Adventure She
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Empower Educate Entertain
Featuring Afghanistan’s Women Triathletes Enroute to Timbuktu Ocean Rowing
Plus Adventure Revolution with Belinda Kirk More from the United Nations Travels in Ukraine & lots more
Issue 16, April 2022 www.adventureshe.com
1
Price £5.00 for 1 issue or £12 for all 4 of 2022’s issues
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Welcome From Our Editor Welcome to the 16th issue of Adventure She magazine which is a bumper issue and the theme for which is ‘step by step’.
one of us through sharing stories. Whilst the magazine focuses on adventure type stories which entertain, there’s a reason for that. My theory is if we find an article entertaining, we read to the end. If we read to the end, we might learn something and thereby be educated. If we’re educated, then doesn’t that make us feel more empowered and doesn’t empowerment encourage us to go out and do something, that we previously thought beyond our capability. Hence Adventure She’s tagline (albeit in a different order) empower, educate, entertain.
This issue is so packed, I had to make a really tough choice as to which articles to hold back until the June 2022 issue, the theme for which looks like being the importance of attitude. Anyways, back to this issue. So why on earth did I set up Adventure She magazine? After all, I’m no Arctic explorer, I haven’t climbed Mount Everest and I haven’t rowed an ocean.
So how to put this into practice? Whether it’s been in the adventure scene or with Adventure She magazine, for me, what’s worked is a step by step approach. After all, that’s how people climb a mountain, trek across a desert, or run a marathon. A step by step approach is also how one goes about rowing an ocean, as to successfully row an ocean, there’s a lot of work to be done before setting foot in a boat. Welcome to the world of Jessica Mullins who recently rowed the Atlantic as part of a team of four. Her story is so good, so detailed, we’re serialising it over at least two if not three or more issues. In this issue Jessica writes about the first steps on the ladder, steps that if we don’t action properly, will see us falling off the ladder and never making it to the top.
There’s a saying, ‘a fool learns by its own mistakes, a wise person learns from another’. I woke up one morning age 50 and leapt out of bed with the idea to create Adventure She. It literally came out of nowhere. I had no experience in publishing, none in blogging and I barely knew what Instagram and Twitter were, yet alone TikTok, Snap Chat etc (which I still don’t get). Was I being a fool? On that I had no idea. What I did know was I had regrets. I also knew that, if possible, I wanted to help others, so that they wouldn’t have as many regrets as I had. I didn’t want others to repeat my mistakes. I didn’t want others to let anxiety, fear and doubt to hold them back in the way I had let them hold me back, and I most definitely didn’t want shyness to hold them back.
Time and again I’ve heard people lament there’s not enough women leaders, there’s no one to look up to, to emulate, that there’s no one at the top. I think somewhat differently, how does the saying go, ‘seek and ye will find’? Helen Clark,
That is how Adventure She magazine was born. It was born to help each and every a lif
2
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
three time Prime Minister of New Zealand, two term Administrator United Nations Development Fund – the UN’s third most senior position, hiker, ski mountaineer and ski tourer, is back in this magazine, for part two of my interview with her. She too talks of the step by step approach, this time regarding career planning.
might laugh out loud at some of my early mistakes in ‘Hiking Mistakes’ when I was most definitely equipped like a fool. I’m only sharing it as a poll of readers in the magazine’s Facebook group showed a strong preference for reading more stories about ‘when things go wrong’. If you have such a story that you’re happy to share, please do contact me. As for beginners, if you are one, or if you know any, Harriet MacMillan’s article on Hiking Tips, is the one for you. Hopefully it may help you from accidently engaging in foolhardy behaviour and may help keep you safe in the mountains, as you embark on your own step by step journey from hiking easier trails to possibly with time and experience, much harder ones.
It's all well and good talking about step by step, but what do you do when you’re an Afghan woman living in Afghanistan? Since last August circumstances there have of course changed, but a few years ago two Afghan women did compete in a triathlon thanks to their grit, determination and a woman called Jackie Faye. The process was still step by step, it’s just there were a lot of additional and very tough steps. Jackie Faye’s article is one of the most empowering I have possibly ever read. She initially sent me the story in 2020 for publication in the September 2020 issue, the theme of which was leadership. However, at Jackie’s request it was held back due to the then upcoming peace talks and the slightest of possibilities that publishing the story could negatively impact upon those talks. The story has now been expanded to cover the events of last August. It’s stories like Jackie’s that make running Adventure She so extra special, it’s always special to be trusted with empowering, educating and entertaining stories, but her story is far more than that. Not surprisingly, Jackie Faye is the very well deserved recipient of this issue’s ‘What A Woman’ award. If you know of any other people who are opening up sport to women, please do get in touch, so Adventure She magazine can hopefully share their story and in the process possibly help raise awareness and thereby funds.
