Since I had walked the “Camino de Santiago” almost 15 years ago, I had a dream to create a South African Pilgrimage and that is how I got to meet and walk with George Euvard, an Academic from Grahamstown. I was invited to join his pioneering 9 day “Indlela Yeubuntu Project”, which saw us walking from Grahamstown, serenaded by the brothers and young voices of the St Cyprians School as we began our sometimes gruelling walk covering immense distances through African landscapes of Aloes, Thorn bush and Unguni Marshlands, through Kirkwood, Enon, over the magnificent Coxcombe mountains to the Citrus mecca of Patensie. We slept in church halls, churches, private homes humble and glamorous, fed by the local communities and our extra belongings were transported in a vehicle to our next destination …….until our final destination, the Patlangs Kafee in Patensie on the 16th June 2014. It was then when my own true “African Pilgrimage” begun. I walked out of Patensie alone, with three days food, ample water, a few changes of cloths, a map and a sense of wonder.
I walked through the Baviaanskloof to be greeted with the overwhelming generosity of the local community. I never lacked for anything, whether it was a kind word when I was tired, water when I had run out; a warm place to dry my clothes or rest my head, a fresh orange exchanged through a truck window, or idle laughter and chatter when the distances became relentless……..I continued my walk through Uniondale, Avontuur, through the Port Alfred Pass and ending in Knysna, where my journey ended for now.
With an immense sense of Freedom, Peace and expansiveness I have become a true African Foot-trekker, and continue walking wherever it takes me, with the desire to share and empower people along the way. Finally a dream come true, the dream of all dreams, to leave my life as I know it behind, and walk on the body of Africa, singing my song line back to my ancestral routes, Jerusalem ……….. I believe the dream will become a reality on the 25th March 2016 when I leave with my brothers and sisters, walking back into myself. I have a year to fine tune my gear, put on my walking boots, walk to the rhythm of my heart-beat and let Mother Nature do the rest!