A Bull is a large, tough and at times frightening animal and so it proved with the Bull of Africa, an expedition length Adventure Race of 567km’s. The furthest any of our team prior to the BOA had raced had been various 250km races, so taking on the might of the BOA was a mammoth jump in anyone’s language.
It was unfortunate however that Ian who had been on anti-biotics for the best part of July and the initial stages of August suffered a re-occurrence of the illness which had plagued him both prior to and subsequent to the Rhodes Trail Run, causing him to withdraw at CP14/TA4 (Thomas River). But the team continued in the company of Toppie en die Laaitjies (an East London based team) and later on, the Matric pupils from Lichtenburg High School (Supreme Auto) and we eventually finished the full course in the early hours of Saturday 16th August, close to 160 hours after starting the previous Saturday!
We arrived at race registration (Balugha Inn) on Wednesday afternoon, registered, had a chat with some old friends and retired to our guesthouse in Chintsa East. Thursday was the day for plotting of maps, acquiring fresh race food, doing our rope skills testing, constructing the oversize bike boxes we had brought down from Johannesburg with us and the opening ceremony with pre-race dinner at Inkwenkwezi. Friday saw us attend a Q & A session, finalise our maps and pack our food crates prior to delivering them together with our bike boxes to race headquarters at Balugha Inn by 15:00. We then had pizza’s with “His People” and the Australian Team “Keen Torq’ers” prior to running around trying to find some more maps (but that’s a story all on its own) and retiring for an early start the following morning.
The start of the race at Katberg Golf Estate necessitated a 02:00 wake up to catch the buses that would ferry us from race headquarters. Arriving slightly later than anticipated, the start was delayed by an hour to 09:00 which began with a so-called 10km trail run to collect 4 CP’s. Needless to say, the trail run was anything but and most the damage to racer’s legs were caused by the thick vegetation on this leg.
Arriving back at Katberg, we climbed aboard our bikes for the leg that would take us to the paddling section at Seymour Dam where we had to collect a number of CP’s (on foot) around the dam, whilst paddling from one location to the next. From the dam we continued on a 20k MTB ride to Hogsback from where we would start the mammoth 70km hike through the Amatola Mountains.
A number of teams decided that the fastest route would be to not use the Amatola Trail but rather take a more direct line to the various CP’s. We chose the Amatola Trail route and got our 1st hour of sleep around 06:30 on Sunday at Mnyameni Hut. From here the hike continued to the historic village of Thomas River where we would see our first food box. It was on this leg that we “teamed” up with Toppie en die Laaitjies with Ian’s ear problems surfacing.
Arriving at Thomas River around 02:00, we ate Hamburgers and chips prior to grabbing a couple of hours sleep. We let Ian continue sleeping whilst Ivan & I put out bikes together. As departure time drew nearer it became apparent that Ian was in no state to continue and regrettably he decided to withdraw from the race. With permission granted by Toppie en die Laaitjies, we continued the race with them with a cycle leg to Wriggleswade Dam for another paddling section. Just at the intersection of the N6 and on our way to CP16, Shannon Kirkhoff withdrew, leaving each team with 3 members.
We were fortunate that Roland Pearce’s main sport is paddling and teaming him and Elsie helped our cause tremendously. Ivan & I can be termed typical AR paddlers (in other words, we can paddle but it might take us longer than most to reach our destination) and with the gap increasing with every stroke between Roland and ourselves, he decided that the time had come to “tow” us as he wanted to be off the dam by nightfall. We collected the 2 CP’s (the 3rd having been cancelled) and warmed ourselves up in the clubhouse shortly after sunset.
Continuing on MTB we cycled down towards the Kubusi River and after crossing the river, man-handled our bikes up a steep opening in the cliffs. The next CP was at Kubusi Safari Lodge where we were royally treated to a couple of Bushbuck Steak burgers. As we were told that the path out of the Lodge was difficult to find in darkness we decided to grab a couple of hours of much needed rest and depart at first light. Again on bikes, we headed off towards Clifton Grange lodge. We arrived during the course of the morning, packed our bikes away and grabbed a bite to eat from our second food box before heading off on a hike through the Kei River valley. It was at this stage that Liam and Danielle from 4TC asked if they could join us as two of their team had withdrawn due to illness.
The 180m abseil off Moordenaarskop had been cancelled due to loose and falling rock, so as we headed off to the Jumar site in the Kei River valley, we were now 8 (3 x KREATURE, 3 x Toppie en Laaitjies and 2 x 4TC). We climbed Moordenaarskop and got the CP and then headed down towards the Jumar site. After searching for what seemed an eternity we decided to grab a couple of hours sleep in the gorge whilst waiting for daylight to arrive.
