Four nights in the desert.

I woke in a kind of daze, but my senses were on overload, whilst I was warm I was aware of the freezing damp air that hung over me and the pile of sand filled blankets that I was under, there was hardly any noise except the sound of some strange chewing that was accompanied by a few random belches coming from beyond the wisps of smoke rising from the dying embers of a still smoldering simple fire, then out of the corner of my eye I saw a man knelling his feet shod with sandals and as he rose for the third time I noticed he had a long scarf wound from the neck up to a turban style mass on top of his head......I sensed Maz rousing next to me, at least she was here with me but where was I?

Then suddenly everything came flooding back, the day before we'd been met by Mohamed (not his real name) at a small tea house on the edge of the bustling Jemaa el-Fnaa, the large central area where cobras danced to the sounds of pipes blown by snake charmers, numbered bright coloured vans sold smoothies made from Pomegranate juice and other local fruits and the call to prayer emanated from the minaret of the Koutoubia, in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh. I'd been chatting with Mohamed for the last three months, trying to arrange a fully cultural experience whilst we visited our tenth African (our first north African) nation and as I woke that following morning we had certainly started that with a bang.

Fireside chats

Our first couple of nights in Marrakesh were spent in a simple but homely Riad, a kind of family run guesthouse with rooms around a central open air courtyard often with a Hamman or spa that are readily welcoming visitors to this enchanting city. On the third morning we had woken early, enjoyed a quick breakfast and met Mohamed at the appointed point, the other side of the soon to be open and therefore busy colourful souks, a maze of covered market stalls selling anything from flying carpets to argan oil or fresh made pastries, olives and other spices, where we were to pick up our taxi to make the six to seven hour journey towards our final destination.

By now you may have guessed that we were heading towards the Sahara desert, a wild, vast and desolate place spanning eleven countries, larger than the area covered by the whole of the United States of America and home to between one and two and half million people (that only equates to 0.03 people per km2 and therefore one of the most uninhabited places on earth) and Mohamed, himself a Noiji (Nomad), was to be our guide on a four night/three day trek.

That trek was someway off as we still had the small matter of to make the long journey in the little yellow taxi which unbeknownst to us prior to getting in we were to share with five other people, our driver, Mohamed, a guy travelling all the way towards the last town on the Algerian border and also two random people who kept changing over the course of the road trip as we stopped to let them off and then pick up new people who flagged us down along the way.

Our first Taxi

We'd travelled less than 40 minutes, myself and Maz cooped up in the back row of a 'seven' seater Dacia Loggy, that I noticed had over 500,000kms on the clock, with our luggage pilled on top of us which was precarious enough given the fact that we were holding on the the handles above us as we, and neither of the others in the vehicle, weren't wearing any seat belts, because there weren't any! when we came careering around a bend to be greeted with the sight of several hundred other vehicles (of all shapes and sizes) at a standstill. There were donkey carts, quad bike, bus loads of Chinese tourists and lorry drivers all standing around looking up towards the now snow covered Atlas mountains where we were all due to venture over and that, unfortunately for all of us was currently closed due to a suspected overturned lorry (we never saw it) that was blocking the way.

Chatting with the locals it seemed that this accident had happened the night before which meant that many of the lorry drivers had to bed down in their cabs and were with us waiting expectantly for the pass to open, this wouldn't happen for another three hours.....then all at once the masses returned to their vehicles, engines fired and revs rose and our taxi driver turned from a previously leisurely Sunday afternoon grey haired plodder into a man possessed by some kind of devil with lost time to make up and it would seem a date with god himself (and us all) to keep. 

Stopping in the
 snow whilst the
overtaken
vehicles now
overtake us!!

To say the rest of the near on eight hour journey was hair-raising would be the understatement of the year, maybe of my lifetime, once the throng of various powered vehicles had been let loose on the now upwardly slopping Tizi Tishka pass, which climbs to a height of 2260m, our crazed driver decided to ignore all signage and common sense and overtook and even undertook all comers around the outside on blind bends with the traffic once held the other side of the pass now descending down the pass towards us on now more densely covered in deepening snow. 

I actually think our driver thought having the bonnet of our car in the boot of the car in front of us, often another yellow taxi with an equally manic driver, was the only way to make it up and over the pass. Unbelievably the seconds we had made up and days of our lives lost due to stress were soon lost as when we reached the top of the pass we came to another screeching holt and were encouraged to get out, in the freezing weather and decamp to the nearest available cafe for brekkie, it was 1.30pm.

All this lost time, near on one hour by the time to tea was served and tagines devoured, had let all the various means of transport that we'd just blasted through to re-overtake us and therefore provide our driver with another opportunity to confirm his desire to meet his maker once our bellies were satiated and the following 300kms were driven.

The scenery changed once over the snowy pass, the landscape opened up into vast plains boasting multitudes of farmed date palms, iconic castles, Kasbahs and vistas out towards the surrounding treeless mountains, many of which were flat topped and or conically shaped which reminded us of those such as Table Mountain, Lions Head and the 12 Apostles of Cape Town. The road was still undulating but gone were the hairpin bends and thankfully the ice and snow.