If despite reading Adventure She magazine, which has so far covered the following themes – mental health, travelling with children, dealing with fear, coping with change, risk assessment and management, self belief, seizing the moment, resilience, stepping beyond our comfort zone, gratitude, leadership, reflection, choice, controlling the controllable and SMARTER goal setting, you are still in doubt as to the value of adventure and the outdoors to our physical and mental wellbeing, then Belinda Kirk’s article Adventure Revolution and her book of the same name, is for you. As usual, there’s also a ‘normal’ book review section, but I figured given the importance of adventure to health, Belinda’s needed a different treatment. Here Belinda shares what drove her to write the book Adventure Revolution, which she has described as the book she wishes she could have read when she was starting out on her (literally adventurous) path in the adventure world.
I know a lot of you will be experienced outdoors people, but not everyone is. You
Interestingly, writing the book was a step by step process for Belinda, for it wasn’t a
From The 3
and
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
case of simply sitting at her desk and writing, there was thinking about it, committing to it, plus pulling together her own stories and lots of additional research, before she could sit down at her computer to start planning out the book. Each step took time and effort, some steps took longer than others and some steps were harder than others.
making its own decisions, now who knows what lies ahead? Don’t worry, after that I figure we all need some light relief. Enter Annie Voight and her experience of living on a houseboat in Berlin. That’s right, adventures don’t have to be massive, learning new skills and achieving a more rounded understanding of all that’s around us can come from something as simple as housesitting a houseboat. Not all steps are equal, but each one is important. It’s what we make of each step in our step by step journey that matters and which can determine the direction of our next steps.
Whilst Belinda Kirk might have been adventuring to places like Lesotho since her pre university gap year, others take to adventure later in life. One person who recently changed her life is married mum of two Julia Stevens. She shares her step by step journey from being unhappy with her weight and wanting more, to becoming a mountain bike leader. That I think is some transformation.
Finally, Jacki Hill-Murphy is also back with part 2 of her adventures in Mali, this time it’s ‘On the road to Timbuktu’. Whenever I reread Jacki’s story it reminds me how lucky I am to be living where I live, it reminds me of the troubles other face, troubles I cannot imagine, and it reminds me of the importance of sharing stories, for if we don’t share our stories, how can others learn about them, and if we don’t know about them, what action can we take?
Another mum of two who really shows that middle age is no barrier to taking up new activities, is Vivian Lee. Originally from Beijing, China, Vivian has for a long time now lived in California, USA. Here Vivian, who’s only been running for seven years, shares the story of an ultramarathon she did which started from Everest Base Camp. It was an adventure that turned into way much more than step by step, one foot in front of the other, to get to the finish line.
