African Hoofprints

Newsy Emails... Old and New!

2011-02-03T01:49:00.000-08:00

For those of you who may have missed out... I have added all the newsy emails we have sent out on this journey... enjoy!

Written on 15/10/2006

Hi all.

To get you up to speed on the expedition so far... (Christy is a bit behind on updating the travellogue!)
We are staying in a beautiful tourist town called Marsa Matrouh in Egypt, at the kind invitation of the Matrouh Governorate and the Sea Scouts. Although the tourist season is closed for the winter, the weather could not be better and the beach and sea more perfect.
http://www.matrouh.gov.eg/matrouhsite/indexen http://www.matrouh.gov.eg/matrouhsite/indexen.jsp
It is Ramadan so eating during the day is of the fresh produce bought at the souk (market) and then Christy adding Tuna to it.. When all fails add tuna...On the subject of food I am eating 10-12 eggs a day to gain the weight I have lost. Christy, being a good doer, is looking slim and trim but I'm looking pretty haggard!! (I kid you not,this chicky is tough!) Dinner consisting of soup, salad, chicken & rice washed down by Pepsi costs about 30 Egyptian pounds, equivalent to R39 or $5, for 2 people. That however is on the street with the locals. The same meal at a tourist restaraunt will cost 140 Egyptian pounds for 2. This is at least one reason to mix with the locals.
Ramadan is a fascinating time and it is incredible to experience a whole city of people fasting in solidarity with the poor. All shop owners give food and money to the poor. Throughout the day the people are at prayer and the mosques are hardly silent. At sunset the Longtom cannon is fired marking the end of the fast and everyone heads home for "breakfast". The city is deserted and deathly silent. We were invited to Mr Adel, the sports facility manager's, house for this "breakfast" which was a right slap up. Special meals are prepared throughout the month of Ramadan.
People keep on asking why we don't change our horses if they are tired or injured. There are a million & one reasons why we persist with them but I would say the most compelling reasons are that they took the "first steps" and should have the honour of taking the last. This journey is about the people we meet and our horses. Lastly these horses have found a huge place in our hearts! (& because Christy would kill me!!)
So onto the subject of why we are resting in Marsa Matrouh for so long. After 10 months of travel and intense living (living in other peoples pockets!), we have been left to our own devices. Each evening we may socialise or not, but seeing as the scouts are good blokes I choose to. I'll discuss the horses seperately. We have run out of time on our visas (again!!) and can only receive new ones on 18/10/2006. Hopefully for 60 days.
The horses - Rahaal was too fat and needed to be toned up. He has recovered from his shoulder injury nicely (the injury we bought him with). Unfortunately his right hind is not strong enough to carry me and my kit for 25-35 km per day (the injury he sustained during his castration). We decided to work him on the beach and this has proven to be more of a success than I had hoped for. One possible problem is that over distance I think his right hind may cause him to move incorrectly and wear his hoofs badly. I will consider shoeing him until I am satisfied that his right hind is fully recovered.
Ennahali has worked incredibly hard and deserves a rest from carrying 110-120kg daily in a ridged saddle. We are not happy with his muscle developement in the saddle area and are back to riding him in a backpad. He is Rahaal's schoolmaster on the beach as the little guy has some terrible habits.
Chami has laminitis and has lost an awful amount of weight. Like me he is on a weight gain diet and poor Christy has to get up at all hours to feed him. She has to stand with him until he finishes eating to stop the whily Nali & the fearless (when it comes to food) Rahaal from creating a catastrophe. (As there are plenty of mosquitoes around you can imagine the dance the four of them do...) His laminitis looks like it could be under control and he is walking sound in shoes and even galloping on the beach, but...one never knows. So he rests, does some tar work & at times is let loose on the beach whle we are working. So that is all our news for now. Check out the new photo's on the website.
Kind regards to you all
William and Christine
or if you like;
Lots of love.
Billy & Christy

Written on 25/10/2006

Hello everybody.

Hope you are all well. We are well rested and yes I am almost back up to my normal weight; it's a bit dissapointing having to scale down on my egg intake...

I went to Cairo for visas on 18\10\06.My documents are still with security and because of Ramadan and Aeid I should only return on the 28th. Christy had no problem with her visa and I was told to fetch the passport at 2 o'clock, but they obviously meant "2 hours time" because they were closed when I got there,so I left her passport at immigration and decided to return "home".

..on the subject of Ramadan (for Fiona). Cairo is a very stressful city, if all you are doing is sorting out bureaucracy and dealing with taxi drivers whose only ambition in life is to rip off tourists! So you can immagine how stressed I am after 500km bus ride,4 taxi rides where you have to argue the driver down from 50 pounds to 15 pounds, no visa and an abandoned passport...The bus ticket office is closed its 5:30pm; bus might leave at 8pm.. no 10pm.. can we get you a taxi.. my friend has a taxi.. Yes the microbus to Alexandria rank is very far away.. only 30 pounds.. 7km's, but with traffic we can't charge less than 15 pounds.. (GPS tells me its 1,5 km or 10 minute walk)..!

Bully at Alexandria taxi rank tries to pick a fight.. "BIG SMILE, NO GUN!" (wish I had coined the phrase).. I am first passenger so there is a long wait.. Eventually we get going.. hooting, stop\starting, yelling from taxi driver.. where you from.. South Africa.. NO YOU'RE NOT, YOU'RE WHITE!!.. frenetic driving.. peak hour traffic with 3 million people exiting the city.. Out of nowhere a brute of a man steps in front of the taxi brandishing a lump of wood that a neanderthal would be proud to pick up! Taxi screeches to a halt. He's wearing a tight fitting, bright orange T-shirt and a very dangerous grin.. Yip, it's "lets beat up the foreigner time".. my heart starts racing as I look for the closest exit.. the side door bursts open and Orange's 2 bigger brothers poke their heads in.. their faces break into the kindest smile you can imagine and little plastic cups filled with date juice are handed out to everyone.. 2 minutes later we're on our way and only then do I relax my hold on the seat.. sunset comes and I take a sip of the sweetest juice you can imagine.. the dates in the bottom taste like toffee! Ramadan is a time for sharing with everyone!

Congrats to Lorien and Ian on their engagement!

Christy has finally updated the travellogue and is steadilly getting the horse diary up to date. I hope you all find it interesting. Remember the photo's change every 2 weeks.

Cheers William and Christine

Written on 18/11/2006

Hello everyone.

Hope this finds you all in better health than Christine and I...Yes we have flu but are recovering without taking the advice of taxi drivers,shop keepers,street sweepers,the guy who sells green feed... everyone means well but I swear if you listen to all of them you'll end up at the funny farm!

We are stillllllll in Marsa Matruah! I cannot stress enough what a blessing it was meeting Dr Hamid Khalid the man who invited us to stay at the scout camp run by Mr Hamza Gahin. Chami's life was probably saved by it!

His recovery from dreaded laminitis is incredible to see... of course his recovery is not complete but at least he is out of danger! Still a very long way to go... The funny thing about laminitis is that I have seen mild cases succumb and terrible cases survive. It comes down to the horses determination to survive....!

We are fortunate to have obtained 3 good quality horses who can be "meak and mild" when required and "fiery steeds" that look as if they have just been brought in from the wild! We have seen their mental toughness and Chami's "will to live". Seeing them sleep up against each other every night for comfort moves something in you that is hard to describe. I can only reiterrate how blessed we are to be doing this journey!

I have to go to Cairo again to see if my visa has arrived, just a 1000km's there and back... Christine's visa is until 25\02\2007. It seems South Africans and possibly all Africans face thorough security checks because of working without work permits.

So before I went to Cairo last time I met a taxi driver called Younis. This is his second job after teaching. He teaches at school comes home, sleeps for 2-3 hours and then drives a taxi until 4 or 5am. This is very usual for everyone to hold down more than one job. They can't believe that all I do is farriery. I can't believe I do farriery!! I mean what guy in his right mind would chose such a hard job and then be controversial as well...

So the scouts check out Younis and tell me he is a scout as well and also a good bloke, take his number and call him when you need a taxi (Yes all in Arabic). Younis tells me his brother, Rissik, has a horse. (Yeah yeah, think nothing of it...I have only seen donkeys here...)

We buy green feed and phone Younis to see if this system of phoning for a taxi actually works... So I'll be there in 10 minutes takes 45 minutes after more phonecalls between "green feed guy" and Younis... Taxi stops and strange guy says he's Younis' brother, Rissik. Younis is working later but stops by to introduce us. I take Younis aside and ask him to bring Christine green feed while I'm in Cairo (I don't want her traipsing around town on her own) No problem, Rissk will do this...