As we passed each small settlement we either dropped off or picked up fellow passengers, were given small or sometime larger parcels, some of which we had to lash to the roof and then randomly drop off in the next town or village whilst those once passed cars and lorries again trundled past us and again gave our driver overtaking challenge which he was unable to succumb to!

We were still moving at a rate of knots but far away from our rendezvous with Mohamed's two fellow Noiji (Nomads) who were busy setting up camp and waiting for us on the edge of the desert. The light faded quickly from dusk to pitch black and now the signage was actually clearer as the headlights picked each of them out against the now totally black skies. Our driver seemed convinced that any sign with chevrons on (indicating a corner and to slow down) read it as 'change down a gear and speed up', and the signs with numbers indicating speed limits, such as 40, 50 or even 80 were there to confirm the amount of velocity of warp speed that it should multiplied by and then be applied to ensure the car was travelling at at least double to speed indicated on the aforementioned sign!

Normal morning scene,
 Maz sitting on our bed

At around 9pm, near on 12 hours since we left Marrakesh and after passing through Zagora where Mohamed picked up the last of our supplies, we slowed to a walking pace with both the driver and Mohamed peering out of the front and left hand side windows trying, it was evident later, to spot the small flicker of fire light out into the vast surrounding desert. We pulled off the road onto the sand and with a quick goodbye myself, Maz and Mohamed collected our bags and took our first steps towards the light of a head torch which was being waved in our direction.

As we approached the light we could see a fire burning brightly and two ghostly figures emerged to greet us, one in Arbic Bedouin (from the Arabic family) and the other in French then broken English, informing us that they had laid out our mats on the sand for us to sit and then encouraged us to feast on the tagine of fresh vegetables which had been prepared and cooked over the same open fire.

Collecting much 
needed wood

Both men were in their fifties, one born in 1967 the same a me, and were wearing the traditional long dress like over garment with heads and necks covered with a headscarf, Mohamed had given each of us one on the journey so we duly wrapped ours around our heads as best we could and all at once felt like we'd been accepted into this small family. 

Each of our team had separate jobs, one it would seem would be the chef for the trip, we found out in the morning that he was Mohamed's uncle, the other Allal was the guide, chief tea maker and the one given charge of the four belching and farting camels, or more accurately dromedary's (Jmal locally), that would be carrying all our kit for the following three days.

Four Dromedary's with plastic woven panniers which sat either side of their one hump, apparently filled with fat not water, might seem a little excessive for just five people, especially given the fact that both Mohamed and Allal slept outside for the duration of the trip and therefore had no need for a tent. However we were carrying everything we needed, food, water, a camping gaz stove, pots, pans, our little two man tent, which we ended up using for every night except the first, plus a larger tent for our chef to safely prepare the food should (and it did) the wind get up and create a sand storm.

And so to return to the scene set as we woke on that first morning, upon finishing our wonderful evening meal we'd slept outside by the fire under the stunning canopy of stars, Orion looking down upon us and the Big Dipper slowly slide over us as we both awoke at points to stare with awe during that long dark night. Our guides had provided a warm cocoon of multiple brightly coloured blankets placed on a foam kind of mat but by day break even these were covered by a light damp dew which made getting up a bit of a chore.

Trekking through the dunes

Allal had already greeted the new day sun with his early morning prayers, which I had observed from my sleepy bed and was now tending the fire to ready our first tea of the day. This elaborate and protracted process kept him busy for many an hour over the next few days, crouched down, we had no chairs, heating up the small enamel pot, which he took from his small round wicker basket which contained all this tea making equipment, over some embers, opening his bags of green tealeaves and other medicinal plants, such as absinthe, of which he would steep, not pouring boiling water onto but heating gently, until the right temperature and flavour was achieved.

Now the tea was ready Allal bought forth six tiny glass cups from the aforementioned basket, no handles, five of which he placed onto an intricately etched silver plater ready for the tea to be poured with great precision from an ever increasing height from the pot. The tea was sweet and sour, the bitterness taken away by the large amount of added sugar, not spooned or cubed but chunks broken off of a large flattish white block which was kept dry and stashed secretly with all his other tea making paraphernalia.

After tea we began to ready ourselves for the day, breakfast was being prepared so whilst we waited we were encouraged to go and do our business behind a shrub or the dunes, we'd each been given a toilet roll and told to use the communal cigarette lighter to burn the paper when we'd finished! 

A Camel?
Nope its a
Dromedary!!!

Breakfast was set up on the colourful roll mats that we'd slept on, it was a simple affair but one that challenged our 'plant based eating' as we not only had butter but also cheese triangles to spread onto our flat breads, which had been warmed over the coals, and upon which we topped with local jams and honey. More tea and also wonderful Moroccan coffee accompanied the meal which was soon devoured by all.

Whilst we'd been eating Allal had let the hobbled Dromedary's wander off to search for food and was now busy collecting them up from the scrub and thickets that they found so appealing. Mohamed and Chef were busy packing down the camp and once Allal returned the long and slow process of loading up the plastic woven baskets onto the animals began.

The multitude of our various sleeping blankets provided some stability to the loads and were placed upon their backs, the baskets were next and then filled everything we needed for the next three nights, including huge water drums which took two men to hoist into the baskets. 

