Training Log Archive: Stijn

Neal was better the next morning but now it was Lauren's turn to get ill. She could barely walk and after taking 2 hours to cover the first 2km, we managed to call the park rangers to pick her and Dev up with the Landcruiser. Luckily we had managed to reach a jeep track that morning. We waited 2 hours for the pick-up and then the remaining 4 of us hiked back to the main camp via Timbeleni and another epic battle through brambles across the Malolotja River. Despite all the ilness, we had a good hike - I really love how wild and mountainous this place is!

Neal woke up with a stomach bug which he had probably gotten from drinking the river water. He soldiered on anyway and we made our way over Silotfwane Peak into the Mhlangamphepha valley. Neal was feeling terrible at the top of the climb so we cut our day short at Siweni camp to let him sleep it off by the next day. No paths the whole day and a full hour of bundu-bashing to find the official campsite at Siweni! Marking the campsite as a word on the map rather than a spot point didn't help much... Spectacular views made up for it though!

3-day hike in the Malolotja Reserve in Swaziland with Fran, Dev, Lauren, Neal and Ally. Day 1 was from the main camp to the upper potholes camp via the Malolotja Falls and river. Good fun jumping into the potholes at the end of the day.

Took my new road shoes out for a spin. Very comfy with loads of forefoot cushioning. Hopefully no more stress fractures for me!