Attention South Africa and The Kingdom of Lesotho: Ready or Not, Here I Come
Hello, yes, it’s been awhile; not much, how about you? I’m really not sure why I called (am writing), I guess I really just wanted to talk to you…I’m not talking ‘bout the linen…and I don’t want to change your life…
Okay,enough of the wandering down memory lane, complete with misheard lyrics –England Dan! Yikes, I’ve really gone soft this evening. Anyways, I was just thinking how long it’s been since I wrote a blog. I know, all that talk about keeping you up to date with how my training was going – pure baloney, I think we all realize this by now. My departure to South Africa is only two weeks away and here I am blogging for the first time in over ayear. Whoops.
Rather than give you a blow-by-blow account of what I’ve been up to these past 12-odd months (I can see you yawning from here) let’s just cut to the chase and discuss what’s really on everybody’s mind: Am I Going To Survive This Next Adventure, And If So, What Kinds Of Pain Meds Am I Taking Along This Time?
Survive? Yes indeed. I do believe it will take more than a 40 hour plane ride to the southern hemisphere half a world away, and a horse trek into bandit-infested territory to finish me off. I’m not even all that concerned about what kinds of food we’ll be ingesting this time, because Mongolia really helped cure any thoughts I may have had about being picky about nourishment. Nor am I concerned about whether or not I will be getting adequate sleep, because this time, my friends,we are sleeping in real beds – except for maybe those couple of nights with the locals in the mud huts. But – beds! Inconceivable! And as for the pain meds…well, if I survived Mongolia on the minimum, I think the same will suffice in South Africa and Lesotho. Maybe I’ll throw in a small flask of good quality whisky, just to take the edge off of a long day.
To be perfectly honest, I am looking forward to this adventure with an even mix of excitement and trepidation. I am already in love with the terrain. The thought of riding up into the Drakensburg Mountains is giving me goosebumps - what a dream come true. But the reason behind the adventure, the unspeakably inhumane conditions in the pounds we will be visiting…this will be the tough part for me. Last summer, the adventure was all about concentrating on getting to the end of the 1000km, surviving it intact. This time around, it will be about absorbing the heartbreak and coming home to tell the story for the animals that have no voice of their own.
Just to give you an idea of where I’m going, who I’m going there with, and what we are going to see, check out this video put together by Sophia McKee.
Met die hoop vir 'n goeie reis,
With hope for a good journey,
Outlaw Kate
Comments