By around 10.30am we were ready to go and without further ado the caravan set off into the vast desert that we now found ourselves in, there was no communication to let us know how far we'd be walking, how long it would take till we stopped or whether we were happy with the sped but the slow methodical pace was set by the dromedary's so we just followed in silence until we were told to stop.

The landscape was actually quite varied, to the north and west of us we could see the high mountain ranges, to the south and east the vast Sahara opened up as we made our first steps on what would be a 45km trek over the next three days. 

We had imagined sand dunes rising and falling as far as the eye could see but it would seem that only around 25% of the Sahara is actually sand, there rest is a right mixture of rocks, pebbles and stones which we could attest to as we walked over the hard compacted ground with the hard to define footprints of the animals and nomads guiding us ever forwards. 

By midday the sun was warm, although the heat was very dry which meant we didn't sweat at all as we made our way to our lunch spot. We'd walked 14 kilometres before we stopped and were ready for something to eat by the time we'd got there. Thus began the long and slow process of unloading, unpacking, carpet laying, fire lighting, tea prep, chopping veg, hobbling (the dromedary's that is!), none of which was a real hardship for myself and Maz as we looked on to the hive of activity with the knowledge that we wouldn't be seeing anyone else other than these amazing guys in these perfect surroundings for the next few days.

Following our long lunch break, where we had enjoyed another vegetable tagine, flat breads, tea and fresh fruit under the shade of an acacia bush, we continued westward venturing into some lower level sand dunes, their shapes shifting in the late afternoon breeze as the lowering sunlight caught the crests creating a oceanic feel to the landscape as though we were at sea, actually camels are called ships of the desert and its easy to see why.

Mohamed and me!

After a total of 20 kilometers and nearing sunset Allal decided that it was time to look for a suitable place to camp down for the night and as he set to tend the animals we all went on search for some much needed wood that would make up our fire for the evening. He had chosen to pitch us near but not in the sand dunes, wood was scares there, however this evening we pitched our small two man tent with its back to the southern winds and settled down for well earned rest.

An evening of story telling followed, we heard that none of them had attended any formal education, of which they seemed very unconcerned, they said that they could read the land and understand which plants could help with different ailments, all but Chef could speak enough English and French to get by. They live a very simple life without the clutter of mortgage payments, house repairs, vehicle breakdowns, insurance cover and seemed happy with their lot, proclaiming that they were free to roam wherever they wanted without fear or worry.

Time for tea and or coffee

Obviously Mohamed ventures to Marrakesh to collect his paying customers, like us, but Allal had only been there once and didn't like the hustle and bustle so stayed in his Riad until it was time to go home, none of them had seen the sea but also were surprised that we had never seen a sand dune, I suppose it's all relative.

The following days took a similar pattern, the sand in our clothes, shoes, sleeping blankets and even food seem to be increasing and without hot water to wash we had to use 'wet wipes' to maintain some kind of hygiene regime. Life just seemed to slow down, myself and Maz had time to think, to chat about the bigger topics of life, such as 'where do they get their sense of meaning?', 'do they look forward to anything?'.  

On the third morning we noticed a slightly different sight on the southern horizon, a haze that seemed to be rising ever higher. We'd already spoken about what happens when their is a sand storm, that all they could do in such as situation is to hunker down and sit it out, so we weren't surprised to feel the pace pick up and after a short rest just before we thought we were going to stop for lunch we were told that we were going to press on to get as far as we could to be near to the road for our next morning pick up and return journey to Marrakesh.

Start of the sand storm

It was a good job we did keep moving during those few hours as just as we'd found a place to stay, in a 'sheltered' grove of palms, the wind picked up and the sand whipped around us with such force that we were literally blinded for the next few hours. Thankfully they had managed to lash some blankets over a rope between two trees and had also got the cooking shelter up so Chef was busy with lunch and dinner prep, but to be honest the hours dragged as we waited and waited for the storm to blow through, which it did just before we all settled down to our last night together.

We were sad to wake on that fourth day as we knew that our time in this incredible place had come to an end, we were up and ready to leave by 8.30am and after a few photos, kind words of thanks and even a couple of heartfelt hugs we said goodbye and wandered with Mohamed towards the road. 

Our return journey to Marrakesh from Mhamid (a mere 444kms) via Zagora (where Mohamed left us and where we picked up our second taxi) and Ouarzazate (our third and final taxi) wasn't without its hiccups, these included and weren't limited to 

- the fact that the Tizi n'Tichka Pass had been closed again due to a landslide and Mohamed wasn't certain that we would get through without a five hour detour 

- we were on our own for another two local yellow taxi rides with the same crazed drivers chomping at the bit to meet their makers whilst we held on for dear life in the back with no seatbelts. 

Team Trek

- once the pass had been cleared of rocks and the snow ploughs had also made headway our taxi driver was videoing himself whilst playing dodgems with other taxi's, donkeys, lorries carrying hay and other travellers who'd come up the pass to play in the snow on this beautiful Sunday afternoon.

However as you will be pleased to know we made it back alive and were soon tossed back into the mayhem that is Marrakesh which now seemed to have ramped itself up into a manic stupor when compared to the silence and peace of the desert that we had left only that very morning.