We climb into Rissik's taxi...He doesn't stop talking on his phone from the time we met him until halfway home...then he doesn't stop talking long enough for me to say I don't understand when you talk so fast. He is full of exuberance and is exited when explaining his mare to us. He stops talking long enough to make a phonecall...then promptly hands me the phone..."speak,speak".

After a long winded conversation in Arabic and then coming to an abrupt halt when discussing his horse's problem, he breaks into faultless English...Khamies has 2 mares and a foal... So we've had a wonderful dinner with them,ridden with them, been invited to the cousins wedding where there was a horse parade and finally met our first horsemen!!! (all from catching the right taxi...) ...and yes Christine got green feed at 6.30pm (Rissik's 3pm!!!)

Congratulations to Rissik who has a new born son!

Thanks to all who have sent us e-mails.

Jessica, my god-daughter, I'm terribly sorry I didn't phone you on your birthday. I hope you had a wonderful time! Please tell your rotten father to e-mail me sometime with all your news...

Cheers

William and Christine

Written on 30/11/2006

Hello everybody.

(...and Chanda,Caroline,Michelle,Susan,Mildred,8 horses+2 ,4 cats,10 dogs,7 geese+13 goslings and millions of ducks with their ducklings) ...hope I didn't miss anyone!

Couple of questions to answer:

Robert- Sponsorship is always a big problem with certain sponsors wanting more than their "pound of flesh" in return for very little. This is until you are actually "tried and tested"! Very few people believed I would start such a journey let alone get this far... Our 2 current sponsors have not interfered & have been more than accomodating, which is as it should be.

We are adding an expenses section to the website because I believe a lot of "would be travellers" are put off travel thinking it is too expensive. I also experimented with a lot of equipment which was unneccesary & we will add an equipment list when we are fully comfortable with the equipment we are using.

Of course we will be looking for other sponsors to lighten the load financially & also to translate the website into Arabic, so if you know someone...

Sandy- I "think" Egyptians switch their headlights off because they are nocturnal. Everybody socialises out on the streets until the wee hours... Pedestrians have right of way & will probably stone someone driving with his dims on let alone his brights. Taxi drivers use blue inoffensive lights so they can be seen. It's esculated to the point where the trucks & taxis look like christmas trees. When we were in the Libyan desert they were quite a sight & could be seen for miles all lit up in different colours.

My grandfather was in North Africa during World War II, serving in the South African Army but my desire to learn more about what happend has been affected by my aversion to war. We have visited Rommel's underground bunker & that's enough for me! I had no idea that the Coloured Corps were here, but judging by the terrain etc your husbands gardener must have had some hair raising stories to tell. The desert in Egypt & Libya have landmine fields which have not been cleared, and still claim victims...supposedly no maps of the landmines whereabouts exist!

Fiona- We feed our horses oats and a bulk feed. The bulk feed can vary from hay to succulents in large quantities. Each area has it's own speciality so when we talk about green feed it can be anything that has not dried like "hay".

Fiona wrote..."and I hope not only that you will continue to meet and befriend interesting characters like Younis but that you also continue to write about them. We learn so much about foreign places through gaining an insight into the people that inhabit them."

This is exactly what our journey is about...

Jan- so, the girls think I look like some "HULK" on TV... would that be the green guy?

Well I finally got my visa...only until the 25/12/2006 while Christine's is until 25/02/2007.What does a man have to do...

We leave Marsa Matruh on 10/12/2006 exactly a year since we started our journey at the most northern point of Africa! Lots of water under the bridge but, all still intact.

We started a scouts course, "rope knots",Christine is very good at tying them & has to keep showing me how & reminding me of the Arabic names. We are most impressed with the scouts! I of course grew up thinking they were a bunch of mommy's boys who were in it for the uniform, but there is a bit more to it.

So I have to tell you about the white dogs. We first saw white dogs (brown or black patches acceptable even tan colour but nothing else) in southern part of Tunisia. The packs vary in size from 4 to 12 & they look after themselves ie. don't belong to anyone. They very rarely are in poor condition & are tough & wiry, about the same size as big border collie.

When we were in Libya a woman asked me if we were not afraid of wild animals. I told her I was concerned about hyenas but that so far I had only seen packs of white dogs. She told me she had meant white dogs & thought them to be more dangerous. These packs visited us everynight when we were camped close to civilization but fortunately we had no problems.That is not until we got to Marsa Matruh...

We were befriended by Liza a brown dog (who has since had puppies that Christine checks on every 5 minutes) & Fox a black "collie" looking dog. We never fed them!!!! but somehow they wormed their way into our lives... I think Fox had a long term plan in his fight against the white dogs with us unwittingly becoming not only his ally but his front line defense. Here's a normal day...

We get ready to ride after an exhausting night being kept awake by barking dogs. (Fox has been, literally, sitting on the rooftops issuing challenges of a mighty battle to come in the morning..) We unlock the front gate leading onto the road...Fox bursts onto the road, hackles up, snarling & frothing at the mouth...no one is safe...kids run for their lives...old woman with things on their head freeze with terror...cyclists only think they are faster...even motor cyclists get it wrong. Mr Adel from next door,Christine & I have our hands full but nothing serious has happend.(he was meak little lamb before we arrived & everybody is astounded by this behaviour, now people want to capture him for breeding prospects etc).

Onto the beach we go, the domain of the white dogs, this is it the challenge he's been waiting for...forward scout- Mr Fox, front line defense- Mr William, "big gun no smile"(secret weapon) Mrs Christine on (tadah...) NALI. This big grey bomber has been prepped all night by Fox & Liza in turns... Mr Fox lures white dogs into his trap, but unfortunately Mr William is on timid Rahaal who retreats... & immediately Mrs Christine & the grey bomber have to be called into action to avert a disaster. Nearly worked... We'll try again tomorrow... On Google Earth you can witness this battle every day with varying number of white dogs (& a variety of endings) just send an e-mail & we'll send you the waypoint.

Thanks for the advice on the mange, Helen.

Have a look at the new photo's on the website

Regards to all.
William & Christine

Written on 14/04/2007

Hello Everyone

Egypt after 6 months to the day, has been left behind with an interesting excursion on a cargo barge. We arrived at Aswan high dam port at 07H30 and were finally processed by 14H30. By 16H00 the cargo barge, which was to be towed, was finally maneuvered into position along side the quay. The +- 45m barge was pushed, pulled, hauled by it’s twin, this one with 2 engines, and screaming, shouting, “Old sea dogs” on the quay.

A rush of “I know horses” helping hands reluctantly stood back after Christine gave them a tongue lashing they shall never forget. We sedated the horses and led them drunkenly onto the barge. Chami needed a little push and my heart sank as I watched him teeter on the edge between the quay and the barge. 5mm of hoof was all that he was standing on, the rest of his leg was soon to disappear down the gap and his leg would snap like a twig. Suddenly with a lurch he was on, a sharp left, down rickety wooden slats into the bowels of the barge and tied up. Fetched the other 2 boys before the “I know horses” gang had recovered their confidence. Nali went in with a decent scrum by myself and a guy who had muscles I wish I had. Before we could scrum in Rahaal he jumped into the boat fearing he may be left behind.

Long song and dance tying the two barges abreast in a staggered formation with our barge in front. Right, GPS is on, ready for our journey, which is 200m to an island where we’ll “wait out the hazy weather and travel when we can see”. This just happens to be next morning. Anyway two day trip to Wadi Halfa and we’ll unload at about 10Hoo tomorrow morning says Captain. Shams (Sun in Arabic). Finally processed by 16Hoo but the “dam” ferry from Aswan has taken our quay space for unloading. They depart next day at 17Hoo. The barge soon turns into the newest attraction with a constant stream of people from customs, the port authority to the average laborer, who come to check out the horses and the mad foreigners.

Finally the ferry leaves and we can dock, but wait, there’s an engineless barge in the way and no one can seem to work out how Captain Shams wants to dock. Forty five minutes later once all the screaming and shouting has died down we are finally alongside. The quay is still too high and the boys will have to jump up and across a large gap off a slippery steel surface. As fate would have it, Chami’s back legs slip out from underneath him and he skins his back legs on the quay and in the process lands on top of Christine, who skins her knees too! Nali having viewed this near death experience stands like a big chicken wandering what to do. Rahaal having at first gotten tangled in Nalis rope, spots Chami on the quay and having spent four days in the corner of the barge between two big boys suffering from cabin fever, knows where he wants to be. With a massive leap he bypasses Nali and is safe on Terra Firma. Nali cannot be shown up by the little guy and takes “Giant leap for horse – kind.” We let them go one by one and they ran around like lunatics on the lake shore.

