Trees of Southern Africa

Have just put down a marvellous book, "In Search of Remarkable Trees, On Safari in Southern Africa", by Thomas Pakenham, while enjoying early winter in Toronto, Canada. The book has brought back many fond memories of spectacular and unusual trees throughout Southern Africa. The book was obtained recently during an unscheduled trip back to South Africa and Zimbabwe due to the passing away of my mother. A friends large garden in Johannesburg proved to be an absolute pleasure in early summer, due to his rehabilitation efforts. A garden previously dominated by eucalyptus trees is now bursting with life as the indigenous species start to flourish, and attract so much more insect and bird life. In this regard, I differ with Thomas Pakenham, and would be classified a "Taliban" by his definition, eager to rid the countryside of the many alien inasive tree species. My reasoning is twofold - the fact that the exotic tress consume so much more of the scarce water resources than the indigenous species, and secondly, the visual aspect in the game reserves and national parks. During my work and training as a game ranger, we spent many hours clearing the reserves of alien invasive plant species such as prickly pears, lantana, syringa, jacarandas and mesquites. On our drive up to the Zimbabwe border at Beitbridge, we passed through the Soutpansberg Mountains, and I was delighted to see so many of the invasive eucalyptus trees, some very large, ring-barked. (Probably the work of the Working for Water Programme in South Africa). Across the border though, north of Beitbridge, a desert is being created. Notwithstanding a few years of below average rainfall, the landscape has been devastated in places by over-grazing. Not a single piece of green vegetation survives at ground level, and the small acacias have been browsed clean to heights as far as the goats and sheep can reach. Any conservation efforts are definitely a lower priority in the lives of a human population struggling to survive each day.

William Arthur Ward, "To Risk"

... But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing ...

End of a Remarkable Life Experience !

Well, a remarkable six months of travelling together mainly in South America is coming to an end and Heather and I fly tonight from Lima back to Toronto, via New York. We are both looking forward to getting back home now. It has been an awesome time and we have managed to fit into six months enough experiences that probably should have spanned a few years. We have seen together some magnificent natural landscapes, encountered beautiful and unusual wildlife and met and communicated with remarkable people throughout. Our feet have been kept firmly on the ground as we understood some of the daily challenges of survival many of these people face, and yet are remarkably content. For me personally, my positive mindset from the trip was proved by finally completing the Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon, a race probably three quarters done with the mind, and one quarter with fitness. (I started the race having not run for five months). Above all else, the trip is very special for both of us, because of the shared experiences and opportunity to have done all this together. Enough of the ¨slush¨, thanks for sharing with us.

More Adventure - Mancora, Peru

In line with the rest of our six month trip and the adventures we have experienced, we never were going to lie back and enjoy a simple beach holiday before our return. After my extreme marathon 10 days ago, and my feet still recovering, this time it was Heather´s turn to keep our team colours flying high by taking her first ever surfing lesson. Heather did fantastically well as the photos show, getting upright and riding some waves from her very first attempt. Needless to stay, this evening Heather is very stiff !

Mancora, Northern Peru

13 hr flight from Johannesburg, South Africa to Buenos Aires, Argentina with a stop over in Cape Town; 5 hrs at Buenos Aires airport followed by a five hour flight to Lima, Peru; 15 hrs in Lima, followed by a 16 hr bus ride north. We finally arrived at our objective, a rustic sea side resort called Mancora, close to the border with Ecuador. It is a surfing spot, with a great beach, warmish sea and lots of sunshine. We plan to spend the entire week here relaxing, (and me recovering from the extreme marathon), before heading back to Lima for our flight back to Toronto next weekend. The last week of our six month trip. It will be strange returning to city life and our day jobs, but what a phenomenal adventure we have had together!

Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon 2008 !!!

