Makgadikgadi YCare walk: Tough but therapeutic
Lesedi Mkhutshwa | Monday July 25, 2022 06:00
The first time I came across the Makgadikgadi YCare Walk was last week when I saw their invitation which had been idling for quite some time in the office with no one showing interest in the event.
The low interest was perhaps because the walk is reckoned to be one of the toughest and longest in the country as it involves covering up to 102 kilometres in three days. It is not a joke.
When I accepted the challenge I had the intention of doing something new and obviously in the process getting some fresh air from my daily routines at home as a full-time mum and at the office with deadlines. I was not so sure about participating in the walk but I asked myself what would be so difficult about merely putting one foot in front of the other.
When I announced my final decision to do the walk some of my colleagues were against it noting that this is one of the toughest walks and not for “the sissies”. If I were to participate, I would possibly not report back to work for a week or so, they said.
With all the information I received from my colleagues and from the research I had carried out, I neared a point where I felt like pulling out of the endeavour. To make matters worse, it would be my first time camping in the middle of the salt pans with no communication with the outside world. I didn’t have any camping equipment and was clueless about camping. However, there was a little voice in my head which encouraged me to keep on pushing. If I could not do it for myself, then I owed it to the charitable organisations benefiting from the initiative. I also wanted to enjoy time in nature so that I could improve my outlook on life as well as reduce stress and anxiety from my hectic schedule. Beyond just reducing stress and anxiety, the walk could afford me the time to battle mood disorders and general depression in the aftermath of COVID-19.
At 7am last Friday, I left Francistown with The Voice media colleague, George Moore, headed for Palapye to meet walkers from Gaborone. We arrived in Palapye at 9:45am, the same time as the bus from Gaborone also arrived. When we arrived at the mall parking area, the whole walk team consisting of the First National Bank Botswana (FNBB) walkers, the YCare members, and the tremendous support staff were waiting patiently. The bus then left for Letlhakane where we had to pick up the amazing ‘Dr Didi’ of Botho Corps Trust. We then headed to Mosu village where all the walkers were dropped off by the main Kgotla area and had to walk about 2.5km down to the campsite which is located at the edge of the Makgadikgadi Pans. Arriving there, we were welcomed by the village chief and received a few words from the Gumakutshaa Conservation Trust representative, Lamodimo Ditamara.
In the wee hours of Saturday, the real work started as I woke up at around 4:30am, taking a bath under a clear, cold sky. At 5am, the YCare trustee, Nelson Letshwene, instructed us to take down our tents and pack them, which he explained was part of the camping experience. At 6:30am after breakfast, all the walkers lined up for a warm-up exercise and then we hit the trail to walk through the emptiness of the flat plains of the pans to Kubu Island.
The first 12km of the 44km required to reach Kubu Island was as easy as walking down the stairs from our office in Francistown to get lunch from the Meriting Choppies store. However, my unpreparedness and lack of experience as a first-time walker meant that the pair of sneakers I was putting on made things harder for me on the pans.
By the time we reached the 12km mark, I had sustained a small blister on my right foot and some of the experienced walkers advised that I should cover up the blister with plaster and insert sanitary pads on my shoes. However, the walk became harder when approaching the 18km mark because the pans were slippery.
Whilst walking past 16km I slipped and fell on the muddy pans, sustaining minor injuries on my left knee and ankle. The injuries were painful but quitting was not an option because I wanted to reach the 18km break stop. During the last two kilometres, the fatigue also started to sink in but there was no way I was going to quit as already I was enjoying walking in the middle of nowhere under the blue skies and conversations we shared with other walkers. In particular, there was one spirited walker, Masego Moloi, popularly known as Baba, who made the walk enjoyable with his energy, songs, and tales. Baba would walk faster to the front and then run back to walkers who were behind with all his singing trying to motivate all of us to reach the finish line. The energetic Baba would scream past us shouting that the idea is to reach the finish point.
When we reached the 18km mark, the pain had worsened and I almost felt like I was losing my eyesight for a moment or probably about to faint. I approached the YCare coordinator, Sarona Moabi, who referred me to chief medic Monty Ntumisang for medical attention.
After the break, I had the chance to ride on a quad bike enjoying the breeze and the quietness of the pans for six kilometres until the next stop. After the 24km point, I decided that I would walk for another six kilometres to reach the 30km where we were breaking for lunch.
However, those six kilometres were the hardest as the terrain was even wetter and I fell for the second time which put more pressure on my knee. I couldn’t walk at the time and just a few metres from the 30km stop, another support team member came and picked me up using the quad bike.
When we reached the stop, I was attended to by the medic who advised that I should not walk again. Moabi then took me and another walker from FNBB to Kubu Island meaning we missed the remaining 14km. When we arrived at the Island, some of FNBB, Morupule Coal Mine (MCM), and the YCare support team members welcomed us with ululations but I was more focused on the unbearable pain.
As the medic attended to me at the Kubu Island camp, I couldn’t hold back the tears as Deep Heat cream was applied to the whole left leg as they rubbed and massaged my knee muscles down to the ankles. Even after the treatment I could not walk and one of the team members from FNBB pampered me with a foot massage after soaking my feet in hot salty water.
At around 6:30pm, the first batch of walkers started arriving at the Kubu Island camp. One of them teased me by calling me a squad bike rider as we welcomed them.
Later during the night all the walkers including the support team sat by the camping fire whilst waiting for dinner. A star glazing expert showed us the stars and we learnt about the story of the two lions and the cross. At 8pm, most of the women went for a quick bath standing on the flat rocks under the stars.
On Sunday morning some of the walkers left for a 14km walk while some of us, the injured walkers, stayed behind.
In the evening we had an education and a beautiful tour of Lekhubu Island where we saw a secret cave used by healers to bring luck.
On Monday morning those fit for the 46km walk back to Mosu village left early whereas those deemed not fit were asked to join the support crew. During this experience, I learnt to undo the tents and pack them appropriately in their packages.
When everything was set, we drove back to Mosu where we also helped with setting up the tents and preparing water for other walkers.
Tuesday was emotional for the participants as we said our goodbyes.
I am surely going back for the Makgadikgadi YCare walk because I have unfinished business with the pans. A special thanks to my new friend Moore, YCare supporters such as FNBB, MCM, Botash, and individual walkers for making the whole experience memorable.
The YCare Makgadikgadi walk attracted 45 participants and 15 members of the support team. The YCare Charitable Trust has over the past years benefited organisations such as Phompokwe Women’s Association, Ursuline Sisters, Tshimologo Day Care Sisters, Gaing Community Trust, to mention but a few.