Of course there had been endless discussions on which was the best route in Sudan.

907 km to Khartoum if we follow the railway line through the desert or 1,296 km to Khartoum along the Nile with an unknown desert crossing, perhaps. We chat to the station master at Wadi Halfa, he will drop food off for us at all the manned stations at no charge.

Chami started the desert really strongly but the first night showed stiffness from the skinned legs. Soon we changed him to pack horse but he stopped eating and drinking and it was round about this time that we picked up the two Egyptian vultures. 260 km into the desert at Station 8 we had to fetch green feed for Chami from Abu Hamad 90 km away. His pain induced colic, lasted 9 days and eating almost nothing and he had almost disappeared.

So this is when the sand storm struck, lasting five days. Nothing was free from dust. One has to hand it to the pair of Egyptian vultures who either couldn’t fly in the storm or firmly believed this was our end.

Regards to all

William and Christine

P.S. Currently 280 km from Khartoum waiting for Rahaal to recover from a sprained fetlock. Will write again when we get to Khartoum.

Written 06/07/2007

Salem Alaykom

This e-mail is long overdue, but it's difficult to write with a cluttered mind. I won't mince words the stress of the last couple of months has been enormous.

Rahaal and Chami suffered injuries while Nali and Chami fell victim to Babeseosis (tick bite fever). Our slow progress means our visas expire after 3 months. South African bank refusing to transfer money to Sudan after our cash has run out. Not knowing whether we have any money left at all...

Chami got colic on our second day of the 350km desert crossing. The colic lasted 9 days with him refusing to eat and drinking very little, it was almost as if he were trying to commit suicide. Obviously he was not ridable and so little Rahaal had to step into the breach. This he did strongly for 570km before he sprained his left back fetlock. We rested 45 days and in this time both Nali and Chami got Babeseosis.

The vet, a specialist on ticks, refused to give me the brand name for the drug (Foray & Euflavine not available) used in treatment as he said there was no Babeseosis in the area and I should bring my horses into town for blood tests. I was loathe to use Berynil as it is a painful injection and carry it to treat Trypanosomiasis (Sleeping sickness).

My good friend, Dr Helen Tiffin, told me not to fiddle about and inject. I split the Berynil in 4 and injected the neck and hindquarters. Nali ended up with such a painful neck that he couldn't lie down and had to be fed at head height. Chami kept running away from me for fear of another injection. My heart practically broke but they both recovered and have slowly forgiven me, I think...

200km on disaster struck again with us experiencing a heat wave in the desert giving Rahaal and Chami what I can only describe as heat stroke. Chami's fragile state brought on his laminitis again and Rahaal's tired body succumbed to a mild laminitis. We put the boys on a truck and drove them the 60km into Khartoum to rest.

An old friend of Christine's, Brett and his wife Toni have kindly put us up. We have received good support from kind friends of theirs Khalid and Walid. Chami is recovering well but Rahaal has a massive abscess in his right front hoof. It has just started to erupt and things in that department are looking up. Looking at his strong well shaped hoofs I would never in a million years have predicted this.

Christine has left for Kenya in order to get a new visa. You get a monthly tourist visa at a US$100 and may only have three before you must leave the country. The good news is that you can leave obtain a visa and return immediately. So she has gone off to spend time with her family which is also long overdue. I miss her terribly!...and so do the horses.

What can I say about the South African bank refusing to transfer money to Sudan because of sanctions. This whole journey we have experienced institutions, for want of a better word, who feel that Africa's problems or any problem must be solved by aggressive means instead of opening dialogue.

MTN (SA mobile company) are opening here in a big way which will improve peoples lives not damage them. South Africans should understand more than Westerners the "collateral damage" brought about by sanctions. So much for our level of sophistication but then I forget they haven't been here have they...

We are particularly grateful to the Sudan Railway employees who have taken great care of us as we have followed the tracks all the way from Wadi Halfa. All the Sudanese have welcomed us into their homes and been most gracious hosts.

Chami was exhausted and needed to rest. We were at an abandoned station in the middle of our 350km desert crossing and yes there was water in the big concrete water tank and yes the horses had food only because Chami hadn't eaten for a couple of days. But Christine and I had no food just a piece of bread for breakfast that morning.

I had already pilfered our emergency rations and if we stayed and left the next morning our first meal on an already depleted diet would be at best 3pm. Very dangerous risk to take! I had not made up my mind but Christine had and was prepared to stay. Suddenly the horses warned us of an approaching train.

The train driver stops and asks us in for tea. Apples and oranges appear, an absolute luxuary in Northern Sudan let alone in the middle of the desert. After swopping phone numbers and dinner invitations in the next town which seems an eternity away we alight from the train and are loaded with cheese, bread,apples and oranges.

What can I say Big Guy you just keep coming through...

God bless you all.

William and Christine

Written on 16/10/2007

To all our friends,

It is with heavy hearts that we write this email. On Saturday, 15th September, our little Rahaal died. He had been struggling with a high temperature for a couple of days so we had blood tests taken but nothing showed up. In the week before the 15th, he kept going into shock and dehydrating. Each time we managed to administer shock therapy and pull him out of it. On Saturday afternoon, we realised he was going into shock again. We rushed off to the pharmacy to get a drip to rehydrate him and dexamethyzone to treat for shock. By the time we got back he was already dead. We did an autopsy/necropsy and found nothing other than jaundice. We believe it was biliary, but were never really sure because he did not show all the symptoms and the blood tests were negative. We also disected his legs and hooves and found that the pedal bones in the front feet were chipping. We were and still are very sad. He was a great horse and a very special member of our team and we miss him terribly.

The two other equine members of the team are doing well. Nali got caught in his rope a while back and had a sore hind leg but is recovering well. Chami had an allergic reaction to something and his legs and sheath swelled up. He looked a bit like the Michelin man. He too is recovering nicely.

We are still staying in Khartoum on a horse farm owned by an English lady. She does riding lessons and hippo therapy so we have become really involved. We plan to leave on the weekend of the 26/27 and head South to Kenya.

Our next email will follow soon and we hope it will be more light hearted.

God Bless

Billy and Christy

Written on 30/09/2010

Salaam

I first met Christine at Sleepy Hollow Horse Riding Stables in Cape Town. She did not like me at all when we first met but was forced to hold horses for me while I worked, and make me tea as well... :) She went off to England to work for the Olympic gold medalist Matt Ryan, but returned to her mothers bedside after the cancer she had been fighting flared up. So, Christine was back holding horses at Sleepy Hollow for me (and making me tea)! Although Christine did not know it at the time, my father too was dying of cancer, so I could understand her emotional state. I listened and obviously gave lots of advice...and that was the start of our friendship which along the way took a serious turn and then a fanciful horseback expedition across Africa...

Sleepy Hollow Horse Riding Stables (disabled riding and trails as well) not only brought us together but were/are an important part in Noordhoek's social fabric. Many children over the years have passed through their hands learning to ride, have fun and socialise outdoors etc. After hours, weekends, holidays, rainy days, scorching days the place was full of children who did not have riding lessons but just came to hang out. They would muck out stables, groom horses, clean tack, be bossed around by older "salted" kids... I cannot quote Winston Churchill perfectly but he said something like "There is something about the outside of a horse which is good for the inside of a man" (My father would do flick-flaks in his grave if he knew I couldn't quote properly...)

Khartoum International Community School's (KICS) riding stable was a big challenge for Christine. The owner of the school has a property adjacent to the Blue Nile where he keeps his racehorses. He built 6 stables and a classroom, sand arena with round pens and bought 6 ponies for the riding school. 2 ladies, at different intervals, had tried to start up the riding school for KICS but it was not sustainable. Christine committed herself wholeheartedly to these stables for 3 years and is still on the upward curve. If it weren't for the fact that I would like to finish our expedition she would not leave... She approached each facet of the riding school with an open yet determined mind and made some interesting decisions... horses living out in 50 degree plus heat, unconventional training methods, unconventional teaching methods, unconventional fitness training...etc

I think Christine will leave a riding stables that is not only sustainable and very successful, but also has that other dimension...the one of bringing people together !

So we're on the road again on 08/10/2010. Taking a route through Southern Sudan (Kosti, Kadugli, Bentiu, Rumbek, Juba) to Nimule on the Ugandan border. Churchill (again!) said Uganda was "bicycle country" and so I'm quite looking forward to it. You know if it weren't for the last minute nothing would ever get done, so I'm waiting for just then to finish all the little tasks...stitching new saddle bags together, replenish medical kit, Ugandan import permits...

