All smiles - Oct 13, 2008

Swimming with dolphins - Oct 13, 2008

It is a highly contentious issue in some circles, one argument being that humans should not try to interact with other species because of the risk of habituating them to human contact.

While I’m ready to respect any other point of view, both Braam and I had swum with dolphins before and we were both excited at the idea of repeating the experience at Dolphin Encountours in Ponta do Ouro, which describes itself as Africa’s premier wild dolphin swim facility.

Experiences like this help us to understand and feel the interconnectedness of all things in the Universe and to appreciate that the role of humans isn’t to dominate or control our environment, but simply to live in grateful harmony with it, respecting and valuing other life forms.

This swim was to be part of our celebration at completing the epic 100-day Coastal Challenge and it was with huge excitement that we attended a preparatory talk by Angie Gullan, agreeing to abide by a strict code of conduct that precludes any attempt to actually touch these intelligent mammals.

Touring the coast on a twin-engined rubber duck we searched in vain for more than an hour, the craft braving big swells and a rough sea. I loved this alternate view of the coastline but felt increasingly sea-sick, eventually parting company with last night’s supper.

Just when it seemed that we’d have to return without a sighting, a pod of more than a dozen inshore bottlenose dolphins were all around us, playfully performing the most astonishing acrobatics. Apparently they do share human emotions like joy and sorrow and this was an aquatic dance of pure delight.

Sliding into the water we were surrounded by them and it was apparent that they were curious about us, one turning upside down and eyeing me with obvious interest. Some people are moved to tears by an encounter like this, which can be life-changing. My overriding emotion was of deep gratitude and joy to share in such a magnificent spectacle with such beautiful creatures. I felt blessed and will never forget those magical moments, which lasted a couple of minutes or more.

If ever you have the opportunity, I’d recommend it.

Visit www.dolphin-encountours.co.za

Toyota athletes prove ‘nothing is impossible’ - Oct 8, 2008

They’ve made it!

Mega-marathon runners Braam Malherbe and David Grier have triumphed over pain, injury, huge storms, massive flooding and dangerous river crossings to ‘run a smile’ around the entire coastline of South Africa, enjoying a heroes’ welcome in the Mozambican resort of Ponta do Ouro.

Establishing a world first, and proving that ‘nothing is impossible,’ the two Toyota-supported extreme athletes completed their 100-day, 3 278km endurance epic by running, hiking, swimming and paddling the equivalent of a marathon a day, six days a week.

Cheered on by excited well-wishers, they led their four Toyota support vehicles through the Farazela border post flying South African and Mozambican flags; and ended the Cipla Spar Miles for Smiles Coastal Challenge with a celebratory dip in the warm Indian Ocean where they hope to swim with dolphins tomorrow.

“I’m exhilarated and feel proud to be a South African and extremely grateful to my Maker,” Braam, a 51-year-old motivational speaker who works in youth development, said. “I’m so grateful that I was granted the opportunity to walk my talk, especially with children, proving that ‘nothing is impossible!’”

“I feel like I’ve caught my dream after chasing it so long, and now I’m going to really experience it and live it,” David, a 48-year-old celebrity chef and restaurant owner insisted. “But the achievement isn’t about what my friend Braam and I have achieved personally, but that with the backing of an amazing team and sponsors like Toyota, Cipla and Spar we have been able to make a difference.

“The fund-raising charity run will benefit Operation Smile South Africa, changing the lives of so many children forever by funding corrective surgery for youngsters with facial disfigurements.

”When we arrived at the hospital in Mt Frere recently where a number of operations were performed, I was touched by the realisation that Toyota’s commitment ran deep, with the volunteer surgeons and medical professionals transported in Toyota Quantum buses – and that in addition to our four 4x4 support vehicles.”

The Capetonian athletes were named South African adventurers of the year after the world first of running the Great Wall of China in 2006, following up with the Miles for Smiles Coastal Challenge which began in the Namibian diamond mining enclave of Oranjemund on July 1.