We had an incredible once in a lifetime experience that we'll never forget, so many highlights and stories over those three days, I hope I've captured a little on what we enjoyed and some of what we ensured in this simple post.

Insha 'Allah.

Tim Feb 2026.

 

 

Seven months in Spain and a fair few more to come.

Once again its been a while since we last updated our blog but it is with much joy and excitement in our lives that we have this opportunity to inform you that after spending seven months in Spain we have been successful in obtaining our Spanish Residencia. This basically means that Spain has now become our main base and the place where we will reside for the majority of the year.

Andalusian Flag

This might come as a surprise to some of you but after arriving here in the middle of October in our dear little VW Campervan (Elsie) on what we thought would be a two month stay we have loved the lifestyle, the weather, the people and the options that this nation with all of it's history affords us.

So lets rewind a bit with some highlights of the last seven months and we shall do this via a list view as below.

Biking along the Prom at Torrox Costa

- We sailed from Portsmouth on an overnight ferry to Santander in northern Spain Elsie (the VW Campervan) packed up ready for a two month stay before a return to the UK for Christmas.

- Prior to the trip we had agreed with our good friends in England that we would aim to stay in their 'holiday home' in Andalucía for a couple of months making our way slowly through north and western Spain on our way there.

- Soon after arriving in Spain the nation was sent into a second lockdown due to the Covid-19 virus and instead of a slow journey taking in the sights and sounds we made our way directly to Torrox on the Costa Del Sol.

City Walls at Avilla

- Thankfully we had a few days of travel before the announcement and were able to visit the towns and cities of Burgos, Salamanca, Avilla (with its wonderful city walls and historic Christian heritage), Toledo and even Cordoba (and it's amazing cathedral which we will have to revisit sometime in the near future)

Pueblo Blanco 

- We arrived in Torrox Park in torrential rain but were thankful that the sun returned by the next morning and were able to explore the three parts of Torrox (the old 'Pueblo' with it's traditional whitewashed houses set on a hill, the modern 'Park' where we were staying and the Costa, which is as expected set on the Mediterranean coast!) 

Time with Arry

- Amazingly our youngest son had been travelling in Portugal and was due to meet up with the yacht he was working on in Malaga so he was able to join us for a night before sailing off across the Atlantic to Mexico. 

- After we'd been in Torrox Park for a few weeks we began to think about the options that we currently had for the next phase of our lives, which as with many other people, had been deeply impacted by the lack of opportunities to travel to those far off places where we had more recently been sharing the Leadership for Life programme. 

Winter Solstice sunset from our apartment

- With the Covid-19 virus showing no sign of let up, the continued restrictions in the UK and the thought of spending Christmas and New Years in a caravan in a field in Buckinghamshire with the possibility of not even seeing family if we were back in England, we decided that the options that living in Spain for this next phase of our lives gave us we would apply for residency here.

- We weren't too hopeful that our application would be accepted as there were many factors that we didn't tick but after visiting a local lawyer we were advised to move quickly due to the 31st December deadline that was in place following the UK's exit of the European Union.

Monika, Ralf and Lucy

- The first thing we needed was a longer term place to stay, our friends holiday villa was just that a place for them to holiday and to offer to friends and their family so we looked around and found a wonderful apartment overlooking the beach at the el Morche end of Torrox Costa which has been a godsend and not something that we will ever take too lightly.

- After opening a Spanish bank account, registering for our NIE at the local police station and informing the local municipality of our permanent (semi permanent) address, all before the 31st, we then had to wait until we had actually been here for three months, thus showing bank statements, receipts for items purchased locally etc, before applying which we did in the middle of January 2021.

Beach Bars

- During those three months we were enjoying walking in the mountains, shopping at the local market buying all our fresh fruit there on a Monday morning from a dear old couple who we have struck up a firm friendship with, running on the beach, eating tapas at local bars and creating friendships with both locals and expats.

- This is the longest time we have spent in one place since leaving Grabouw, South Africa, in 2015 and the third longest period of time in one place since we got married 33 years ago. 

Yoga

- Maz has started Yoga on a Wednesday morning and has made some good connections with likeminded people there and she spends around an hour a day learning Spanish via an app which she is steadily but surely mastering.

- I have been struggling with achilles and back problems which have limited my longer runs but have taken up playing 'Padel', a racket sport similar to Tennis but played on a smaller court with glass sides where the ball is in play like Squash, and have English, Danish, German and Spanish friends that I play with at least twice a week.

Sledging in the Sierra Nevada 

- We have ventured out to the Sierra Nevada to visit the snow at the ski center there and even bought a sledge which we really had fun with before Christmas. We have also bought a Paddle Board (SUP) which we take out on the sea as and when the conditions are in our favour (i.e not too choppy!)

- The weather has been wonderful, most days we wake to clear blue skies with the promise of sun and warm temperatures, although we have had some rain and during the winter months it has felt more like the 'Costa del Wind' rather than the Costa del Sol but as spring moves into summer the winds have dropped and we are actually grateful for the gentle sea breezes.

SUP!