Jane
Why can’t people appreciate the joys of another people and their culture, language and heritage? Kirsten Hamilton - Sturdy travelled to Ukraine shortly after the turn of the century when life in Ukraine was very different to life there now. Her story was so amazing, her record of history so interesting, I dug even further to find out more about events in Ukraine during the 21st century and also the Holodomor. Despite tremendous adversity, step by step Ukraine seemed to have found its way to
4
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Following Adventure She on social media If you'd like to follow Adventure She on social media and / or join our Facebook Group, we'll be delighted to see you. Instagram
@adventure_she
@adventure_she
adventureshe
Front cover Belinda Kirk, image courtesy of Belinda Kirk Back cover Annie Voight, image courtesy of Denis Alevi Photos accompanying editorial courtesy of Pixabay All photos courtesy of the author unless otherwise stated
Adventure She is published by TNA Consulting Services Ltd, the address of the registered of which can be obtained from Companies House. The entire contents are protected by copyright and all rights are reserved. Reproduction without prior permission is forbidden. Every care is taken in compiling the contents of the magazine, but the publishers assume no responsibility in the effect arising therefrom, Readers are advised to seek professional advice before acting on any information which is contained in the magazine. Neither TNA Consulting Services Ltd nor Adventure She magazine accept any liability for views expressed, pictures used, or claims made. Copyright © 2022 TNA Consulting Services Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
5
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Topics In This Issue Of Adventure She Magazine Page 8: Team Building For The Atlantic Ocean
Page 22: The Big Interview with Helen Clark
Page 50: What A Woman – Jackie Faye
Page 34: Afghanistan Women and Triathlon
Page 52: Hiking Mistakes
Page 58: Hiking Tips 6
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Page 70: Adventure Revolution
Page 76: Book Reviews
Page 78: Mountain Biking – No Clue To Leader
Page 86: Ultra-Running Everest
Page 102: Ukraine Remembered
Nepal After Page 114: Houseboat Life In Berlin
Page 122: En Route to Timbuktu
Page 134: Coming Up
Photo courtesy of Hugh Watts
7
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
8
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Team Building for the Atlantic Ocean By Jessica Mullins Photos courtesy of Jessica Mullins 9
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
In January 2022 Jessica Mullins and her three teammates arrived in Antigua and Barbuda, after spending 42 days, 4 hours, and 54 minutes rowing across the Atlantic Ocean. How does one go about preparing to row across an ocean? In this article Jessica writes about her background and the initial steps in her campaign to row across the Atlantic Ocean. In our next issue Jessica will reveal lots more.
I
am a 32-year-old single woman who has worked as an Occupational Therapist for over 10 years and currently reside in Vancouver, Canada. Growing up in Penarth, South Wales I was a shy and not particularly outgoing girl. I struggled academically in high school with dyslexia and was a very average student.
I’m a slow kinaesthetic learner who needs to experience something and spend extra time to understand it in its entirety. And my grammar and spelling… well put it this way I owe thanks to my sister Bethan who is my part time editor. I didn’t particularly enjoy school and was restless to leave. When I left for university, I recall my
10
history teacher giving me one piece of advice that has stayed with me ever since; ‘what you put into something is exactly what you will get out of it’ – it’s simple I know, but it’s a line that has resonated with me and that I apply every day. It’s in University that I really found my footing and began studying Occupational Therapy (OT)
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
at Cardiff University, Wales. What I lacked in traditional academic skills I made up for in extra circular work. I signed myself up to every forum group I could join. It’s here that I represented all OT Students in Wales under the Welsh Assembly Government for three years running. I pursued extra research projects during the holiday periods and soon found myself presenting at a research conference in Sweden and also volunteering at a Croatian orphanage for children with disabilities during the summer.
www.adventureshe.com
My hard work paid off and in 2011 I was awarded a 1st Degree Class Hons, which for someone who had always been bottom of the class, was a changing moment for me. I guess the ‘creative’ child of the family didn’t do too bad! I picked up confidence and began tackling my career in the world of healthcare and now, after over 10 years in the field, I haven’t stopped pushing myself. I work in Canada as an Expert Witness in OT for personal injury claims – in short, I give legal opinions on the cost of an individual’s 11
future care and work capacity. Random I know! This growing confidence through my teens and into my early adulthood bled into my personal life. My Uncle Paul, who is a father figure to my sister Bethan and I, soon introduced us to water sports. I have fond memories of family holidays windsurfing and canoeing in Llyn Tegid, North Wales and sailing around the Greek Islands through my teens. It’s because of Uncle Paul that I realised a deep love for the ocean and so I guess this means that my
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