Once daylight arrived, a 20 minute hike brought us out to the start of the 3 pitch 150m Jumar and as 4 ropes had been laid out it wasn’t too long before we had all ascended the ropes. From here we descended into the Kei Valley and crossed the N2 whilst heading to the Bhoma on the farm of Norton Thompson. Once the CP had been clipped we made our way to the transition area at CP30 to collect our bikes. The route we had chosen was more of a direct route and necessitated climbing up a steep hill directly under the powerlines. This brought us out about a kilometer from the Lodge at CP30.
One of the advantages we had over other teams was that the bike boxes we had purchased only required our front wheel to be removed, so within the space of 10 minutes, all bikes had been lubed and rebuilt. So whilst we were busy with the bikes, Elsie was having her feet attended to by the race podiatrist as she had developed a number of large blisters. Whilst this was going on, we ordered the by now ubiquitous Cheese Hamburgers, chips and coke, which was devoured in next to no time.
Just after leaving the Lodge, I suffered a major cut to my tire which necessitated a plug and with barely enough Stan’s liquid left to seal a pin-prick, we gingerly made our way across the Kei River, lest I should suffer the ignominy of having to put in a tube over two years since I last used one.
We did take a somewhat roundabout route to get to Russell Hulley’s Qolora Store but the reception we got once there was superb. Russell was a Round Tabler in Butterworth for many years and certainly knows how to entertain. Sandwiches, cooldrinks and braaied steak were the order of the day and we even managed to have a chat with Hano who was a surprising visitor to the store. After leaving Qolora store, Nathan once again assumed the navigation and his navigation on this leg was really superb as we cycled on various cattle tracks through valleys and up hills as we first popped out at another CP (Trading store) and then the CP at the low level bridge.
Arriving at Mazeppa Bay, we packed our bikes away and once again had the Cheeseburger, coke and chips and settled down for a couple of hours shuteye whilst Nathan plotted the rest of the CP’s to the finish. We began the Trekking and Coasteering leg (without Danielle who had now withdrawn) down the majestic Transkei Wild Coast where we passed through Cwebe Nature Reserve, Wavecrest Hotel, Khobonqaba and the wreck of the Jacaranda which ran aground in September 1971 before arriving at Seagulls Hotel at Qolora. If ever one wanted to witness pristine, natural and unspoilt beaches with towering cliffs, this was the place to be.
It was at Seagulls that we picked up the lads from Lichtenburg High School as requested to do so by Hano, as Richard Starr had previously withdrawn. The group now totaled 10, a regular party bus! It was now on our bikes for the final push to the finish. On this stage the final Abseil and Jumar took place to collect a CP that was on the other side of a cold & wet pool.
From this CP we headed through to Double Mouth, Bosbokstrand and Chefane before arriving at a dear old lady’s farmhouse who was overwhelmed when Roland requested some food. Being the good natured lady that she was she took everything in her stride and proceeded to make peanut butter and jam sandwiches as well as a large jug of Oros for all 10 of us. I later found out that Team Siyeza spent the night in her barn!!
Onwards our MTB’s carried us towards Inkwenkwezi to collect a couple of CP’s by bike and another couple on foot (CP48 proving to be rather elusive!) and then the final cycle to Arena to collect our PFD’s and paddles for the final paddle down to Yellowsands. At the cottage door from where we received our final instructions a rather friendly Giraffe kept popping her/his head through the door. A site to behold!!
By this stage the heavens had opened up and our last paddle and coasteering leg were done in the pouring rain. One last sting in the tail was the collection of CP53 on top of a sand dune before we crossed the finish line at Balugha Inn at 01:30.
Hano & Sonja, as expected, the race was tough, well organized and had superb transition areas. The involvement by the local farmers / lodge owners was nothing short of amazing. The scenery that we passed through was at times breathtaking from the lush vegetation of the Amatolas to the rolling hills of the Transkei Wild Coast. I’m sure that most if not all teams, South African included, will take away fond memories of the area through which The Bull of Africa traversed.
To Roland, Nathan, Coen and Shannon (Toppie en die Laaitjies); Liam & Danielle (4TC); Jeandre, Tiaan and LJ (Supreme Auto), it was a pleasure racing with you at various times and I’m sure that you had as much fun as we all did.
To my team mates, Ian, Elsie & Ivan thanks for the experience and the good times.
To our main sponsor KREATURE.co.za and to our product sponsors, Salomon Sports (shoes) and Scaff-Tech (Carabineers and Figure 8’s) without your contributions it would have been so much harder to compete. Thank you all so very much.
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