- It's been a great time for us to chill out, read books (too many to mention here but we will update our list on the side bar for you to see what we have been reading), listening to podcasts and generally taking life one day as it comes. We don't earn any money but live a simple life which we are very much enjoying.

- The Covid-19 lockdown restrictions seem to have been easier than those set in England or France and other than having to wear masks when in public places we have been able to live a relative normal life which means we feel so blessed.

Christmas Day

- Obviously we have missed our family and friends immensely, especially over Christmas, which we celebrated on our own for the first time ever but that was a similar situation for many people so we didn't feel too alone.

- Lastly we have made two very good friends, Ralf and Monika from Germany, who are both Yoga teachers and along with their dear little dog, Lucy, we've enjoyed some special times with, mostly bumping into along the prom for an impromptu coffee or Tinto de Verano, watching films, eating some of Maz' amazing plant based food and we even visited Seville (Sevilla) last weekend where we enjoyed the stunning city with it's awesome architecture, history, bars, parks and shops!

New friends and good food.

Our lives seem so full at the moment, we do have a daily rhythm which starts off with exercise, stretching, mindfulness and even meditation we play at least three games of Backgammon and tax our brains with online quizzes as well as having a daily walk and continuing to encourage others who are in our sphere of influence be they in South Africa, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Zambia or South Korea and we try to maintain weekly connections with our wonderful family via zoom and other medium who are so dear to us and whom we miss very much.

 

Walkers Run for Water - An 80km run in Spain

It's been a while since we updated our blog so as we enter into 2021 with further trepidation we wanted to encourage you with news of a run I (Tim) completed on the 21st December to raise funds to dig a second well to install a water pump in a remote village in southern Madagascar.

Off for an Ultra Run!

Yes you read the title of this post correctly I ran 80 kilometers non stop on the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere from sunrise at 8.30am here in Spain to sunset at just before 6pm completing the challenge in 8 hours and 35 minutes, raising near on half the $5,000 that we need to sink this well in the process.

I wanted to write this post as an encouragement to those of us who have just drifted into middle age and to show that if I can achieve something that I only ever dreamt of then let that be a motivation to us all that each one of us has amazing amazing potential inside of us that is just waiting to be released.

So before we go into my run and look at how I undertook what was the longest run of my life, beating my previous best by seven kilometers, I want to take you back to the summer of 2016 when I took up running again and look back at the motivation to do that.

We'd arrived back in England after a three month trip to Madagascar where we once again engaged with our wonderful friends working in the capital Antananarivo and the eastern port city of Toamasina. Our return was to help support Maz' sister as she supported her mum who was in the final stages of her battle against cancer, sadly Judy passed away from just after we had got back home but it was good to be there at the end.

After a visit to see our eldest son and his family in Bath I felt overweight and short of breath as I played football and attempted to chase our three precious grandchildren around the local park.

My logo care of Emily House

I'd always been a good runner in my secondary school years, often picked for the cross-country team, longer distance track runs and spending nights at the athletic club in Aylesbury, Bucks. I had also continued to keep my fit playing football for my local team until I was 40 years old but then we took the bold step and moved to South Africa to set up the Village of Hope, a home for children impacted by HIV and TB, and although I ran a sports outreach programme into the local community using football and netball to encourage the young people living in the formal and informal settlements where we lived I had become lazy, overindulging in a tad too many braai's (BBQ) and perhaps enjoying the wonderful South African wine a little too much! 

Back to that June day in 2016 I looked at my life, the choices that I was making and observed other people around me, some who like me had just let things slip and others who were pushing themselves as they neared their fiftieth birthdays I was worried that within a few years I could have further grandchildren and pondered on what sort of Granddad would they grow up knowing and what fun would we all miss out on if I couldn't even kick a ball with them.

My motivation to run, the current water
situation in Madagascar 

So a few days later I decided to dust off a pair of old astro turf football boots, put on a tee-shirt and a pair of shorts and head off for a run around the block a simple run of around 500 meters. By the end of the run I could hardly breath but undeterred I woke the next morning to undertake another round of that 500 meter loop.

By the morning of 23rd June, just a few days into my new found regime I decided that I needed to download an App to help me keep a note of my activities, mainly to motivate me but also to have a base point to look back on. If you click this link you'll be taken to my Strava page where you'll see that during that first recorded run I covered 2.62km in a total time of near on 15 minutes at an average pace of 5 mins 36 seconds per kilometer.

Water hole for a village of 2,000 people

Over the following days, weeks and now years I've extended my runs, starting with a 5km, a 10k in just under one hour by the middle of July and that was really that with the longer distances as I continued with runs around 5km-10km for just over a year. However on July 24th 2017 I pushed the boat out and ran with my Ultra running Brother-in-law, Chris, over my longest run to date a 14.8km run in France which took almost one and a half hours.

That August I turned 50 and on my birthday I ran a 10km in just over 50 minutes which I was very pleased with and with that in the bag I decided to enter into my first half marathon, again with my brother-in-law, and also my sister in Northampton, which I ran in just under one hour 50 minutes, I think I'd found my running legs but my distances really didn't go up again until I entered my first marathon over a year later.