achievement in rowing an ocean, boils down to this man. I naturally progressed to gain my Day Skipper licence at aged 29. You need previous sailing experience to complete the course and have to learn the relevant theory and apply it to the practical course over 5 days. Luckily, I managed to find a RYA approved course sailing around Vancouver Island, Canada, and so it felt a bit of a holiday at times. Having said that, while the other students were socialising at night, I was tucked in bed trying to make the theory stick in this dyslexic brain of mine! I got there in the end! My love for the water led me to learning about those who’d crossed oceans and those who had sadly been lost at sea. Yet despite all my sailing experience, I didn’t have an Initial burning desire to cross an ocean. That was until one day when aged 29, I was sat at home in Vancouver, watching a documentary called ‘Losing Sight of the Shore’. It’s the true story of three women who rowed across the entire Pacific Ocean, stopping only for a few days in Hawaii and Samoa for resupplies and to swap out a fourth teammate (three other women did a leg each, California to Hawaii, Hawaii to Samoa and
www.adventureshe.com
Samoa to Queensland Australia). In that moment it was like a switch was activated. Rowing an ocean met my skillset. I already rowed, as well as sail, kayak and kitesurf. Whereas others may unravel at the thought of losing sight of the shore, this only ever excited me. It was a gravitational pull that is hard to explain even now. I just knew that I was meant to do this. In tandem I was newly single, after having always been in long term relationships since the age of 14. In that moment I realised that I didn’t have a clear grasp of my own identity, I had lost my sense of self… in fact did I ever even have it? It was time to put myself first and experience selfgrowth and self-love. The ocean called out to me. It was no longer a matter of if, it was when and how I was going to row an ocean. HOW TO ROW The spirit of the ‘Losing Sight of Shore’ women sung out to me. I loved their team spirit. I wanted to feel that. I realised I wanted to row an ocean as a team. But, with my Type A personality, I knew I needed to be the Skipper and to Project Manage the campaign. That meant I 12
needed to form my own team, as opposed to go out there and look for a team I could join, for believe it or not, there’s places that advertise “wanted, rower to join a team to row the Atlantic / California to Hawaii”. Would people think me mad? I guess people did, but I didn’t care what others thought. What I cared about was pursuing my goal, to follow my vision and passion. If others didn’t share that path or couldn’t see what it meant to me, did that really matter? Even my own family weren‘t initially convinced! WHAT TO ROW A few people like the women in ‘Losing Sight of Shore’ and also Roz Savage – who’s rowed solo across the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans, row as and when they want – subject of course to the confines of the weather patterns including storms, currents and temperature. Many more now row across the Atlantic as part of a race, the race being the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge. It starts in La Gomera in the Canary Islands each December and finishes in Antigua and Barbuda, some 3000 miles away (depending on how much zig zagging you do with ocean currents, wind etc).
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
13
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
To row outside the confines of a race means more freedom, but it also means working everything out for yourself. To do the race means getting guidance and having to prove one’s competency on issues like how to deploy your paraanchor, having a clear ‘power plan’ to mitigate risk of power outages and working effectively as a team to problem solve harsh conditions. There is a slight comfort blanket knowing that the experts will not let you leave unless you are able to prove yourselves.
www.adventureshe.com
I decided the best option for me was to form a team to do the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge, starting in December 2021. BUILDING THE TEAM It was already the summer of 2019. I needed to get recruiting. First though I needed to push away the bubbling self-conscious feeling sitting in my stomach that wondered how I would be judged, as I saw myself as a non-athlete and I was looking to recruit a team of regular people, not army veterans or 14
retired professional athletes. To me that was important, as I wanted to be part of something that reiterates how ordinary people can go out and achieve, that adventure isn’t just for people who are in or who’ve come out of the forces, or for former professional athletes with their coaches, nutritionists, and sports psychologists. Naively my only other criteria for teammates was they had to be 100% committed to the challenge and to putting in the necessary work and effort
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
to make it happen. I needed people who were equally as obsessed as I felt. I could feel the fear in my belly as I logged onto Facebook and put a post together calling out for teammates and attached the races latest marketing video. But if I was to succeed at this challenge which I had set myself, of rowing across the Atlantic, then I had to put aside my fears. Back came messages of interest from some of my female friends. I was delighted. I couldn’t pick everyone, so I targeted those women who I felt
www.adventureshe.com
had the right mindset for this particular adventure. If others doubting me had been my first challenge. If my own self jitters had been my second challenge, now with potential teammates I faced my third challenge, namely turning us into a team. I failed. My recruitment tactic had been to plough wannabee teammates with worst case scenarios - apparently I told them that the 8m by 2m rowing boats used to cross oceans are “like a coffin on water”. My theory was if a person still wanted to do the row despite my litany of fear mongering, then they’d be right for the team I wanted to build. One by
15
