The troops were led by Vice President, Slumber Tsogwane accompanied by some Cabinet Ministers, senior government officials and Members of Parliament. “This annual event is not only popular in Botswana, this year it has attracted about 3,500 people from across Africa and beyond the continent.
The walk is not only branding Jwaneng as a tourism destination promoting sports tourism. It also puts a spotlight on Botswana as a leader in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goal of ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all ages,” Tsogwane said before setting off the hikers. He added that non-communicable diseases are a great concern to the government and strategies have been put in place to mitigate the challenge. Hikers came from different areas including Lesotho and South Africa.
The 30km terrain was brutal to the hikers with some failing to finish the walk, and end up being ferried back to the Rugby Club. Some found the strength to push until the finish line after seven or more hours of walking in the Kgalagadi sand.
They arrived limping but smiling with medals around their necks, a job well done. Some of the hikers, especially inexperienced were punished by the terrain because they wanted to outrun/outwalk each other. Due to the pains they encountered on the terrain, some hikers felt the route was longer than expected. Some even swore they are not coming back, while to some, they cannot wait to do it again next year. Despite all the joy that hikers had, the Local Organising Committee (LOC) was under immense stress. Companies had not fulfilled their pledges. The LOC chairperson, Archibald Ngakayagae said the demand for the tickets continued even on the morning of the event.
He said ticket sales ended in June but still people continued to ask for them after the deadline. “We set out to deliver a project that is meant to bring change to our communities. Now the challenge we have is companies that make pledges but never fulfil them. For example, a company pledged bottled water, when we went to collect it, there was no water.
They promised to deliver it but they did not do that. Pledges that are not fulfilled affect us as organisers. We end not giving out hikers the quality of event they expect. We end up having shortages and that is unfortunate.
I hope moving forward, people will change the way they operate,” he said. Ngakayagae said they also had a challenge of trespassers into the route. He said it remains a mystery as to how the trespassers gained access into the event.
He said it is difficult to monitor everyone because the LOC members are few on the ground. However, Ngakayagae said the hikers were excited about the adventure. He also said the Desert Bush Walk can accommodate up to 6,000 hikers, but sponsorship is a challenge, forcing them to accept only 3,500 hikers.