My aim was to get over the line in under 4 hour's so I made up my mind that I would complete this with a run/walk strategy, thus ensuring I didn't burn out too quickly and giving my legs and body some time to recover as I tackled the tough Winelands Marathon held in the stunning South African town of Stellenbosch, more famed for its wines than it's marathon and guess what, just over 3 hours and 57 minutes since I set out I stumbled over the 26.2 mile (42.2km) line completely exhausted but I'd done it!

The pump on top of the first
new Well that we funded in early
2020

As you can see it took me quite some time to build up to a marathon distance and by the end of 2018 not only myself but also Maz had got into running regularly and we'd also changed our eating habits, inspired by the book Finding Ultra by Rich Roll we cut out all meat and dairy from our diets, a decision that we feel has both benefitted our health, weight, well-being and the well-being of the planet and those that we share it with.

Whilst in South Africa, we were based there to undertake some work for Emerging Leaders, working with local farms and the communities around those farms sharing the amazing Leadership for Life programme and seeing some very positive impact into the lives of those people who we'd come to know and love during our near on seven years setting up and running the Village of Hope, we both entered into the bi yearly 'trail series', runs up in the beautiful mountains that surround Cape Town which we both really enjoyed.

I wasn't without injury, during those first few years I really struggled with a bad back, slipping my disc whilst in South Africa which meant three months without running, continuing problems with my achilles and both knees, especially my left knee which I'm sure was the result of my 35 years or so playing football.

In early 2019 my crazy Brother-in-law challenged me to join him on an Ultra marathon, basically an ultra is any run that is longer than a marathon, technically I suppose it could be 43kms or 27 miles, but this one was going to be 73kms or just over 45 miles and would be taking place on the stunning island of Jersey which is situated just off of the north coast of France and although has long beautiful beaches to its west and southern sides has a very rugged north coast which was going to make the challenge of running it in under 11 hours very tough indeed....but once again we did it and although I couldn't walk for a couple of days after that event I was so proud of my achievement and to look back on where I'd come from just over 3 years before, however I vowed never to undertake another ultra distance again!

Since then I've tried to complete a marathon distance over a week every week and am not only feeling the benefit to my physical health but also my mental and spiritual health, it also means that I get out most days to take in some fresh air and to enjoy all that nature has to offer, be that on the pavements of England, fields of Zambia, sand tracks in Zimbabwe, mountain paths in South Africa, dusty streets in Madagascar, footpaths through the slums in Uganda, the beaches of Mauritius or the promenades here in Spain, I am blessed and I don't take that for granted.

Just the 75,500 steps!

So if I vowed never to do an ultra distance again why undertake the latest run here in Spain, where we are trying to gain our Spanish residency? Well that's a long story but it mainly comes down to the fact that I can't paint, I can't sing and to be honest I'm not very productive at all but what I have proved to myself is that I can run, and if I can run then maybe some kind people will sponsor me to push myself beyond my comfort zone so I can bless those who have very challenging lives each and everyday so to put my body on the line for just over 8 hours surely isn't too much to do.

If you haven't given up reading by now I'll just quickly let you know how I managed to cover the 80kms within the timescales that I had set myself. 

Firstly I made sure I had put some miles or Kilometers in my legs, training each day to do either some hill work, short sprints or longer distances. 

Next I made my plan for the run, my two previous ultra distances had been over some hilly terrain (I didn't mention that I had actually completed a second ultra distance, this was last June when I ran a 7.5km lap around Buckinghamshire on the shortest night of the year, completing the 56kms with some friends in just under six hours during the middle of the night, yes that was crazy but a wonderful way to celebrate the summer solstice and raise further funds for our friends who are struggling in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zambia and Madagascar), this time I wasn't going to put the challenging hills in so I opted for an 8km lap (x10) up and down the promenade in Torrox Costa, lightweight I know!

At 8.30am I started my run, equipped with a drinks bottle and Maz on hand to bring down supplies as per the timings I'd estimated that I would run passed our apartment. I aimed to get through the first marathon as fast as I could and then worry about the following 38km once I'd got that under my belt. 

Lunch time

My first 12km I hit at a non stop 5 mins per km pace, the second 12km I slowed it down to a 2,5km run with a 250m walk which actually went really well so I continued that until I reached the full marathon point at my fastest marathon time of 3hrs 53 mins which I was really pleased with as I was aiming to undertake that at around 4hrs. 

After a short break for lunch, where Maz bought down a pot noddle to compliment the nuts, seeds and dried fruit that I had been consuming since the first hour, I knew that I had around five hours to keep going to hit the final 38km. I reached 50km by running 1.5Km and walking 500 meters in 4hrs 50 mins and kept that going till I got to 60km.

The sun has shone all day and it was quite fun to see the shadows created as I passed the lighthouse and also bars where people had been enjoying their pre-Christmas drinks and food whilst I plodded passed them with sweat pouring from under my Santa hat which I had worn since the start. 

The last 20kms were made up of a walk/run with 500m intervals with Maz joining me for the last 14km which was a great encouragement to me and I crossed the 80km mark with 35 minutes left before the beautiful sun dropped into the mediterranean sea to end a perfect day!

