10 June 2011

Nicci Coetze, Pretoria

It was almost at the end of 2004 and I was having a particularly rough day.  I had a neck operation a few months before and I was feeling very sorry for myself and very near ‘giving up’ – I have just had enough of pain and (my perceived) suffering.  I was watching Carte Blanche that day – a program about Riaan Manser traveling Africa with his bike.  I was pulled from my pity party with a jolt by Riaan’s words when the presenter from Carte Blanche asked him if he ever considered giving up whilst touring Africa (at the half way mark – November 2004).  And Riaan said:  “Never, not once! That would be... I would be giving up, not just on my dream, but I would be giving up on all the people that supported me. So no, not once have I thought about turning back. Never!'  And it was then I realized that I can’t possibly give up on all the people that supported me:  My wonderful husband, my awesome kids, my amazing family and loving friends.  No, I just couldn’t give up.  And so I didn’t. In fact, I was so inspired by Riaan Manser that I took up a contract for a very demanding job for the next 8 months and I passed the test with flying colours! And not only that, I registered for a diploma in Events Management and finished the course at the top of my class with a 95 % average AND I started my first book.  And all this thanks to Mr. Manser!

2 March 2011

Adventurer or Athlete?

Prompted on the distinction between those who race around continents as fast as they can and those who approach their expeditions with other objectives in mind I commented : " ... the adventure group is distinguished from trained athletes who are specialists in their respective fields and who set themselves the arbitrary goal of being the fastest to complete this, or that, distance, ticking off their achievements as they go along....the adventurers, on the other hand, are usually not particularly skilled in, or familiar with, the modes of transport they are choosing to use and they try to do their trips as independently as possible, sometimes on a shoestring budget and with adventure only as goal....they strive to explore the area they are in and to engage the locals and learn their customs... they may also bring altruistic goals to their adventures; like medical relief to the remote populations they encounter [as with the recent PaddleYak Expediton on Lake Tanganyika]...this also brings a need for special equipment which others can use to achieve their goals with [as opposed to racing machines which are unsuitable for the less skilled] ... but each kind to his own: Riaan Manser and his ilk are inspiring all and sundry to reach beyond their limitations and to live out their dreams.

Simply racing diminishes such goals and is really a different ball game; perhaps overly inspired by the limited commercial objectives of some sponsors and by the needs for recognition and publicity of some such participants, absolutely extraordinary and delightful as some may be. The racing set may be inspired by Jules Verne's classic "Around the World in 80 Days" whereas the adventurer set, more by Joshua Slocum's "Alone Around the World" in which he chose a tree, felled it, cut the planks, designed and built his yacht and finally sailed it around the world, the time he took to do it all being absolutely irrelevant. Famous French yachtsman Bernard Moitessier perhaps most distinguished the racer and the adventurer when, in a race replicating Slocum's journey he had some philosophical introspection and decided to withdraw from it, finding it mindless, but continuing to sail on around the world nevertheless, sailing further than the race itself required and without the fanfare! "

1 April 2011

First fjord conquered

The show literally got on the sea this weekend. We had a great first day. Snow stormed in on the second, and we braved it out halfway through the third day to cross our first fjord, Oxarfjorour, which is 35km wide.

The townsfolk of Husavik (get your Iceland maps out) came to support our departure en masse. Well, for a town that is home to only 2 123 people, the turn-out of nearly 200 in driving snow was incredible.

Dan and I had had some tough moments, let’s say wake-up calls, in the week before our departure. The first day, when testing our complete set-up with kayak, dry suits and Canon gear, it went horribly wrong. We kept capsizing and with Dan finding it difficult to remount quickly, we started to suffer from hypothermia.

Dan is a determined guy, but he saw what I meant when saying one bad day too far from land would kill us. For me, it was another reminder of the responsibility I carry.

The first night we camped was well below freezing, with a chilly wind to make it even more memorable. I made the call that we could paddle the following day. We could either head along the coastline of the huge Oxarfjorour Bay or brave crossing it in open seas. I chatted to Dan about going across the bay. The town of Kopasker lay on the other side as a reward. With a population of 121, it didn’t promise much, but its small harbour was a safe landing spot. If things went wrong, we would have headed for the nearest land. Mind you, at one point in this crossing the nearest solid earth is 16km away. Crazy. But Dan was keen, and trusted my instincts.