Heather and I are back in Johannesburg and close to the end of our three week trip to South Africa. Early Wednesday we fly back to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Finally, after almost five years of thinking about the extreme marathon, and two previous attempts, I have completed the race in 2008. It was great to have Heather in support as part of the crew. It is a race run in a remote area of South Africa in the Kalahari desert, and the large crew have a lot of work to do in keeping the race progressing and the runners safe. Apart from the sheer length of the race of 240km in seven days in stages, with one rest day, the main challenge is coping with the heat and humidity. My particular mental barrier has always been the long day/night stage of 75km, this year on day four and five. I coped with the first couple of stages very cautiously trying to preserve some energy for later in the race. The staggered start for the long stage had me starting at midday (12h00), just an hour in front of the race leaders. I kept going through to 02h15 the next morning to complete the 75km, and from then on, with just two stages left, the end was in sight. Surprisingly, having never covered such a distance before, I felt stronger with each day, and I think all of us adapted gradually to cope with the heat better. Two days after the race, my feet are still a little trashed, with swelling and blisters. It is a spectacular environment in the Kalahari, and just a remarkable place in which many animal and bird species thrive. The race website (www.extrememarathons.com/augrabies/) includes many photographs, and some links to videos on "youtube".

Mendoza to Buenos Aires, Argentina

We had our second attempted theft of our trip, this time my day pack at an internet cafe in Mendoza. A young guy tried to snatch it from next to me not realising I had my foot on a strap. He was red-faced when confronted and fled out of the internet cafe. I guess we have got into the mode of being aware all the time of possibilities like this. Well, we are now back in Buenos Aires, and fly out to South Africa tonight for three weeks, returning to Buenos Aires for our last ten days in South America before flying back to Canada at the beginning of November. The trip to South Africa had always been a possibility before we started our South American trip. One objective is for me to attempt the Kalahari extreme marathon again (and finish!), a challenge I have had on my mind for a few years now. This year, Heather will be a part of the race crew, a tough enough task on its own.

Mendoza, Argentina

Mendoza turned out to be far larger and much more built up than we had expected. Even the main wine tour route in Maipu was far from rural. Even so, on Saturday, we had a very enjoyable day out, renting bikes and visiting some of the smaller boutique wineries and vinyards. The Mendoza region produces over 70% of Argentinas wine, the majority of which is malbec or blends using malbec. This is a grape of poor quality in France, but grows far better in the dry areas of central Argentina. The region also has substantial olive tree plantations. We visited a small winery owned by a french couple who emigrated to Argentina in 2004 and bought a vinyard with little knowledge of wine making. The first years wine was not great, and thereafter for a few years they hired local consultants to work with them and teach them. Last year was their first range of wines produced by themselves. A real good story that dreams can come true!

Puerto Varas to Santiago to Mendoza, Argentina

A full day travelling has brought us to Mendoza, Argentina. We spent little time in Lima, La Paz, Montevideo, or Santiago, and only Buenos Aires of all the capital cities has appealed to us. In Santiago, we spent as much time to change bus terminals and catch the next bus through to Argentina. The road is spectacular through the Andes, winding up to the highest point. The ski runs in places pass over the road. We are back to some of the quirks of travelling in Argentina, with tips requested for unloading your luggage from the bus. This time, the tip was requested by the customs officials at the border crossing to unload/load our backpacks from the minibus to be searched and scanned!

Puerto Varas, Lake District, Chile

We have spent a couple of days in Puerto Varas, close to Puerto Montt, the destination of our ferry trip. We are now in the lake district of Chile - lush green meadows, lakes, snow covered mountains and snow capped volcanoes and definitely some warmer weather. As the crow flies we are just a short distance from Bariloche in Argentina, an area we visited previously. Yesterday we did a good walk close to the base and up the side of the Volcan Orsano, the one pictured in the photograph. The hike was tough almost up to the snowline, and on the typical volcano shape, the higher we went, the steeper the slope ! Today we spent the day further north along Lago Llanquehue at a small quaint and quiet town called Frutilla with a german heritage. We had a great short walk in a native forest area maintained and studied by the Faculty of Forestry from the University of Chile. Another overnight bus trip tonight as we make our way north to the capital of Chile, Santiago.