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Steve van der Schyff lion walk
Steve van der Schyff lion walk
On the 4th of May local artist Steve van der Schyff will be embarking on an epic adventure. Accompanied by 2 close friends, Len Kohler from Ballito and Namibian resident Chad Wratten, he will be walking amongst the last of the world's free roaming lions in the Namibian wilderness to raise awareness for the conservation of these magnificent predators.
Following the Horiseb River through the brutally rugged terrain, they will live amongst the local residents. The wildlife in this remote area is plentiful as there is no human interference and there are still traces of water in the mainly dry riverbed. Antelope abound and if one is fortunate enough, leopard, caracal and the famous desert elephants may be encountered.
In 2017 Steve and Chad walked 300km through the Namib Desert to raise finds for the Giraffe Conservation Foundation and Steve fondly recalls this venture. "It wasextremely physically taxing as the temperature by 11am is 45 and the terrain is tough going when you are covering 20 odd Kim's daily, on foot. We bush camp so ablutions are limited to a 1 liter "hippy shower" under the African sky. Once you adjust to these conditions, the whole experience becomes spiritually ennervating and the vast spaces fill one with a surreal peacefulness. We do have a support vehicle, so there is the odd glass of vino!
The walk can be followed on their Blogg at https://www.chadmanwalking.com and anyone wanting to donatefunds for the conservation of these noble beasts; will find all the details here. Steve sketches and paints en route and will be auctioning a painting later in the year for this cause.
"Fortunately, world consciousness of the plight of our environment is growing,so we must drive conservation issues before we totally denude our home"
Keep on walking!