But both had paid a high price and had to undergo major knee operations after the China run, with surgeons insisting that their running days were over.

Within the first week of the Coastal Challenge Braam was struck by injury, tearing a muscle in his hip. “I never allowed doubt to creep in by asking those ‘what if’ questions and realised that the pain was manageable, although I did have to walk for a few days, limiting us to around 35km a day. But the walking allowed me to heal and in the last few weeks I’ve felt stronger and stronger, getting into a 45km-a-day routine.”

After swimming with the dolphins at Ponta do Ouro, Braam plans to take a slow drive home with his girlfriend, son Benjamin, and friends visiting from overseas. “I want to explore the coastline some more and return to highlights we rushed past.”

Meanwhile David is flying home to his family. “There came a time in the past week when I felt an urgent need to finish and be with my family. My daughter Jade will be four in December and my wife Liz has made such sacrifices, looking after the family and running the business.”

The 100-day adventure also posed huge challenges for the support team with crew member and 4x4 expedition guide Geoff Dalglish insisting: “My fellow adventurers were awesome in their good-natured enthusiasm, and the trio of Toyota Fortuners and Hilux double cab often played an heroic role. They lived up to all expectations under often difficult conditions, never faltering although we did suffer a number of punctures. My Fortuner D-4D ran long and hard while scouting routes, covering more than 15 000km without missing a beat.”

Visit http://www.milesforsmiles.co.za/ and http://www.toyota.co.za/ where you can click on Miles for Smiles to read more about the Coastal Challenge.

Running wild - Oct 7, 2008

Running wild ... Toyota-sponsored athletes Braam Malherbe and David Grier at Lake Sibaya in the iSimalangiso Wetland Park which is renowned for its hippo and crocodile populations. They're due to finish their 100-day run around the coastline of South Africa tomorrow (Wed).

Photograph: Geoff Dalglish

Saving our resources - Oct 6, 2008

Should you put that extra log on the fire?

The late-night question to one of the Miles for Smiles team sparked a huge debate, my argument being that if the fire was purely for atmosphere, it could be a little smaller. Heaping all our firewood onto an already generous blaze was wasteful, squandering wood and ultimately speeding up the desertification of our beleaguered planet.

Retiring to our tents while the campfire continued to burn also posed a potential hazard, especially if the wind came up while we slept, fanning the embers and sending sparks flying into tinder-dry bush around us.

In the end I lost the argument and more logs were piled onto the fire, reminding me of an incident three or four years ago when I was helping run refreshment stops during the Tour d’Kruger mountain bike race through the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park.

Arriving at a makeshift campsite in a dry riverbed I was greeted by the biggest bonfire I’d ever seen, with members of a 4x4 club towing dead trees into camp behind their vehicles. “You can’t join us if you don’t bring your own tree,” I was told.

Did I want any part of this? The pile of wood was more than three metres high and was depleting the area of all obvious firewood. And it was simply for atmosphere, the cooking taking place on a separate fire.

“Do you realise that you have probably burned a month’s supply of wood for the local village,” I asked. “And now the villagers may have to walk another kilometre and an extra few minutes each day to find firewood!”

The next morning the chairman of the club said the members had discussed it and agreed that I had a point, but didn’t like my critical attitude. Tough! Their main concern was that I might identify them in one of my stories and also mention the make of vehicle they drove, which wasn’t a Toyota, Ihasten to add.

I’d learned my own lesson a few years earlier when I’d thoughtlessly added a small branch to a modest cooking fire in Malawi. An old woman had given me an accusing look and promptly removed the branch. How right she was. Wood was scarce enough in her district without me wasting any of it.

I felt ashamed and learned a valuable lesson.

iSimangaliso Wetland Park - Oct 3, 2008

Which is the most amazing part of South Africa?

Maputaland boasts awesome biodiversity along with the Big Five, whales, turtles and the world's oldest fish, the coelacanth.
Photograph: Geoff Dalglish

This is a question I’m often asked and a candidate for my personal favourite corner of the globe has to be iSimangaliso Wetland Park, the new name for what was formerly the Greater St Lucia Wetlands Park. We’re entering it today which fills me with joy. I’ve adventured here often in
4x4s over the years and had some amazing wildlife experiences in the many game reserves in the area.