The "boys" Chami and Nali are looking fit and frivolous. I strapped my old blue saddle bags together with my red bedroll to see the fit on the new saddle...WELL, you should have seen Nali's face when approached with this rig he knew all too well... He belongs to a South African and by international horse law that makes him one as well...so he has to cheer the Bokke and dip his toes into the cold Atlantic Ocean at Cape Agulhas...without whimpering!!! I think Christine will post a video of Nali jumping a course without a bridle on Facebook...then you can see my boy shine! Oh, and Chami is cute too...

On a sad note Pepsi is going to have to say goodbye to the boys, particularly Chami. He is a little skewbald pony from Germany, who's health was failing and was lame as hell, when we took him under our wing. He has made great friends with the boys and they are inseparable.

We have made great friends in Sudan and it makes us sad to leave.

William and Christine

Written on 25/10/2010

Good morning all

So we're close to being on the move again, Wednesday 27/10/2010, if nothing goes wrong with the travel permits and I can pick them up without a hitch this morning...

You may be wondering just what state of mind we're in... This has always been the most hazardous part of our journey because of disease and the unknown. Malaria and sleeping sickness are 2 major worries for Christine and I, and then there are all the water bourne bugs... The 3 major horse diseases, African Horse Sickness (95% mortality), sleeping sickness (high mortality) and billary start now.

Throughout the centuries North/South horseback exploration of Africa has been stymied by this very area that Christine and I are about to attempt, 1300km through the biggest swamp in the world (or so I'm told). We've trained the horses well and are carrying the best medication we can lay our hands on, but the most important of all is prevention. Old explorers did not have the same information we have nowadays and this is what gives us the confidence to bypass diseased areas and not to put ourselves and our horses in danger.

There are such varying accounts of what Southern Sudan is like with the effects of a long civil war and poverty, and yet I'm really excited to be given the chance of seeing it and meeting the people before they are affected by tourism.

So what is the "Teams" reaction to moving on...I'd like to tell you that I'm an old salt and that nothing phases me anymore but the truth is I'm light headed, have butterflies in my stomach and very sweaty palms... Christine has a tummy that requires an ablution facility close by...and she hasn't stopped babbling... Chami has decided to try to run off into the village without Nali...now that is a first seeing as he suffers terribly from separation anxiety! Nali is brooding and resentful...he reminds me of the typical "American Movie" teenager who has been forced to move to a new town away from his friends and all he's ever known...

After a couple of hoof-falls the road will become our old friend again...meeting new people will distract us from loving family and friends...Chami and Nali will miss their friend Pepsi less...and the challenge of finding horse feed will start all over again (I still don't have a sickle)...

Hold thumbs!!!

William and Christine

Written on 23/11/2010

Good afternoon all,

Here I sit in the office of AbdelKhalid, manager of the coke warehouse in Rabak. That's right, you read correctly - Rabak! We are back again...

Early on Wednesday the 27/10/2010 we set out from Rabak heading for Southern Sudan. It felt great to be back on the road and adding kilometres to our journey... We quickly fell into a routine of riding 12-15km in the morning before finding some shady spot near some water for lunch and a rest and then riding a further 5-7km in the evening to the nearest village. 20km a day doesn't sound like much but it slowly eats up the distance!

Unfortunately, Chami started to get a pressure sore on his back and I found myself doing a lot of walking! Reliable Nali just kept coming, albeit VERY slowly! You would think that he and William had nowhere to go! The horses also struggled with horse flies and mosquitoes of which there were many. The closer we were to water the worse they were... It was not unusual for the horses to have spots of blood from bites all over them... poor things. The mosquitoes here are like super heroes! They bite straight through one's clothes. Long sleeves and jeans are no longer enough protection... A suit of armor may suffice though!

We spent the nights in various locations, once next to a little shop, in a school, in a police station, at the Omda's (Headman's) house, on farms and with very normal people in their homes. Once again we were blown away by people's generosity. The poorest people are willing to share everything they have with us.

As we neared the border between north and south we were stopped more often by police to check our paperwork, which thankfully is all in order. The border crossing was a little slow but after relatively little hassle, there we were in the south! It really does feel like a different country - There is savannah and thorn scrub intermingled with very green patches. Beautiful ponds with lily pads dot the landscape. There are more Christians and fewer Moslems. Although everyone speaks Arabic, there is an abundance of other languages, English included. Men and women dress differently from the north. There are no camels but lots of cattle with impressive horns. Villages consist of thatched huts made of reeds rather than the standard mud house of the north. People were just as friendly though a little more wary of us.

We arrived in the south in the morning and as is normal we found a place to rest during the heat of the day. We had just finished untacking when a whole platoon of soldiers arrived demanding that we return to their camp with them immediately. after tacking up the horses again (which takes a while with all our kit) we started walking with them. I couldn't work out why they were being so aggressive with us... a few minutes later, an intelligence officer who we had met and befriended at the border post arrived on a motorbike. He quickly found out what the problem was - someone had told the soldiers that we were carrying guns! After they searched our kit and chatted with this officer, they relaxed and became very friendly and apologetic!

After 10 days we arrived in Renk, the first big town in the South. We made our way to the government veterinary clinic where we asked to stay. Having been told that the road to Malakal was still closed, we were left with only one option - to get a barge from Renk to Juba. After much discussion and information seeking, we discovered that all the barges were full and we would need to book our space in Kosti. Billy was to take a bus to kosti and organize this when he came down with Malaria ... and Typhoid! We ended up staying 2 weeks in Renk while he tried to recover. I am now adept at giving injections in the bum and drips! I must say that he never complained and put up with being a pin cushion!

We then heard that the road to Malakal was now open and our next thought was to ride to Malakal and then catch the barge to Juba. But it was not to be.... Billy has very painful haemarrhoids from the Typhoid and can't sit his horse. It will take too long for him to recover and we have little time left on our visa. So back to Rabak we came to book a place on a barge to Juba. I am told it will take 3 weeks - let us hope this is long enough for Billy to recover completely so we can ride on from Juba to Uganda.

We hope to be on the barge in the next couple of days. Check our facebook profile Christy Billy Africanhoofprints for updates from our phantom facebooker! Sadly I have not had time to update the blog but will do at the first opportunity.
Kind Regards

Christine and William

Hurry Up and Wait!

2010-10-23T04:50:00.000-07:00

Having decided to travel down the eastern side of the White Nile instead of the western side, we now needed to cross back over the Kosti bridge back to Rabak... but how to persuade the cops to let us do it! (When we first rode over the bridge together with the riders from KICS, one side was under maintenance and so we could ride there without any problems with vehicles!) Dawelbeit, our ADRA contact from Kosti, kindly spoke to the cops for us and organized for us to cross over the bridge between 12 and 3am!

Our alarms were set for 11.30pm when the rain started... and it rained and poured and thundered and lightning(ed) for hours, so we had to postpone until the next night! (19th October 2010). This time, there was no rain thankfully. The rain goddess had other things on her mind!

The cops at the bridge got very excited when they saw us and demanded to see all our paperwork... and then got very bored when they realised our paperwork was all in order! They waved us on and kindly sent some of the big trucks down the wrong side of the bridge so we didn't have to worry. I think the bridge is only about 500m long but it feels like it goes on and on forever. The horses had the wind up their tails but were very well behaved considering.. Nali was terrified of the expansion cracks... maybe he thought he would fall through to the wild river below.... obviously he doesn't know just how tubby he is!

After 6.5km, we arrived at our new home - the Coca-cola Warehouse in Rabak. I suppose, it is in fact the Dal Food Division Warehouse that stores Coke, Sayga and Capo products...

Did I get it right?!

Just think how many jumps I could make!

The fleet....

Where fridges go to die!

And there we have stayed! Our passports and visas are finally ready but we still need a travel permit to go further south. Billy will be going to Khartoum tomorrow (24th October) to try and get that done.

We are looked after very well here. The horses have a nice spot and we can exercise them everyday. We have a room with a fan, access to the tea lady and a little restaurant for breakfast. Dinner is up the road... What more could we need!

Yummy!

Extra yummy!

Tea, water, breakfast??

Nali and Chami aren't sure about the herd of camels that we ride past everyday... Chami stares rudely and Nali tries to back away! Funny looking creatures they are! Somebody told us that there is a well known racing camel in the herd that cost 40 000SDG (about 20 000USD)! Everyone seems rather proud of it! (We haven't met it yet but we have spent some time wondering how we would know which one it was - how do you tell how fast a camel is when it's lying down?!)