Nearly finished

The 80km run also allowed me to pass my 2,300kms mark for the year 2020 a feat that I never dreamed of achieving way back in June 2016 when I stumbled out of bed in the hope that I could one day run a 5km and be able to chase my grandchildren around the park in my older age.

I hope you've enjoyed the read and that you have been inspired to realise the amazing potential that lies within each and everyone of us, maybe you won't go out for an 80km run but I would encourage you all to at least take time to exercise your body each day and if you can think more about what you put in your body via your choice of diet, I can guarantee that you'll feel better both in your body (I lost 20kg once I made my life choices) and in your mind.

Lastly if you are able to spare a few pennies then please visit our Facebook Fundraising page by clicking on to this link and help me to make a difference to those we know who are currently facing a daily challenge of finding fresh water just to live.

And now the end is near the continuing story of our Tour de France - Week Eight

Wild camping by the river

If you remember last week I (Tim) was using a very wet day in north western Spain to update our seventh post that covers our recent trip to France, since last week we have moved much further south and I'm typing away with a view out over fields of mangos, avocados and other exotic fruits with the Mediterranean shimmering away and providing a stunning backdrop. Without further ado we'll bring you up to date with what was to be our last week in France for a while.

We left you in suspense at the end of the last post having arrived at our most recent France Passion (the web based platform that we were using as our bible and that connects mainly organic farms with motorhome owners, or VW Campervans like us, providing a free nights stay with the understanding that you may sample their produce with no obligation to purchase but hey who wouldn't want to top up on fresh tomatoes, or olives or wines that have been handcrafted in the very fields that surround you as you sleep?) a restaurant which wasn't open so after another peaceful sleep we both got up and had runs around the lake next to where we'd parked and further into the woods which were getting more frequent as we moved further north.

After we'd packed up, a performance that we were now bab hands at, gas off, porta potti away, rear awning and pop up roof down, we moved on towards Limoges and the charming towns that sit along the river Vienne and what was to be our first real wild camping experience as we couldn't find a suitable France Passion site along our intended route.

Maz cooking up a storm, again

We arrived alongside the river late in the afternoon and had spotted another VW camper a little further along the banks, the river wide and slow moving but from our vantage point we could see a little weir and below that some faster moving water where fishermen were dangled either worms or their fancy flies into the water hoping to catch some poor fish who was probably thinking about catching his own lunch for his family! 

As the evening drew on we found a semi secluded spot in a car park by the river and bedded down for the night, which was very peaceful and we awoke with excitement in our hearts as we were to visit and have lunch with our good friends, Lisa and Rebecca, who had given up their jobs and life in Jersey (the channel islands) and bought a house complete with gite business just up the road from where we had camped out.

The grand tour

The place they had bought was awesome, it was so well appointed and renovated that it made us quite jealous and our minds which had been thinking about buying a place for ourselves in France were nudged that way even further. Rebecca and Lisa hadn't had the best of first seasons with their Gite business, what with the issues around the limited travel and therefore holidaying that Covid-19 had imposed, but they had had a few visitors and were currently hosting a couple from Belgium and the lifestyle away from the busyness of corporate business seemed to suit them.

Lunch with friends

It was great to share a meal together in their lovely courtyard garden, of which much of our view and seating arrangements was obscured by our washing which Maz had been able to do in their handy machine in their second gite whilst they had given us the 'grand tour'. We were sad to leave but we did have another engagement to make before we found our nights parking spot.

We miss these sunsets from the pop up
roof in Elsie

As we've said the lifestyle and cheaper properties in France had certainly got our attention so most days we were receiving updates from the internet on various places that were for sale so as we were passing we made a plan to have a look around a very nice home which was being sold as a full B&B business, all furnishings for under £140,000. 

Topping up Elsie's water tank from an old well

The home was also very tastefully renovated but upon chatting with the owners, an English couple who had lived and run the business for six years, we found out that their dream was to travel and they had found the B&B restrictive and wanted to sell. It seemed that the tables would have been turned had we bought the place, our fancyfree lifestyle choice of roaming instead of homing would be lost and we weren't sure we wanted to sacrifice that just to have somewhere to call home...we are continuing to look at the various opportunities as to live and own a home in England is now out of our price range so we are living in this dilemma at this time. 

We were now moving north at quite a rate as we had booked a ferry back to England leaving Dieppe to Newhaven on the forthcoming Thursday afternoon so our house hunting escapades would have to wait a while, with Brexit perhaps putting a spanner in those works too as the laws around freedom of movement are due to change on the 31st December this year.

Our rushing back to England was all timed to fit in with the birth of our fourth grandchild, seeing as we'd have to self isolate for two weeks when we got home due to the Covid-19 situation we wanted to be able to visit our son and daughter-in-law, and new arrival as soon as we could!

The flat lands were calling

As we travelled the countryside became flatter, wind turbines and fields and fields of harvested crops, oats, wheat etc, stretched out as far as the eye could see. This definitely wasn't an area we wanted to stop in too long so after a night just north east of Chateauroux at one of those very arable farms we headed to Blois via a very convoluted route which we'll pick up on later.