one the initial ‘candidates’ dropped out, but I stuck to my tactic. Afterall, this was not a holiday, there is a real risk to life that all of us needed to acknowledge and respect. It took three entirely different team set-ups before I found two people who were perfect for the team. First was Lauren Hunt, who’s an Architect based in London with a quirky sense of humour. She was recommended by a mutual friend and a keen cyclist and swimmer. As soon as she heard about the challenge, she became as obsessed with the concept of the campaign, as I was. Ultimately Lauren
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
became the team’s ‘Head Designer’ focused on developing the website and marketing packages. She really was our Sponsorship Champion, bringing in a lot of support from companies she had worked with during her career. Fellow Welshman Edward Lewis aka Joe (it’s a long story) was next. An Aerospace Engineer now living in Ireland, it was Joe who had taught me how to row 7 years prior in Llandaff Rowing Club. I
www.adventureshe.com
figured he was the perfect candidate, and we shared a strong love for rowing. I knew I wanted someone with a technical background to help us navigate all the new equipment that we would ultimately be scratching our heads over. It made sense for him to be assigned Technical Operations for the team. Joe was already aware of the challenge and had already considered doing the race as part of an all-male team, but also struggled to find those who
would commit. When I approached him, he jumped at the opportunity to experience something he could later tell his future grandchildren. Throughout 2020 we still didn’t have a fourth team member. Rather than give up on our goal, we agreed to compete as a trio team, unless we found a suitable fourth. We had already been developing our brand and had agreed on our playful name of In Deep Ship – a suggestion of mine that had initially been meant for a quick giggle. Lauren and Joe loved it and we felt that it sang to our story of being novices, attempting to compete against the big guns – it’s exactly how we felt at times. We began launching our social media @indeepship2021 and developing our website www.indeepship.com. The race organizers were aware of our vacancy and hold an informal list of crews looking for an additional person, after all, it’s a long campaign and people can drop out for a myriad of reasons, including financial, health, family circumstances, the list goes on and on. In the hunt for our fourth member, we also placed posters at our local rowing clubs and advertised on social media.
16
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
Then March 2020 hit us with a ton of bricks that noone could have seen coming… a global pandemic. Officially, this international team were…. in deep sh!t. We each huddled around our laptops using Zoom for the very first time and wondered how the hell we were going to manage the road ahead. The biggest issue was me living in Canada, but I assured the team that I was 100% dedicated to the campaign and worst-case scenario I would move back to the UK – if border control would let me anyway! The pandemic cast a troubling shadow over our future in the race and we were later told by the race organisers that they were surprised that we made it to the start line. Actually, I think everyone we knew were. I’ll discuss more about the impact of the pandemic in next issue of Adventure She.
www.adventureshe.com
that was the right fit for her. Godds messaged us. She was tired of helping others to achieve their dreams though designing Adidas gear and longed to be sat on the other side of the desk. She wanted to be the adventurer, not the enabler. The rest of us often tease that she is the best thing to have ever slid into our DM’s! She had a refreshing way of viewing the world around her and was also very focused on
Whilst I was fitting in training for the race and building the brand between working a 60-hour job in Vancouver, Lauren was doing her part in London, and Joe his in Ireland. Meanwhile over in Germany and unbeknown to us, Jessica Goddard aka Godds, a footwear colour designer for Adidas, was on the hunt to join a team. She was researching the fleet to identify a vacancy 17
nutrition and wellbeing. Naturally Godds became our Nutrition Lead and within no time, a very dear friend of mine. You know when you meet someone and you have that instant connection that you can spend years building with others… a genuine love and admiration. Now we had our team of four ‘normal people’, albeit a little quirky, we were all fed up with our desks and looking for adventure. I think since the pandemic,
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
many of us can all relate to this. I think after being cooped up in our homes, we all long for experiences outside of our four walls and understand more than ever, that that life can be harshly cut short. UNIQUE I hadn’t set out to achieve a team of three women and one man, it was more of an organic occurrence. To us, it was nothing more than getting the right four individuals that would bond to form one great team. It turned out no team of three women and one man had rowed across the Atlantic or any other ocean. It looked like we would be the first. Still, we didn’t initially bat an eye lid and if anything, we were proud to shake up the norm. It was only when we began publicising our team set up, that we began hearing the responses that soon became a mild irritation for us all, but in particular to us women in the team. Upon hearing that Joe would be the only male in the team we would get either one of the following responses: 1) “you’re a lucky man aren’t you!” in a suggestive tone followed by a raised eyebrow wrapped in sexual undertones or 2) “Rather you than me mate! Three women nagging you every day?”. Both comments were paired with awkward
www.adventureshe.com
laughter and uncomfortable body language. My favourite was probably the time that a man aged around 55 years old held his two fingers up to Joe’s head gesturing a gun and pretended to pull the trigger. A light joke to many but the reality is that we found it profoundly insulting.
