Expedition Africa 2016

Bloed and Omo

Adam Rose / 17.05.2016

Bloed and Omo (#35) are Expedition Africa regulars, and are renowned for taking unusual routes between checkpoints, or even TAs. As you'll see in the video , they aren't the youngest team on the block (average age 59 for the men, and 54 overall), but instead of sitting on the sidelines, they choose to wrestle with the beast.

Here's a little extract from a post they made before the race began. Respect!

"Exactly four weeks from now the leaders will be preparing for the last stage of EA whilst Bloed en OMO will, despite some judicious route choices, still be some distance from half way.

To come to grips with what lies ahead I used the old strategy of breaking a seemingly impossible task into its smaller, more realistic, parts and came to the following conclusion:

We are facing four full marathons. Without water tables and coke. Over mountain and through kloofs (gorges), often without a path and always weighed down by a rucksack.

Wait there’s more:

We are going to do about half the Cape Epic (MTB race). But no tented accommodation and mattresses or unlimited food and drink each evening for us. And again with the bloomin' rucksack.

And some more:

We are going to paddle about same distance as the Duzi but without the benefit of moving water doing half the distance for us. And, not in sleek canoe that weighs a few kilos but a dog of a plastic behemoth that refuses move in straight line. Need I mention the rucksack?

So please don’t judge Bloed en Omo too harshly if we don’t finish on time."

By Abel van der Merwe, age 63

And for those who aren't South African, their name means Blood and a popular SA washing powder.

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