Here are some of the good reasons to visit:

• Only in iSimangaliso and nowhere else on Earth could you hope to meet the oldest land mammal (the rhinoceros) and the largest terrestrial mammal (the elephant); the biggest marine mammal (the whale) and share an ecosystem with the world’s oldest fish (the coelacanth).
• If you’re lucky in one day in the wider Maputaland area you could see the Big Five and go on a night turtle drive to see these amazing creatures coming ashore to lay their eggs.
• It was South Africa’s first world heritage site and the St Lucia park was Africa’s first protection area with a conservation history stretching back more than a century.
• The coastline is the last significant breeding ground in South Africa for both the giant leatherback and loggerhead turtles.
• Lake St Lucia is Africa’s largest estuary and contains the continent’s greatest congregation of crocodiles and hippos.
• The 25 000-year-old coastal dunes are among the tallest vegetated dunes in the world.
• Lake Sibaya is the largest natural freshwater lake in the sub-continent.
• The sustainable fish traps of the Kosi Bay lakes date back 700 years and have been handed down from generation to generation.
• At St Lucia Mouth you meet sharks and crocodiles and wouldn’t want to swim there.
• Pristine beaches are a major attraction with the one near Rocktail Bay Lodge being named one of the 10 best in the world by an American outdoor magazine.
• The area boasts the world’s greatest concentration of black rhino.

An aerial view of Lake Sibaya within the iSimangaliso Wetland Park.

So you can see why I love the place. I’ve had my best snorkelling experience here, swimming among ragged tooth sharks and turtles, as well as enjoying beach hikes where I was the only human in sight. It’s a piece of heaven.

Toyota runners make athletics history - Oct 3, 2008

Running into the record books ... Toyota athletes Braam Malherbe and David Grier have notched up 3 000km during their charity run around the South African coastline.

Photograph: Inga Hendriks

Toyota-sponsored athletes David Grier and Braam Malherbe have run a 3 000km-long ‘smile’ around the southern tip of Africa as part of the Cipla Spar Miles for Smiles Coastal Challenge 2008.

The two runners are making international athletics history, adding a circumnavigation on foot of the entire South African coastline to their 2006 endurance record of a pioneering 4 218km run along the Great Wall of China.

They are poised to complete their latest 3 250km endurance epic next week in the Mozambican resort town of Ponta do Ouro, although a number of spectacular highlights still await them in northern KZN.

At the weekend they’ll enter the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, formerly the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park, where they’ll run alongside Lake Sibaya, the sub-continent’s largest natural fresh-water lake that is inhabited by hippos and crocodiles, and along pristine beaches flanked by some of the world’s tallest vegetated dunes.

“I’ve lost a number of toenails and have some horrendous blisters,” Braam admitted, “but we’re pushing ahead strongly and are hugely excited to be entering our third world heritage site, having already run through the Cape Floral Kingdom and around Robben Island on Madiba’s 90th birthday.”

Although the tides are not favourable to the runners next week, they’re keen to experience beaches that have been voted among the most beautiful in the world by international travel magazines.

They’re also enjoying a sense of history in running a rugged route to Mozambique that has been traversed by a number of shipwreck survivors during the past few centuries, as well as being familiar terrain to Southern Africa’s First People.

“It is privilege to be enjoying the entire coastline of South Africa and so many little-known natural wonders,” David said. “It reinforces our belief in our country and in the character of the people we’re meeting along the way. There’s no better place on Earth!”

The goal of the challenge, which is supported by Toyota South Africa, is to help change young lives forever by raising more than R3-million for reconstructive surgery for hundreds of children with facial disfigurements.

David and Braam’s daily progress can be charted on the Operation Smile SA website where online donations can also be made. Visit www.milesforsmiles.co.za and www.toyota.co.za where you can click on Miles for Smiles.