The Sudanese passion for playing cards is no different here... I spent about 4 hours playing cards with the security guards yesterday. They were surprised that I knew how to play and amazed that I could beat them all! The game is called Arbatasha (14) and is basically Rummy with 14 cards but there is a complicated scoring system... All sudanese play with a certain flair, flicking cards here and there and dealing at the speed of light!

Abdel Khalid, one of the coke supervisors, took us to his home for a lovely meal with his wife Hafafaz. Abdel Khalid practised his English with Billy and Billy practised his Arabic with Hafafaz.... with all that talking there wasn't any need for me to say anything!! Abdel Khalid has also showed us round the operation at the warehouse... very interesting...

There is a little black dog here at the warehouse. She made friends with us very quickly and wriggles with delight everytime she sees us! Everynight she walks down the road to dinner with us. She is very sweet and makes me smile! The story goes that she has been at the warehouse ever since it was built... by the Chinese. Aparently she was brought there to be eaten but the Sudanese came to the rescue! No wonder she is such a friendly dog... she must be very grateful!

To be (eaten) or not to be (eaten)!

I think not!

This will be my last post for a while as Billy is taking the computer back to Khartoum with him to send home to SA... Hopefully the next time I write, we will be much further south!!

Billy at work...

Rabak

Laundry Day!

Why do fish eat soap?

2010-10-20T01:04:00.000-07:00

On Friday 15th October 2010, we finally left Khartoum. We loaded the two horses onto a 2 ton truck and ourselves into a beautifully airconditioned Pajero! Colin Smith, his son Cameron and our faithful friend Nicholas Tutt came along for the ride! Colin drove us the 300 odd km to Kosti (western side of the white nile). He very patiently drove at snails pace behind the horses and waited everytime the truck was stopped by the cops, every 5 minutes, or so it seemed! After 6 hours we finally arrived at the last point we had ridden to back in March...

The horses were happy to be unloaded! We led them 1.5km down a dirt road towards the river to the ADRA Way Station. This is a large camp for Southern Sudanese who are returning to their homes by barge. They are able to stay there while waiting for the barges that don't run according to schedule! ADRA and other NGO's have set it up so they have shelter, medical care, water and food. The reason we were lucky enough to stay there is because the director of ADRA sudan, Llewellyn Juby, kindly organised it for us!

Colin, Cameron and Nick helped unload the luggage and had to rush home before it got dark... nobody likes to drive in the dark here! We settled into our tent under a big roof and took the horses down to the river for a drink.

Every time we start or restart our journey, it rains... and this day was no different! We had a huge storm that night! Billy refers to me as the rain goddess... and maybe I am!

We spent 3 and a half days at the way station, chatting with the people about the best way to travel south, playing cards and swimming (and washing) in the white nile... this is where we come to those pesky fish! We noticed the fish were getting very excited about the soap flakes that I washed out of the soap dish, but didn't think they would want to eat the soap off our bodies as we bathed... but they did! And their teeth were sharp! Ouch! So not only did we have to deal with biting horse flies, ticks and mozzies but also with fish who liked to nibble our toes!

Having lived in luxury for the last 3 years with air con, I am finding it difficult to adjust to the heat... Billy however always looks unflustered... he could be at a spa!

This was our first opportunity to see NGO's at work here in Sudan. Every day, a number of vehicles from WFP, FAR, HAC or ADRA would arrive at the camp bearing gifts of food and water containers or ferrying people and all their wordly goods to and from the camp. WFP did ask us if we too would like some rations... but of course we couldn't accept... but it did make us smile.... :)

Our original plan was to travel south down the western side of the Nile from Kosti to Renk and then ferry the horses across the river and complete the rest of Sudan on the eastern side of the Nile. However, after chatting with a number of Southern Sudanese people who told us of the mud, water and horse flies we would have to deal with, we have decided to travel from Rabak (across the river from Kosti) all the way down the eastern side of the nile... There was also some doubt as to whether there was a ferry big enough to take the horses across the river at Renk... and I don't fancy swimming across!

Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of the ADRA way station, but I do have some colourful memories...

We say goodbye to KICS...

2010-10-20T00:02:00.000-07:00

Thursday 7th October 2010 was my last working day at KICS... who knows when I will be employed again! The school invited me to assembly to say a final goodbye. Many of my riders, young and old, came along to make it a very special (and rather emotional) time... Gemma Orlando, year 3 and Nicholas Tutt, year 9 said a few words... I thought they were very brave as the thought of standing up in front of 200 kids and speaking terrifies me!!

Needless to say, our time at KICS will always be remembered fondly...

My Junior Riders!

My senior riders!

On The Road Again....

2010-10-08T09:57:00.000-07:00

After nearly 3 and a half years in Khartoum, Sudan we are finally ready to hit the road again! Our bank accounts have been replenished and Chami and Nali are fat, fit and frivolous!

During our time here, we have made many friends, had a wonderful opportunity to run a riding school with 13 horses and been able to go home to see family.

Most of you know that we have been working for Khartoum International Community School, teaching up to 130 students a week and looking after the 13 horses. We have had the opportunity to experiment with the best ways to keep horses, feed them, train them, what tack to use etc. It has been a huge learning experience for me and given me a lot of confidence.

I know I have been very slack at updating this blog over the last two years. I almost started a new one because I was so embarrassed! It reminded me of a friend I went to school with. Every time she had any bad comments in her homework book, she would start a new one so her teacher wouldn't remember the poor work she had done previously! After thinking long and hard, I decided I liked the blog just as it is.... and vowed to do a better job of updating it!

So now for a quick update of all the interesting things we have done over the last couple of years....

We decided to focus on Endurance riding as our discipline here at KICS stables. We did a number of rides between 20km and 50km both at the stables and out in the agricultural areas outside of Khartoum. Our longest ride was 80km from Lake Jebel Aulia back to KICS stables in Soba....

We were also lucky enough to take some riders and do the next leg of our journey. We rode 322.1km from Soba to Kosti. 9 horses, 10 riders (some only rode part of the way!), a big coke truck for support, 3 grooms/helpers and the driver made rather an impressive procession! Below are a few memories from the riders who joined us...

Nicholas Tutt - Aged 13

On Friday 12^th of March 9 horse riders and 2 support vehicles set off from the Soba stables at 7:00am to start our epic journey towards Kosti. On our first day all we encountered were bumps, and ‘traffic’. The Coke truck was delayed and this resulted in our lunch and the horse’s lunch being delayed. However ‘touch wood’ everything else went over all alright and without any sore ‘bums’. The next day we were fewer riders and only had the coke truck for support. Throughout the next few days the ride progressed smoothly and with only a few ‘tender’ rear ends and a couple of headaches to deal with. We also came across the occasional police officer/the interested passerby and the continuous systems of jedwals/canals. By the time we crossed the 150km mark we were all dreaming about ice cream, hot showers, comfy beds... However I think without Ikhlas’ onions Billy might have had a ‘terrible trip (! NOT!). As we started approaching the DAL warehouse situated in Rabak, we were all pleased to see proper civilisation and started dreaming about the villa that Fiona and John Elgin let us sleep in for the last night. On the morning of Friday the 19^th of March the remaining 7 riders rode the last stretch from the DAL warehouse, over the White Nile and into Kosti (FINALLY). Well done; Mrs. Sajda, Mustafa, Nicholas, Ms. Alison, Ikhlas, Mrs. Christy, and Mr. Billy for completing the 322.1km Journey to Kosti from the Soba stables.

Ikhlas Osman - KICS Librarian
A journey from Khartoum to Kosti Bridge (322.1 KM) on horseback.
My first reaction was “Ummm, I‘m not sure I could that but I wish I could” when I first heard about the trip. After having a chat with Billy, who made me feel less apprehensive, I decided to try the second option, to go for half a ride. Then after another chat about the journey’s plan and the amount of hours riding I made up my mind to ride all the way.

The journey took 7 and half days, the first 2days and in particular the first day were the hardest for me. My back was hurting after the morning ride and by the end of the evening ride I wasn’t really feeling well, I had a headache, nausea and very low appetite. After a good night sleep and plenty of water I felt better.

From the third day I started to enjoy the ride more, the scenery changed from pure desert to small villages with generous and kind people welcoming us and trying to provide water, food and even beds, typical Sudanese hospitality. Our speed also increased; we were riding 50 km a day. The team spirit was high; everyone was determined to complete the journey, forgetting about our agonizing sore bums (Vaseline was in demand by everyone except Mr Smarty-pants - Billy), aching legs and arms.