At the first 10km mark, I decided it was worth a shot. At 20km I had doubts as to whether I had made the right decision. The wind was in our faces and getting stronger, although fortunately the sea was flat. Dan was tired and needed to rest more which, going into the wind, means going backwards!

I didn’t let Dan know I had doubts and told him it was just over 30km to go when, in fact, our paddling day would end up being almost 40km.

Those last 10km were torturous. Dan was exhausted and couldn’t help as much paddling a boat that weighs about 80kg without us in it. He gutsed it out, though, and it was a special moment when we stumbled onto the icy shore of Kopasker harbour, turned around and Dan saw for the first time where he had paddled from. He was amazed, silent and emotional with pride. Beautiful to see.

l Manser is in Iceland with paddling partner Dan Skinstad. Together they hope to become the first Africans to circumnavigate Iceland by kayak unaided. See riaanmanser.com - Cape Times

3 May 2011

Volkswagen

‘Riaan doesn’t think like we do,’ says Professor Tim Noakes. ‘His brain doesn’t allow space for negative thoughts, or rather he chooses not to entertain them and therefore he doesn’t struggle with them.’

It’s the afternoon before Riaan Manser flies out to Iceland to begin his latest expedition. He’s seated in the press conference looking animated. He’s about to embark on 115 days in a kayak, paddling 5 000 kms around the circumference of Iceland and you can literally feel the energy bouncing off him and ricocheting around the room. Its infectious. ‘I’ve done some really crazy things in my life,’ he laughs into the microphone, while the cameras snap around him, ‘but I’ve never been this nervous.’

Those crazy things he referred to at that press conference would include being the first person to circumnavigate the African continent on a bicycle, an enormous and next to impossible undertaking, which he started in 2003 and completed two years, two months and 15 days later. This journey saw him imprisoned in Equatorial Guinea and held captive by teenage rebels in Liberia. ‘After that experience with the Liberian rebels I cycled away thinking “this isn’t worth it, it’s not worth risking my life for this,” but then within a couple of kays I was checking my distance and my time per kilometer,’ he laughs. ‘If that wasn’t going to make me give up then nothing could.’

Its this attitude that Professor Noakes was referring to when he spoke about Riaan not thinking like the rest of us. And it’s that attitude that got him around Madagascar on a kayak, again alone and unaided. The 5 000km journey took 11 months to complete and came with its own collection of challenges. The salt water literally pickled his body and he had to withstand cyclones, unrelenting sun and the vicious pounding surf, as well as an enduring loneliness. None of these are exactly things that would have you rushing out to undertake it all over again. But Riaan doesn’t think like the rest of us.

Unlike the other expeditions, Around Iceland on Inspiration isn’t one he’s undertaking alone. Riaan is travelling with a partner, Dan Skinstad, and the two are going to be the first South Africans to kayak around these icy waters. While Riaan is a seasoned adventurer, it’s entirely new terrain for Dan, who is the younger brother of former Springbok rugby player Bob Skinstad. He suffers from mild Cerebral Palsy and sees the trip as an opportunity to exceed the limitation of his condition. ‘There are two types of people in life,’ Dan says when speaking about Riaan. ‘Those that give you energy and those that take it away from you. Riaan is one of those people who give energy in abundance. He lifts me up with his positivity and words of encouragement, but its also nice to be shouted at by him,’ he laughs. ‘It’s always constructive and it’s aim is your improvement.’

Riaan’s energy and enigmatic persona cannot help but draw you in and have you cheering him on. He is not a man who gives up and despite his insistence that he’s not a ‘cowboy’, out to break records and make a name for himself, his achievements are doing that for him. ‘You have to have the right attitude from the get go,’ he says firmly, when speaking about what motivates him to keep going when times are tough. ‘Never even think about giving up. There was a time in Madagascar when I almost drowned. I passed out and when I came too I couldn’t immediately remember what had happened. When the memories started to come back I thought “wow, have I got stories to tell my grandkids!” It’s moments like that when you could want to pack it in, that you have to take the positive out of it.’

Around Iceland on Inspiration is scheduled to take 115 days of mind numbing cold, unpredictable weather and extreme physical exertion. Riaan and Dan are hunting for their food and are all each other has to keep motivated and positive throughout the expedition. ‘The boat we are on is called Inspiration,’ says Riaan. ‘And what we want is for this journey to be a real, inspirational story.’

3 May 2011

5fm Riaan Manser Podcast

Click here to download the 5fm podcast with Riaan Manser.