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14 April 2008
Our first few days preparing at Okonjima
Jessica Hatcher
I’m sitting in front of a roaring wood fire… and it’s midday. The laptop’s run out of battery, so I’m plugged into our gotwind.org solar powered battery. The roaring wood fire is not exactly welcome but necessary for lunch, and the laptop and I are in discussion as to which of us is less comfortable.
Thus far, we have come up against the type of hitches we thought inevitable, yet hoped would not occur. Xavier is not well – after 4 vaccinations in as many minutes back in England, he came down with a flu-bug and is now recovering in a bed, thanks to the kindness of Dave at Africat – the Cheetah conservation charity based here in Okonjima, about a four hour drive north of Windhoek.
We’ve also just come back from our first practice cycle somewhat dejected. We punctured en masse. Chris thought there was something fundamentally wrong with our inner-tubes when first Craig’s back tyres bicycle went flat. Damian had voiced his concerns as to the size of our inner tubes yesterday and so the decision was to turn around and walk the bikes back to avoid further damage. Back at the campsite that is serving as base camp for a few days, it turns out our inner tubes are too big for our wheels… thus puncturing. Although the jury is still out on this issue - 'news just in' suggests it may have more to do with our incompetence...
Other teething problems include the lack of cups (plenty of tea but no suitable receptacles) and the lack of functioning gas stove, but on the whole, it is good. Yesterday, Dave at Africat took us radio-tracking wild cheetah. Not only did we find brother and sister together (apparently a rare occurrence), but we found brother and sister together having dinner. They’d killed a Hartebeest – a sort of small hoofed grazer – and once they’d accepted the company of their mate Dave and friends, we were able to stand about two metres from them and become fully acquainted with the sounds of their digestive systems. It was a truly incredible experience. These dainty cats are being rehabilitated into the wild. Having missed out on a proper upbringing or spent too long in captivity, they are oblivious to the natural hierarchy and social niceties of Namibian bush life. With an element of pride and more than a touch of emotion, Dave told us that one of the cheetah had recently been injured trying to bring down a zebra – an animal that usually takes a small pride of lions to kill!
Today (Monday) and tomorrow will be spent sorting out the logistics of how we are to pedal 500 miles to the Botswanan border across uninhabited, inhospitably hot terrain, carrying all our food, water, spares, medical and electrical kit for the duration. One of the main moot points here is the decision on which route to take – the Namibian highway that is tarmac and straight or the rural route. Each has its’ many pros and cons, but what is for me the most stark fact is that on neither route can we rely on finding food and fresh water. Unlike in West Africa, there are no regular settlements near the roads, no kindly faces selling fresh mango that we’ll pass, no frequent petrol stops… Namibia is the world’s second most sparsely inhabited country, I am told, and we are attempting to traverse some of the most empty (though beautiful) regions, where there are, quite simply, no people. We have our satellite BGAN unit from the SatCom group keeping us in contact though – today I did a live telephone interview with BBC Radio Oxford sitting on the dark red earth in the middle of the Cheetah conservation park… picture to follow.
More later – for now, Craig is braving the heat of the fire in the midday sun to get the pasta on which will be a real treat – until now, it has been meali-meal, a sort of white stodge that responds very well to vast quantities of salt or sugar.
I should end our first real update with a thanks to everyone – our sponsors, family, friends and helpers. Your support means a great deal.
Right now, it feels as if none of this could have been possible without the help of Dave, Carla, Alfred and everyone in Okonjima. Seeing the work that goes on at Africat, the big cat rehabilitation centre here in Okonjima, has meant that we embark upon our journey already spoilt by the most unbelieveable access to some of the continent's most important species.
Jess
p.s. only after I had finished writing this did Chris mention the long length of cabling that comes with our solar battery, that allows one to wallow in the shade while still plugged in... ah well ,it was at least good for the tan.
Brought to you by an inmarsat BGAN from the SatCom Group - broadband quality internet from the doorstep on a Bushman in the Kalahari"...
08 April 2008
Forward Party-Barty
Team leader departs for Namibia - Jess Hatcher
Golly, we have been negligent until now. Our website news updates have been thin on the ground, and while Barty will no doubt frown upon this pre-emptive, inessential informative, I will plough on nonetheless (not least because he's on an aeroplane and can do bugger all about it).
Team Leader Barty arrives tomorrow in Namibia, where he will beg, borrow and steal his way to Africat, near Otjiwarongo in central Namibia. The country is home to a staggering 25% of the world's cheetah population - a fact that goes some way to encapsulating the importance of its work as a large carnivore conservation centre.
We fly out to join him there on Friday, arriving Saturday.
Our bicycles, with a big thanks to DHL, are soaking up the sunshine at Africat and waiting for us to arrive. I was going to suggest that they might have the easy end of this deal - they don't get sunburned, they don't get hungry and they don't have to pedal. That was until I tried lifting Barty's aeroplane-ready panniers that he had wrapped up together in a giant plastic bag. Those bicycles deserve more respect than they are ever likely to receive - each one will carry at least 30kg (i.e. half me), and some considerably more (I have yet to decide whether Chris is best equated to a donkey or a camel, but either way, he is very big and very strong and makes me glad I'm a girl).
With you, I look forward to hearing Barty's thoughts from Africa, as well as his sigh of relief, which I fully expect to be audible in the British Isles.
