Mungo Park: 24 hour bivvy challenge

The rules are simple, perhaps more of a guideline for this challenge. They are as follows:
- you start and finish where you live.
- It has to be a circular route.
- The distance should be 40km -50km or a distance that is beyond your comfort zone.
- A swim/dip/ shower is mandatory.
- You should sleep outdoors, under the stars

I included in my version, a good bottle of red to ensure the beast of burden works extra hard. The nagging thought that the only difference between homo erectus and homo sapiens being our ability to produce a decent bottle of wine, ensuring that my excursion into the wild stays relatively civil.

My challenge was fraught with dangers, dodging Cape Town/Mowbray/Wynberg mini taxi's and artery clogging KFC'S. My walk started in Green Point, proceeding via Main Road to Constantia Neck. From there I made my way following various plantation roads to where they joined up with the contour path, high above Kirstenbosch.

At this point I should perhaps add that because of my ever present mantra... " how hard can it be..." it became apparent early on that my initial plan to walk most of the total distance on the first day was not such a good idea. I blame my mother.With that off my chest, I can share that after a few blisters, seriously stuffed legs and no sense of humour I chose Newlands Forest to be the place where I lay my head. Wine would never taste that good ever again!

The rock I chose for a bed ended up being hard. No surprises there. No human could sleep for more than a few hours without losing complete feeling in their arms/legs/organs. Needless to say I did not sleep in late, ensuring I was well on my way by sunrise.
With only a few hours of walking on day two laying ahead, it was hard not to smile as every turn of the path blessed me with the beauty of Cape Town.

My challenge ended up being a mixed bag of emotions. I am very happy to share that the walk was world class in its beauty but rather taxing on the legs...Pack your bags, head out, dont plan too much...you' ll have a great time! Trust me.

Harbour Tower