Our day usually started at 6:00 am, woken up by a very civilized alarm (Billy’s singing) a quick tea/coffee, pack up and off we go until around 10:00 am. The time between the morning ride and the earlier evening ride(4:30 pm) was spent in our mobile camp, fighting the urge to dose off in the heat, reading, washing some clothes, discussing politics, horses and most importantly gossip at KICS!-to finish at 7:00 pm. Every member of the team had a chance to cook supper once except Christy who kindly made most of our lovely suppers. We reflected on the day while eating our suppers then came the trick bit of getting to go to bed. The rule was to wash before going to bed otherwise you will be left behind for hyenas as we cannot cope with smelly people and temperatures over 40 degrees, at the same time. I have to say washing my body in a very open field not far from a major road was very challenging.

I thoroughly enjoyed the journey because we were led by very experienced and tolerant riders, Christy and Billy. The team got on really well and most of all we were all happy and helpful. In terms of personal benefit, it gave me the chance to see parts of Sudan very closely and to get to know the team members; I wouldn’t hesitate to go on a journey like this again in the future. What I should remember before embarking on a journey like this again is to study the route in advance, carry a map whilst riding to show me where we are and take the chance to raise money for charity by organizing sponsorship.

Alison Archer - Head of English

It all began quite splendidly on the Friday morning….but two and a half days later I had to concede defeat and retire from riding with two rather large and unpleasant bleeding sores on my posterior!! A huge disappointment, particularly as Mocha (the horse) and I had formed the perfect travelling partnership: slowly but surely with just a hint of stubbornness. I moved my somewhat tender seat into the cab of the huge red DAL Coca Cola lorry/truck and began a new phase…………Travelling into villages with the grooms to find water and food, and being asked on numerous occasions if I owned the lorry. I suppose we were an unusual combination: four Sudanese men and a female Hawadja. My lack of Arabic made for some interesting exchanges, but ultimately no harm was done. Probably the most amusing moment was whilst in a tea lady’s ‘shelter, with a mini haboob/sandstorm raging outside, watching Haroun, one of the grooms, explaining to the man sitting in the entrance that he had just missed probably the most exciting event of the century - nine horses and six riders (some looking not unlike Lawrence of Arabia) go cantering by the back of the shelter: his disappointment was tangible! I did manage to take to the saddle again, albeit it briefly, thanks to Christy’s first aid know how as she strategically applied Sajda’s gauze squares to the affected areas! A great time was certainly had by all………….

Mustafa Shakur - University Student
I had been taking lessons at the riding school for about 2 months when during a riding lesson to the beach, between canters, Christy begins telling me how she and Billy had arrived in Sudan by horseback from Tunisia on their way to South Africa. I was in awe and amazed. My first thoughts were that these were two very courageous and "different" types of people. Many of us dream big, but in my opinion very few are willing to take "The Leap of Faith" necessary in order to fulfil them. Upon hearing the few details along the ride about their trip my curiosity was aroused and I developed an instant admiration and appreciation for their efforts to fulfil this dream. A few weeks later after a lesson I was walking from the training ring to the office when I met Billy standing next to the tent. This was our first proper meeting and our first conversation. It had been on my mind to talk to Billy about their trip so I used the opportunity. He shared some more details of their journey, told me of their future plans to continue, asked me if I was interested in joining them, and relayed a verse of the Quran he had learned along the trip" "If you believe enough, you too can become an angel in heaven." My reply was that I'd really like to go so we'll see how my riding ability is at the time of the trip. (At this point the only riding experience my wife and I had were the three months of weekly lessons we had been taking at the KICS stables). He answered that all we needed was good balance, the ability to tough out the aches and pains, and BELIEF. The idea was now sparked in my mind and I left that day feeling excited with the intention of making the trip.

The morning of the trip had arrived. We had completed hours of training and there was a build-up of anticipation. My goals while on the trip were to learn new things, improve my riding ability, and to complete the entire ride. My biggest concern was re aggravating a saddle rub that would cause my ride to be very painful or moreover not allow for me to ride the full distance. That first day was a bit misleading, although much appreciated, due to the fact that we had an entourage of cheerleaders, cold water providers every kilometre or so, and two gourmet meals. It was a nice send-off but the next day it was kinda like, hey where did everybody go. As the minutes turned into hours of me riding my horse named “The Rella" I began to feel more relaxed and by the third day I was able to enjoy the ride instead of having to hold my concentration on the mechanics of riding. My greatest challenge along the trip I'd say was the weather. There was a point on the second day due to what may have been dehydration that my body started to give out on me with my mind not far behind, having thoughts that I may not be able to complete the entire ride. But a big thank you to Sajda and Christy for their assistance in bringing me back from the "brink of death" as I believe Billy called it. Throughout the trip I was very impressed by the efforts put forth by everyone to do whatever was necessary to reach our goal. I was equally impressed by the character of each and every person. (Not horse though because Nali kicked The Rella while I was riding her.)Billy and Christy provided excellent leadership and motivation for everyone. The coca cola driver and the groomsman were like our guardian angels with all the support they were providing. I don't think we would have been able to complete it without them.

Sajda Khalil, Mustafa's wife is the other rider who came along for the whole journey.

I think that pretty much says it all! We had a great time sharing a part of our journey with these fine people!

During our time here in Khartoum, I have also been experimenting with riding without a bridle... and doing a bit of jumping which is my passion... and then putting the two together!

And just so Chami doesn't feel left out...

Well I hope everyone is feeling a little more up to speed by now! I certainly feel less guilty!

As I was saying in the beginning of this long winded post, we will be on the road again tomorrow, Saturday 9th October 2010. We still have a lot to do before then but I am a firm believer that if it wasn't for the last minute nothing would ever get done! We will be trucking the horses down to Kosti to the place we have already ridden to, and then heading south towards Uganda!

I will endeavour to update this blog with all of our adventures as soon as we get internet access... it is deepest darkest Africa after all!

Until next time...

If you would like to see more photos, have a look at our facebook profile - Christy Billy Africanhooprints...

The Blue Nile

2008-09-11T14:26:00.000-07:00

It's rainy season and the Nile is in flood... The stables are on the Blue Nile... It's difficult to comprehend the amount of water going past... This is one BIG river!

The Horses Start Work...

2008-09-11T14:10:00.001-07:00

To start getting the ponies fit, Billy rode Nali behind them...

And got them cantering along...

Without having to carry any weight...

And canter some more....

And more! 20 minutes every morning!

The ponies discovered a new pasttime...

They loved this pile of sand!

Nali doing what he does best... eating!

Chami looking fat for a change!

Watch Out!

2008-09-11T14:06:00.001-07:00

A sand storm or Haboob coming in... Just enough time to tie down everything and get inside before it hits us!

Hard Work

2008-09-11T13:44:00.000-07:00

It seems that Billy had nothing to do other than work while I was in the Cape! I noticed a huge difference in the stable area and farm when I came back. Seems Billy is as good with landscaping as he is with feet! Take a look.... What used to be sand and dust is now green...

Billy... farmer or farrier?

Billy and his new toy...

The front of the stables...

Mango Trees...

Abdul Karim and Mohamed planting trees...

A view from the roof towards the road...

A view from the roof towards the river...

Summer Program

2008-06-22T07:02:00.000-07:00

After a fun, but exhausting 42km Endurance ride KICS Riding Club went full steam ahead with a summer program. A four day pony camp plus day camps every day for 3 weeks...

Riding

Mucking Out

Grooming

Games

Swimming

Learning to Communicate

Watching DVD's

And becoming friends....

After the first 3 weeks of the summer holidays, the ponies are resting for 6 weeks to have their African Horse Sickness vaccinations before continuing with the summer program for a further 3 weeks before school starts again.

Sudan's First Endurance Ride

2008-06-20T11:55:00.000-07:00

On the 9th May, KICS Riding Club held the first ever endurance ride in Sudan. Of course we had big plans to hold it out on a farm about 80kms out of Khartoum, but unfortunately due to last minute problems we had to hold it in and around Soba. We managed to change the plans at the last minute and still have a succesful weekend. The riders and horses were:

Iain Shortt - Ennahali

Eva Tesfaye - Caramel

Zach Schuurs - Domino

Billy Brenchley - Silly Filly

Lars Wiltberger - Cinderella

Yolande Schuurs - Mocha

Karim Salah - Nyala

Christy Henchie - Chami

The endurance consisted of two legs of 22kms each. The going ranged from deep beach sand to hard rocky ground. Each rider had a groom (friend) to help them get through the compulsory vet checks before and after each leg. Friends and parents of the students helped out with catering, photography and time keeping! All of the horses were barefoot and true to character, Chami was the only one who went lame leaving me a 3km walk home! 3 kids fell off, but nothing serious... I am still waiting for my chocolate cake! Fun was had by all....

