We're going for it next week!

[Stijn Laenen]

Couldn't post this as a blog post so lemme try the forum:

This blog seems to have been fairly quiet of late... time to liven it up a little again :-)

We've been uhming and ahing about this for a while now but Andrew Hagen and I have finally decided to give this record another bash. We'll be setting off next week Wednesday (17 Dec) at about 9-10 am.

2 Questions:

- What cell number can I send daily updates to be put onto this blog (assuming anyone is around)? Gary?
- How do we go about ensuring that our rescue levy is paid for KZN Wildlife?

Cheers!
Stijn

[Laura Forster]

WOW!!
Go guys! Holding thumbs that all goes well.

[Andrew Porter]

Hello there

Just got an SMS for Stijn. Stijn and Andrew Hagen left the Sentinal Car Park at 9am this morning. They have covered 45km on day 1 to reach Easter Cave. (for people like me who have never been there, Easter Cave is half way between Ntonjelane Pass and Twins Cave)

Apparently the weather is great!

This is as per their plan - start slow and steady and hopefully finish fast. They plan to start tomorrow at 4am, and to reach Mafadi by mid afternoon.

Filling in the gaps: At this stage, they are at almost the same spot as Gavin and Laurie Raubenheimer who also spent the first night near Easter Cave. By starting a few hours later, they are ahead of the record at this stage. If they keep going at this rate, they will break the record by a small margin (which is of course way better than going at a phenominal pace but stopping half way!)

From my side, wishing them the best of luck

[Andrew Porter]

Stijn and Andrew H. reached Cleft Peak at about 7:30 this morning, with a cumulated time of 22h30. They are still comfortably on track to break the record if they keep this up.

[Laura Forster]

Thanks for updates Andrew, holding thumbs big time for them! Let's hope the weather stays fair and they remain strong and determined.

[Andrew Porter]

Stijn and Andrew H. are still going well. They passed Champagne Castle (80km) an hour ago in just under 30 hours. They plan to cross Mafadi tonight before settling down for the night.

By comparison, G+L Raubenheimer passed Champagne Castle at about 5pm on day 2 and spent the night about 2km short of Mafadi.

[Laura Forster]

There's still a long way to go and a lot can happen but it looks like they're doing so well!!
Go boys!
They must just pick their camp spot carefully after Mafadi - getting into the kraals and dogs down there from what I remember (though most of it is a big green blurr)...

[Andrew Porter]

Stijn and Andrew H. are smoking!

They reached Mafadi (92km) a short while ago in under 34 hours. They plan to go another 2-3km before stopping for the night. This will get them to lower altitudes and should be a lot warmer than up on the summit. They had another beautiful day with no rain.

It is of course a long way to go, but my guess is they will finish on Saturday afternoon. Go guys!!!

[Laura Forster]

Shouldn't they be hitting Giant's round about now?

[Andrew Porter]

No news from the guys since last night.

I can only take that as goods news, meaning that they are now well into the Lesotho stretch, having been unable to send a message from Giants.

Will most likely hear from them tomorrow morning again!

[Andrew Porter]

Okay, got an SMS late last night to say they got to Giants after 50hr40 min, which would have been just before midday yesterday.

[Malcolm Millar]

Great to hear that you are giving it a go. All the very best for a safe, record breaking GT.

[Gary Mortimer]

Its a fantastic attempt, weathers still good.

Perhaps Andrew you could blog the updates then they will appear at the top of the page.

Cheers

G