bit harder. Saulo had got a bad bone bruise and could not walk properly. To make him lighter Emily decided to get his backpack, which would make he go faster. Even going a bit slow, our pace wasn't miserable. We kept pushing it!
It was getting dark and after a couple of hours we stopped for a 2h sleep... The alarm didn't ring 'cause accidentally I had set it to 11am instead 11pm... We would never get up... Luckily Saulo was in pain and couldn't sleep well, so we went through the planned time only 30min... So time to keep going and hit the canyoning...
Day 3
We spent part of the night time canyoning and when the sun came up it was easier to progress through the freaking slippery rocks, at which cost us a couple of falls... Finally we got the CP and went back to the road, aiming for the TA.
Getting to TA, we had nice hot food, which gave us extra energy to keep moving strong. I got the next leg of maps (6 maps)... Firstly putting the maps together and then plotting CPs and getting directions... It wasn't an easy task... Your eyes barely stay open and you have to be very careful to not plot the wrong spot.
After all the prep we left the TA around 4pm.
After less than 10 min riding, where we should take a left turn, I realised it would be bloody hard nav... Tracks on the map weren't on terrain and I had to change route on the way. Everything was going good till I had the idea to short cut and supposedly save 2ks, which ended up adding us 2ks instead... Well, all I tried to do was saving energy for the team. Didn't work!
It was just the beginning of 120ks Mtb. Nav was going good, and the team was holding a firm pace. As I said previously, I knew it would be a tricky nav. We had to take a bearing from the road to the bush, crossing a creek and bush bashing for a while. The contours and elevations stopped making sense. It was night time and we met the Swedish team which apparently was searching in that area for 2 hours with no success. They asked if they could join us. I said: Mate, welcome on board!
We stayed not long together. As Saulo and Sakkie, weren't too happy to follow me. We had the first argument on the team. A bit unhappy with had happened we moved through, getting a higher spot to understand the terrain better... We met an another team... Kept searching together and after a few tries we got the check point. Sweet, but such a waste of time... Took us easily two hours to have got that one... Never mind!!! After that we had a straightforward nav and stopped for a quick snack in a town. At that time we met two other teams, one of them was Grant Pepper's team SandgropAR. When I asked about the difficulty to find the CP18. So he was a bit confused and questioned: CP18? they realised they were in a totally wrong direction, so I helped them with the directions to get the CP.
Well, after a quick chat and a chicken and mushroom pie we kept moving. It wasn't very far from the CP19. It was 3am and Sakkie was dreaming on his bike. After we got the CP we went for a 2hr sleep.
Day 4
We still had a fair bit to go and we added abit extra when we decided to take a shortcut which ended in a nice long grovel back up to the main track which we had left 2 hours before... Bu**er!. We finally made the TA in the late avo and got sorted for the short paddle leg.
The paddle wasn't hard, but as the night came through, the temperature dropped heaps. So you can figure out. Wet from the paddle + low temperature.... I was freaking cold... I hate the cold!!! We got to TA, hung around the fire and Kim and Olga ordered pizzas... It was gold!!! Those chicks made our lives so much easier during the race... Even only for seeing someone you know, it's already a good support.. Also, all the media support. Thanks Kim and Olga.
Moving forward, we decided to have a nice and warm sleep and prepare the maps for more tricky nav. This time it was rogaine style.
We left the TA and aimed for the first CP (beacon). Sweet as!!! I was trusting the map, as should though! But once more, it tricked me. Where it should have been an open area, apparently the bush decided to dominate everything... I couldn't believe it. Nav was spot on. I gave the team the task of counting double steps and I also found that even following the bearing accurately, we ended up in a thick bush wall. Sakkie was feeling very unwell and Saulo was getting worse with his bone bruise. So not to lose the bearing I asked them to stay on the spot while I was bush bashing and trying to find the best way to overcome that bush. After 40min bush bashing around and going no where, I was covered by scratches and cuts and swearing like a bush pig. So I decided to go a bit up the hill and search for a path. Luckily Sakkie found a path going through the dense bush. We crossed that easily and after that we were where we suppose to be. Trying not to waste any time I called the team to go down... And we had the second argument.. It seemed the team didn't trust my decisions and it upset me largely. What they couldn't understand was I had no control of the bush growing. Anyways, Sakkie was even worse and we decided to go for a 2h sleep.
Day 5
We got up and Sakkie was still vomiting. Basically he left the pizza on the bush!! Haha.. Saulo couldn't get better with his bone bruise and we were still cruising.
As I knew, the terrain was fu**ed, and I had no choice unless bush bashing again. I got a new bearing and even with all the complaining we crossed that s**t!!! Emily had a rage against the bush, which could be heard from miles away and together we forged a path for the worsening Sakkie and Saulo to follow. We got to the top of the hill and had a better overview of the landscape. We kept going...
Along the way Sakkie got even worse and he couldn't move anymore... It was a tough decision to make, as he said he may recover or not... Maybe 2h or 12h... Anyway, by the end we stopped for 15hours... Heaps of teams overtook us and to build up motivation to keep going was very hard. But we didn't give up. To make them lighter and keep cruising, Emily got Saulo's and I got Sakkie's backpack... Well, even very slowly, we kept cruising till the TA.
Day 6
Getting to the TA I was straight to the maps and we also smashed some chips and pasta... Plotted the maps quickly (6maps), and aimed for the last leg 180ks Mtb.
Nav was spot on but Emily had the s**ts and we had to take some emergency stops for her to lighten her load, one stop sticks in my mind. It was dark and we heard some noises, I directed my light to the noise and saw a donkey running toward Emily with her pants down... Lucky the donkey got out of their fast! 180ks with no errors yer boi, but only one part freaked me out... Close to the main road after miles on the go and only 30ks to the finish line. I was surprised when we came across the CP29... Which I wasn't expecting... Explaining better... At the TA they short coursed us from 230ks to 180ks and all I remembered were CPs 25,26 and 27. Then straight home with no CPs. But when I saw the CP29 I was so confused if I had forgot to plot the CP28 and 29... I would never forgive myself. Just in case, we took the CP29 and moved to the finish line... When we got there, thank God I was right. CP28,29 weren't to be picked. Those were part of the full course... I got so relieved after that.
There is no better feeling than cross the finish line. Finally we made the dream come true.
We overcame all difficulties and finished the Expedition Africa in 17th out of 40.
Overall, I would like to apologise for my nav mistakes and I'll make sure I'll be sleeping with a map underneath my pillow.
I'd like to thank all you guys, Emily, Sakkie and Saulo to cope with the unexpected and to cross the finish line together.
Huge thanks to Kim and Olga, media crew, who updated friends and family with an amazing coverage of videos and photos.
Thanks for all comments and incentive to keep going hard and never give up!
See u next race!
BRING IT ON!