A little bit about the riders:

Iain is a teacher at KICS (head of the PE department) who is a new rider but very keen... and he loves Nali so we like him!

Eva is in Year 5, very quiet but full of determination and she always brings me chocolate cake when she falls off!

Zach is in Year 10, Australian and obviously supports the wrong rugby team but we still like him.

Lars is in Year 8, the most experienced of our riders, and our old room mate!

Yolande is Zach's sister, who used to be afraid of Mocha but is now about the only kid who can ride her.
Karim is in Year 8, and prefers horse's to school. I quite agree!

All of these riders have never undertaken anything like this before and I think they should be very proud of themselves! I think they were all in a bit of agony at the end but they still managed to smile!

We have big plans for the next semester... look out everyone, here we come!

Pony Camp!

2008-04-14T23:26:00.000-07:00

After a very successful first 6 weeks of teaching, we held a Pony Camp over the Easter Break. 14 children, our friend Dr Jo, and a couple of staff members arrived and took over the stables for 3 days and 2 nights! They camped on the grass paddock and ate (my cooking!) in the air conditioned classroom! Riding twice a day in various team events... obstacle courses, gymkhana, mini endurance, beach ride etc kept them busy! Mucking out and grooming for team points kept them dirty! We watched horsey DVD's, had a lecture of farriery from Billy, had a team Quiz and basically thought horse for the entire time! I'm not sure about the kids but we were absolutely exhausted afterwards! Enjoy the photos!

Plans

2008-04-01T03:34:00.000-07:00

So the answer to the question of when we leave Khartoum.... is.... not for quite a while! I will take this moment to apologize for not updating this blogsite for so long but we have been busy, busy, busy!

I am now employed full time (until the end of the year) by KICS (Khartoum International Community School) as a riding instructor. As we have mentioned before, Kics has a stableyard with 6 horses out on a lovely farm in Soba and right on the Blue Nile. The horses did nothing for the second half of last year. My job is not only to teach, but to create a sustainable program that can continue to run after we leave to continue our journey.

The above pictures are the 6 riding horses at KICS Riding Stables. Top left - Caramel, top right Domino. In the middle Cinderella and Mocha. The Chestnut is Petal but we call her Filly and the grey is Nyala.

Billy, although not employed, is busy redesigning the stableyard! In the short time that we have been there, flower beds have been created and planted, a new grass arena is being put in and everything is go, go ,go! Those of you who know Billy, understand that he can't sit still and watch... he has to get in there and get his hands dirty!

Along with the job comes a room at the stables for us. We now live 2 doors down from the riding school horses. Our boys, have the run of the paddocks and sand arena and are enjoying their freedom immensely.

We have decided to stay in Khartoum for a couple of reasons.

To help out KICS.
To earn a bit of money towards the journey (and to pay back all the loans!)

To give our horses the opportunity to get fit, strong and healthy again.

So that's what we are up to.... training horses, teaching, landscaping, organizing etc etc! Let us know what you are all up to!

South - But Which Way?!

2008-02-21T00:22:00.000-08:00

Back in 2002, after 6 years of planning this expedition, Billy finally decided on a route. Starting at the most Northern point of Africa left him with 2 choices... East or West. His desire to go through Libya because his grandfather had been posted there in WWII, decided for him. That and the thought of all those extra border crossings if he went West!

Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Sudan follow on nicely from eachother. At the time, Southern Sudan was not an option because of the war so that left Ethiopia. From Ethiopia, Billy chose Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho and South Africa. Each country has something that he wished to see or experience.

Since 2002, situations have changed. We arrived in Sudan and discovered we had many more options. The Peace Agreement in the South opened up many doors. We now had a choice of Ethiopia, Kenya or Uganda. Having learned that Ethiopia doesn't allow any animals into the country, we decided to travel directly to Kenya. My sister and her family live in Nairobi, so I definitely wanted to go that way! Unfortunately we discovered that northern Kenya would be a problem for two reasons. The first was safety. To travel the roads into kenya, You are required to be a part of an armed convoy, which as you can imagine, is not easy on horseback! The second was a shortage of water. Fellow travellers informed us that there are long distances with no water. The current situation in Kenya is just the cherry on the top!

The Wiltberger's, having lived in Unganda for 5 years, suggested we go that way. We spoke to Paul Symmonds, an Australian who has lived and worked all over Africa for many years. He told us that Churchill said, "Uganda is bicycle country". If it's good for a bike, it must be good for a horse! We paid a visit to the Ugandan Ambassador and he was very helpful. We discussed our route and he has already organized our horses travel permits.

So Uganda, it is! Tanzania, Zambia, Namibia and South Africa to follow. Our route south has changed drastically and by our estimations it has shortened it by more than 1000km. Our only decisions to make now are how we travel through Southern Sudan (by barge or on foot) and when we leave Khartoum... Maybe this would be the easiest way!

Itinerary

2008-02-19T01:14:00.000-08:00

Itinerary for 9 Countries

The following is the completed journey thus far and a revised route from the “most northern to the most southern tips of Africa”.

Tunisia

Depart - 10/12/2005
Cap Blanc 12km, Bizerte 83km, El Battan 258.4km, Bir Ali 117.4km, Gabes 163.1km, Ben Gardane 33km, (Ras Ajdir)

Total: 666.9km
Riding Days: 19.5
Average: 34.2km/day

Libya

Depart - 14/03/2006
Ras Ajdir 159.3km, Zahra 130.4km, Qasr Khiyar 153.4km, Misrata 227.5km, Surt 427.9km, Ajadabiya 399.8km, Beb Zitoon 126.9km, (Sallum ‘Border’)

Total: 1625.2km
Riding Days: 56.5
Average: 28.8km/day

Egypt

Depart - 26/08/2006
Sallum ‘Border’ 237.8km, Marsa Matruh 183.5km, El Allamaine 137.1km, Wadi Natroun 115.6km, 6th October City 577km, Fayoum 347.1km, Asiut 543.4km, Aswan High Dam Port 354km (by barge), (Wadi Halfa)

Sub Total: 1622km
Riding Days: 60
Average: 27km/day

Total: 1976km (including journey by barge)
Traveling Days: 64
Average: 30.9km/day

Sudan 1

Depart - 26/02/2007
Wadi Halfa 353.3km, Abu Hamad 249,5km, Atbara 33.3km, Zei Dab 233.5km, El Jeily 70.9km, Soba (Khartoum)

Total: 940.5km
Riding Days: 40
Average: 23.5km/day

Completed Journey

Ridden Journey: 4854.6km
Riding Days: 176
Average: 27.6km/day
Barge Journey: 354km
Traveling Days: 180

Total: 5208.6km

Sudan 2

Estimated Time of Departure - December 2008/January 2009
Soba (Khartoum) 303km, Kosti 523km, Malakal approx. 850km (journey by barge), Juba 281km, (Nimule)

Total: 1957km
Riding Distance: 1107km
Riding Days: 40
Barge Distance: approx. 850km
Barge Days: Unknown

Uganda

Estimated Time of Departure –
Nimule 113km, Gulu 346km, Kampala 137km, Masaka 93km, (Mutukulu)

Total: 689km
Riding Days: 25

Tanzania

Estimated Time of Departure –
Mutukulu 144km, Muleba 103km, Lusehanga 132km, Bukombe 119km, Nzega 124km, Tabora 280km, Rungwa 222km, Chunya 180km, (Tunduma)

Total: 1306km
Riding Days: 48

Zambia

Estimated Time of Departure –
Tunduma 119km, Isoka 249km, Mpika 185km, Serenje 193km, Kapiri Mposhi 199km, Lusaka 124km, Mazabuka 130km, Choma 254km, Livingstone 57km, Kazungla 139km, (Katima Mulilo)

Total: 1649km
Riding Days: 60

Namibia

Estimated Time of Departure –
Katima Mulilo 559km, Rundu 353km, Groot Fontein approx. 200km, Otjinene 171km, Gobabis 133km, Leonardville 115km, Stampriet 78km, Gochas 140km, Koes 140km, Aroab 203km, Karasburg 102km, (Onseepkans)

Total: 2094km
Riding Days: 76

South Africa

Estimated Time of Departure –
Onseepkans 52km, Pofadder approx. 250km, Loeriesfontein 89km, Calvinia 245km, Touws River approx. 70km, Montagu approx. 230km, Cape Agulhas.

