Ray Chaplin, walking solo to Beit Bridge from CT, aborted his initial expedition in mid-December, 450 kilometres into the journey. Defeated by contaminated water (yes, still infectious after treatment and filtration!) and severe drought in the Karoo, Ray has spent the last three weeks revising his plans. He is now five days into ‘Take Two’ and accompanied by ‘Tootsie’, a wheeled trailer that he is towing.
Ray’s primary difficulty on the first attempt was finding and carrying enough water in his backpack. Now, with the trailer, the weight of his gear is off his back and he’s able to carry many litres of water. With the trailer, Ray hopes to “maintain far higher speeds and cover greater distances each day”.
Ray is a multi-media fiend; his daily dispatches and photos are posted on this website at www.raychaplin.com and also on his Facebook page. You’ll also find SportsTrack live satellite tracking on Ray’s website; follow his progress and drop off a chocolate milkshake when he passes through your region. He’d probably appreciate the calories and your company for a couple of kays.
Hey Lisa… between Ceres & Touwsrivier at the moment and it is cooking out here! Local farmers are warning me against walking the direst route to Sutherland… and this is guys who have lived here all their lives!
The people I am staying with tonight have a farm along the route and they say their wind pumps are dry, the dams are empty and the place is brown. OUCH!
As for the chocolate milkshake… brings back awesome memories of 2007 when you brought me chocolate milkshake when I was cycling 🙂
All the best from the very warm Karoo
Ray