Le petit wine tasting

On route we stopped off at a vineyard of that we'd spotted on the map. The cellar was tiny, certainly the smallest vineyard we'd ever been to, but the welcome from the elderly father and his son (neither of whom spoke English and our French really hadn't improved much over the trip, however now we are in Spain we are realising that we do actually understand a lot more French than we thought and having conversations in broken Frenglish is much easier than Spanglish!) was as good as we'd experienced throughout the trip which was shown in their very classy white wines of which we bought a bottle or two.

Stained glass adorns the windows

We also stopped at the charming city of Blois which sits on the Loire, we parked up in a car park overlooking the river and as had become our norm we visited its cathedral and were impressed by the architecture and feel of the place.

Blois across the Loire

Now back to the story of the convoluted route. Unfortunately after leaving Blois we had the first major navigational error of the trip, not bad seeing as through we were 53 days into it, we'd put the wrong GPS co-ordiantes into GoogleMaps and had headed north west for perhaps an hour before realising we should have been heading north east, that said we made it to our penultimate stop with time to spare and found the huge farmhouse, which included our last stop and visit to a vineyard of the trip, to be empty save for a dog who was barking madly at us.

We phoned the host who apparently was in town shopping and when she arrived back she was only too willing to show us to our parking spot, under a few plumb and apple tress which had so many fallers that the wasps were eagly devouring and into her cellar which was another wonderful experience.

Our last wine tasting at France Passion 2020

After sampling her wines we made a plan to purchase a few bottles but when coming to pay she didn't accept credit card and we'd spent our last cash in Blois earlier in the day, so what was to be our last purchase turned out to be just one bottle which we think she was a little sad about but hey we're in the 21st century now and the other little cellar we'd visited earlier in the day excepted cards so get with the times!

Chartres double towers

The night was warm, pleasant an quiet so after a leisurely pack down we headed north, checking our GPS co-ordinates a couple of times so as not to go off piste again, and made our way to Chartres, visiting it's magnificent cathedral with twin towers and stained glass windows which were apparently some of the oldest in the world and had inspired others to copy the tend. We also enjoyed a cup of coffee in the square around it, which was almost deserted, which felt sad but reflected the limited amount of tourists that we'd encountered on the rest of our trip.

The empty square around the catherdral

Our last night was spent at probably the most quirky of France Passion stops of the trip, the venue was a eco farm which also ran canoeing experiences along the river upon which it sat. The toilets were again dry, meaning that we had to use sawdust to cover our poop, and the water we needed for our shower had to be drawn from a deep well. To get the bucket to fill with water was quite an art and gives us a lot more appreciation for people who lived like this in the old days and whom still live like that in the communities where we normally spend time sharing the mindset leadership programmes with.

Our last stop at the Canoe center

During the afternoon we took to the water ourselves and enjoyed a leisurely (at least on the return with the flow) time paddling up the tiny river Eure to a watermill which was the perfect way to spend our final afternoon in France seeing as though we'd spent so much time exploring the banks along a large number of the rivers but never on them.

Paddling up the Eure

Once again we spent a relaxing morning before we realised that we needed to fill in an online arrivals form which would provide us with a QR code to show the border officers in England and for them to know where we would be spending the next 14 days once we'd arrived back.

We then had a quick lunch, packed up for the final time and made our way to the ferry which was to leave from Dieppe at around 5pm and depositing us on English soil in Newhaven some five hours late when upon arrival no border officer was interested in our QR codes which we'd saved to our phones and we passed through passport control and quickly onto the M23 and M25 on our way back home after what had been a most wonderful trip.

We'd spent a total of 54 days travelling, covering just over 4,000kms and during our time away we'd noticed a lot of interesting items placed on the middle of some of the larger roundabouts, these were probably designed to give a flavour of the town or village but some seemed quite random and included in no particular order but perhaps in some sort of date order the following:-

The stunning rose window

A large chair, a large hand, a windmill, a castle, a boat, some large bikes, random beach huts, a roman style archway, a face, big bright butterflies, a big bird, a wine barrel, a huge cello, a large great crested crane (national bird of Uganda), a waterwheel, vines, an iron man, a dove cote, a matador, a large horse, fountains, a star gazer, an iron man, a gateway, large mushrooms, a wooden barn, goats with cheese, a colourful hummingbird, statue of a man on a throne, a wooden cart, a bug hotel, a light aircraft, a stone seat and finally some wooden bridge strut although we weren't sure about that one!

Back in England, it's like being on holiday!

We hope you've enjoyed journeying with us, Tim, Maz and Elsie the VW camper who was fantastic and apart from replacing a day light driving bulb hadn't put a foot, or wheel/s wrong since leaving England some 4,000 kilometers earlier.

Our first meeting with Winnie

So in total we avoided any toll roads but found every road well surfaced and signs easy to read and overall we found the french people to be helpful, friendly and accommodating. We had a special time using the France Passion site which also meant that we interacted and made friends with real French people who were similar minded people that we wouldn't have experienced had we used hotels or even B&B's, to say we were pleasantly surprised is an understatement and we will be back Brexit willing!

P.S we did self isolate for two weeks and on the middle Sunday our family was added to by the arrival of dear Winnie who made our return to England all the more special. Till next time x