Total: approx. 936km
Riding Days: 34

Cap Blanc to Cape Agulhas – 13840km
Estimated Time of Arrival -

Riding Workshop

2008-01-03T10:53:00.000-08:00

Our last 3 days of December 2007 were spent holding a Basic Riding Workshop at the KICS (Khartoum International Community School) stables in Soba, Khartoum. For the past month we have been training 6 horses at this stable so they can be used for riding lessons in the coming year. We felt that an intensive workshop would be a good test for the horses... and it was!

8 children frm KICS ranging from the ages of 8 to 12 participated in the workshop along with Prem, the groom. The idea was to teach them the basics in order for them to be able to just get on and ride. The workshop was split into 4 sections.....

Groundwork

Grooming

Tacking-up

Riding

Half the kids arrived absolutley terrified of the horses, but overcame their fear very quickly. Billy taught the groundwork section. Between them all, they worked with 3 horses all at different stages of training. The goal was to make the horse go to establish who was the boss. To make it turn to gain the horses attention, and to make it stop to have control. The more advanced horses followed when called. Billy also demonstrated sacking out, which he uses to establish the horses trust. It was amazing to see these horses listening to the kids.

I taught basic grooming, brushing the saddle, girth and pastern areas, and picking out feet. This was more difficult because the girls wanted to spend hours making their horses look beautiful and trying to tell them that it wasn't necessary was difficult!

Tacking up is always difficult for little children but they managed with the help of the bigger kids.

Riding was the best part for most of the kids. They rotated through 4 horses. We taught them to turn by weighting their stirrups and to stop by breathing out and saying whoa! The horses were generally very well behaved. We designed a couple of obstacle courses to test the kids skills. I did a lot of lunging so the kids could work on their balance.

Our task was made a lot easier by Dagmar, Lars and Jan Wiltberger who all acted as guinea pigs in the week running up to the workshop. They also helped at the workshop with anything that needed to be done and without them, it would not have been the success that it was.

The Story of Our Long Stay in Khartoum

2007-12-27T02:17:00.000-08:00

At the end of March, after a difficult trip through the desert from Wadi Halfa, we arrived at a station called Roiyan approximately 60kms North of Khartoum. This station is also in the desert and was the first place we had stayed where there was no shade. The horses were tired but healthy. The Sahara is a hot place, but unbearable when there is a heat wave. We experienced temperatures of more than 50 degrees for 3 days. The horses had no escape from the heat and it left them in a poor state. Chami tucked up and had a laminitic relapse. Rahaal showed the beginnings of laminitis. All three horses went off their food. We pushed on for another 16km to El Jeily but Rahaal got progressively worse. In the end, we loaded them onto a lorry and took them to Khartoum, to our friends (Brett and Toni) house in Mamoura, to recover.

After resting for a month in Khartoum, Chami and Nali looked and felt great. Unfortunately Rahaal was still struggling. The shock of rain and mud contributed to the laminitis and the pedal bone moved through the bottom of his feet. However, we remained convinced that he would recover sufficiently to come along with us.

Having been in a residential area in Mamoura, we decided to look for a change of scenery. At the beginning of August we moved the horses to Miracles Sudan Farm in Bahri. It belongs to Jane-anne Khalid who runs a riding school and hippo therapy. At the time, the Nile was in full flood right up to the farm barriers. Our plans were to get Chami and Nali fit and in peak shape while Rahaal recovered from his laminitis. 3 days after we arrived on the farm the boys became very lethargic. Their temperatures began to fluctuate by as much as 4 degrees. We suspected biliary although they were not showing all the symptoms because of the presence of ticks. As the horses have never really been exposed to ticks before we wanted them to build up an immunity on their own. We did not rush to treat them, but watched them closely. We had to decrease their workload.

Their fitness suffered. Chami began to suffer from very swollen legs, lower belly, sheath and parts of the neck. The Michelin Man comes to mind! We treated him with diuretics and anti-inflammatorys. As none of the symptoms that any of the horses had shown were definitive, we had blood tests taken. We decided it could be Biliary, African Horse Sickness Fever or even Sleeping Sickness. Sadly our little Rahaal died before we got the blood test results.

After the shock of losing Rahaal, we decided that we could not wait for the results any longer. Within days of eachother, both Nali's and Chami's temperature went above 40 degrees. We treated them with Imizol and Alamycin for biliary, Dexamethyzone for shock, Phenylbutazone to bring their temperature down, Vitamin B for liver support and a drip for dehydration. After two days their temperatures were normal and stayed normal. We began to work them again.

After sometime, we decided that they were strong enough to continue, but first we had to complete the distance from El Jeily to Khartoum. We did this 60km in 3 days arriving at Dagmar and Thomas Wiltberger's (friends from the German Embassy) house in Arkaweet, a suburb of Khartoum. We had planned to stay a couple of days but soon realized that the horses were not strong enough to continue immediately. The fact that they were sick at the farm and were unable to be ridden, meant they were not fit enough. The large doses of drugs they received, apart from treating their illness, also had a negative affect on their bodies as they were excreted.

Both Chami and Nali's feet were affected by this excretion. This is a photo of one of Nali's front feet. As you can see, there is a lot of seperation and chipping. He is still foot sore now, months after his treatment. Chami's feet were also weakened and they were torn apart even with shoes on. He is also still footsore from this. As they are both footsore, their work is limited again. Nali is doing 25 minutes of trot and canter on the lunge. Chami is being ridden for 40 minutes at walk purely to work on his co-ordination and rebuild all the muscle that he has lost.Finally, we received those blood test results, and all three horses had biliary. We immediately had blood tests taken again and sent to Nairobi. The results show that the biliary parasites are all gone but that the blood itself has been affected. The cell counts are low. This would account for their lethargy and unwillingness to do anything too energetic. Of course, in order to have healthy hooves, one needs healthy blood.

We increased their protein, gave them Folic Acid, vitamin B and other vitamins and a metabolic stimulator. As you can see by this photo, they are feeling much, much better! We hope to be leaving Khartoum in the next month with healthier, fitter, happier horses. We will take blood tests again before we leave so we know for sure that they are as they should be!

Our time in Khartoum has not been boring! At Jane-anne's farm we got involved in teaching the kids, training the horses and generally helping out on the farm. We have taken a ferry across to Tuti island to visit friends. We have had a bit of a cultural experience watching school plays, jazz bands and art presentations. Currently we are training the riding school horses for Khartoum International Community School and will be holding a basic riding workshop there in the next couple of days!

The Team

2007-12-14T08:55:00.000-08:00

William was born on the 20/12/1968 and has lived in South Africa all his life. Although brought up in Mpumalanga, he has called Cape Town home since 1993. He is a farrier specializing in pathology and whilst carrying out his trade he encourages a healthier lifestyle for horses with the recommendation of keeping them barefoot.

William has crewed for two horseback expeditions, the first 1800km from Windhoek, Namibia to Cape Town, South Africa and the second 3500km from the East to West Coast of Africa crossing through Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia.

Christine was born on the 25/11/1983 and lived in Zimbabwe until 2003 when she and her family moved to Cape Town, South Africa. She is a horse riding instructor with experience training disabled and traumatized children. This is her first horseback expedition!

Chami, a Tunisian Barbe, was born at El Battan Stud in Tunisia on the 09/02/1998. He was used for breeding until Christine and William were lucky enough to buy him in November 2005. He is a chestnut with flaxen mane and tail, white face and white socks. When he started this expedition, he was barefoot with very strong hooves. In the Libyan Desert, disaster struck and he got laminitis as a result of dehydration, forcing us to shoe him. He is full of character and attitude and is not the easiest horse to deal with, but is much loved! He is Christine’s horse.

Ennahali, a Tunisian Arab Barbe was born on the 11/03/2000 in Janouba, Tunisia. He worked as a cart horse on a farm, then was brought to El Battan stud to be used for breeding. In November 2005, he was a scrawny little horse, but William and Christine bought him none the less. He is a dappled grey with black mane, tail and points. He is now big, strong and very handsome! He is barefoot and his feet just get better and better. He is a little bit like a naughty teenager, but he loves attention and is very affectionate. He is William’s horse.

Rahaal, a Local Libyan Bred Pony was born on 01/08/1997 somewhere in Libya. William and Christine bought him in Misrata, Libya in May 2006 with the idea of using him as a pack pony. He is a red chestnut with a white face. A little crazy to start off with, he has turned out to be such a loving character with an appetite for absolutely anything! He is also barefoot. He is William’s horse.

R.I.P.

Rahaal, our tough, loveable, Libyan bred pony, died on 15th September 2007 from Babesiosis (Tick bite fever). We miss him greatly.