Jessica Hatcher
02 April 2008
Prince William Launches the Cycle of Life
The Team bicycle to Clarence House for royal send-off
05 December 2007
School of Wales: The Cycle of Life Residential Weekend
Maes-y-Lade, 23rd-25th November 2007
Wales in November is every bit as cold as sub-Saharan Africa will be hot when we arrive in April. Nonetheless, the Cycle of Life team made our way to the Brecon Beacons for the weekend, swapping our bikes for canoes and imagining the surrounding sheep were herds of antelope.
Three weeks ago the Cycle of Life was introduced to Centrepoint’s young people at Hoxton Hall. We invited those most interested in joining the expedition team to come with us for a weekend residential of team building and bonding. Having completed a rigorous application, the four most committed were chosen to accompany us to the Maes-y-Lade outdoor centre in Wales. They were Somia (17), Emilyn (18), JC (21) and Xavier (24), each from Centrepoint-managed hostels in London.
Since its conception, never has the Cycle of Life been questioned as intensively as it was during our first evening in Wales. The young people asked Barty questions about the logistics, the route, and the reasons behind the expedition. Most impressively, the focus of the questioning always returned to the same central topic: why were we doing this and how could we maximise its impact? It was inspirational to see young people, each burdened with their own troubles, showing such considered and unselfish interest in helping rural African communities.
The weekend was designed to build the team ethic that will be essential to our expedition. On Saturday we split into pairs to paddle canoes down the river Wye. As we practiced steering down rapids, we learnt the importance of trust, communication, and fun. When the river stole an advantage to throw Emilyn and Chris from their canoe, it only spurred us all to brave the cold and try swimming down a later rapid – even though Somia had “never swum in anything, apart from the bath!”
Later, our newly learned team skills were tested to the limit when we were directed to locate and remove two ‘nuclear containers’ from the pitch black of a disused railway tunnel. With vision useless, we had to rely on our other senses and, crucially, each other in order to stave off the natural feelings of fear – not helped by mischievous unsettling tactics by the event’s organisers! By now, though, the bond within the group was clear and the containers were found and disarmed through great teamwork and mutual support.
The weekend was a huge success, and has reiterated to us that we cannot afford to let this expedition fail. Despite this, the real challenge has only just begun. By early next year, we must each prove that we have what it takes to be part of the Cycle of Life. We have to raise the money to make the trip possible, and raise our own fitness levels to endure cycling through the African heat.
On Friday, when we all first met, Africa seemed a very long way away. By the time we all went our separate ways on Sunday, there was a pervasive sense of trust and unity. The Cycle of Life journey has begun.
Quotes from Maes-y-Lade
“I thought it was just cycling and helping us homeless people to get somewhere in life. But when I realised it was for charity I was really excited. I really want to raise money for the kids – that’s my goal. Then, when I become a nurse, I can go to Africa and all the poor countries to help them out and tell them about health and fitness and medicine.”
JC
“I want to help with fundraising, and even if I don’t get the chance to go to Africa, it will be okay because I would have helped out and met new people.”
Emilyn
“I think I’d come back like a different person, like certain things we’ve got here I wouldn’t take for granted. I’d see how I live in a different way. You never know – I might go and work with children in Africa!”
Somia
“I was extremely impressed with the teamwork and levels of participation from all involved. It was amazing to hear Centrepoint young people speak so poignantly about what they can do to help people in Africa.”
Sadie Odeogberin – Centrepoint staff
“It has blown me away to see these young people care so deeply about African issues. Now everyone has to match their passion and enthusiasm, and the Cycle of Life will be a huge success.”
Barty – Cycle of Life project leader
02 November 2007
The Cycle of Life team kick-start the Centrepoint selection process
Hoxton Hall, November 1st 2007
Three hours spent in the company of the staff and young people of Centrepoint has left me with 8 pages of scribbles in my notebook; moments I felt compelled to record, people I promised to contact, new ideas, new friends. Such was the strength of impression made on me in these brief hours at Hoxton Hall yesterday evening that I’m not sure really where to begin. But it is a news update I am bound to write, so that I will.
We were invited by Centrepoint to attend their annual Hoxton Hall event, a celebration of achievement, and to use it as an opportunity to present to the young people currently living in central London hostels what it is that we hope to achieve with the Cycle of Life, and how they might become involved.
The event began with simple, tasty food served with smoothies and a smile and was followed by a sort of variety show performed by the Centrepoint young people. An unaccompanied, pitch-perfect soloist followed a rapper who had a more profound understanding of the twenty-first century than I could ever hope to; two hip-hop dancers made me wildly jealous and then a lad who cracked a candid joke about “the number of times I’ve kicked chairs across the learning room floor” moved seamlessly from his crowd-pleasing MC-ing into some fiercely perceptive poetry. The audience was animated, supportive and respectful; heckling when due and thoughtful when prompted.
Having witnessed this talent, I have to say I felt more than a little nervous when it came to our turn to stand up on stage. The Cycle of Life had to follow these kids’ act. Literally.
Taking the stage, Barty and Chris spoke about what we hope to achieve. And having met some of these young people now, boy do I hope we achieve it. The plan is for three of them to join us, for a leg each, on our mammoth expedition, and for each of the three to be paired with a member of staff, who will mentor them through the training and fund-raising.
Application forms were handed out, and as Chris, Barty, Argie and I spoke to as many young people as possible about the expedition, the running undercurrent of nervous excitement was tangible – this has the potential to be something incredible, and, no, it might not just be us who think so.
Jess
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