It was time to put myself first and experience self-growth and self-love. The ocean called out to me. It was no longer a matter of if, it was when and how I was going to row an ocean. Jessica Mullins
also noticed there was an automatic assumption that Joe was our Skipper and questions about our expedition tended to be targeted towards him. I frequently had to interject and introduce myself, if Joe hadn’t already done so – he was good like that! You could see the genuine surprise on their faces when they realized a 5ft3 120lbs woman was leading the team across an ocean. Mind you, the expression on their faces often turned from uncertainty to understanding, once they caught on to my direct nature. Why did I interject and not allow Joe to answer? It wasn’t about proving anything to anyone personally, but more about a desire for others to see us female ocean rowers as nothing less than equal and that meant our being addressed as and treated as equals by others. Joe was a valuable team member, but so were Lauren, Godds and myself. We weren’t Joe and his harem, we were team ‘In Deep Ship’. SOURCING A BOAT
As a female working in the predominantly female environment of healthcare, I had experienced minimal gender discrimination and misogyny. This was something new for me. I 18
Every team in the race has to source their own boat. As you can probably imagine, there aren’t that many ocean rowing boats suitable to protect four people when one has to batten down the hatches in
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
a storm. To have one made would have cost £100k including loose equipment. Instead, our plan was to buy or order a second-hand boat. We emailed all previous teams in search for a boat and managed to source one. Joe drove to view it and the deal was verbally sealed. Then, several months passed and despite pressing to exchange contracts, Joe received that dreaded call informing us that the seller had been forced to withdraw. The boat was no longer available.
www.adventureshe.com
None of us could believe it, only 9 months before we were due to start, we didn’t have a boat. Our place in the 2021 race looked decidedly uncertain. All our training, all the work I’d put into finding the right people for our team, navigating the pandemic barriers and we had already obtained sponsorship and the thought of letting down those who believed in us was hard to comprehend. All our hard work to date could all have been in vain.
row. We had three choices, finding another boat and keep to our plan of doing the 2021 race, or secondly, we could wait two years and do the race in 2023 (the 2022 race was already sold out) or finally, we could give up.
Just like ocean rowing isn’t easy, neither is getting to the start line of an ocean
We searched in all corners of the world to try to obtain a new boat. We spent days
19
We had some hard conversions. It turned out 2023 wasn’t an option for some of the team, so the second option was out. Either we had to find a boat or give up.
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
on the trail of any scent of a boat, calling, emailing and texting everyone in the ocean rowing community, but with very few boats available globally, we were having zero luck. It had been hard enough to source our first one! With just 7 months to go and dwindling hope, we were sat on a Navigation training course in Teignmouth, Devon, when we received a call from the boat makers Rannoch, who had been made aware of our dead-end boat hunt. The four of us huddled around the phone while we took the hopeful call on
www.adventureshe.com
loudspeaker. Another team had pulled out of the race, they no longer required their Rannoch R45 Elite boat and it was available for a turnkey charter - yes! With a turnkey charter this meant all the mandatory equipment required for the race would be provided in advance as part of the charter, which was significantly cheaper than buying it brand new. The boat itself had already completed one Atlantic crossing and looked as good as new. It’s only concerning history was the previous owners had experienced a marlin strike
that had penetrated the boat’s hull! Apparently, the marlin’s sword of the marlin missed a sleeping teammate’s thigh by a mere inch! We figured the probability of a second marlin strike for the same boat should be near impossible. It was a yes. We had our boat, our fifth team member, a team member we simply could not do without. A big thank you to Charlie and Lizzie from Rannoch for saving our bacon.
About Jessica Mullins Jessica Mullins and her team ‘In Deep Ship’ successfully competed in the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge, 2021, in 42 days, 4 hours, and 54 minutes. They smashed their goal to hit the previous year’s mixed team of 4’s world record time, making them the world’s first mixed team consisting of 3 strong women and 1 incredible man, to have rowed any Ocean. You can follow Jessica Mullins on these social media channels Instagram:
www.instagram.com/indeepship2021
Website:
www.indeepship.com
20
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
21
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
The Big Interview Helen Clark, Former New Zealand Prime Minister Questions by Jane Harries Photos courtesy of Helen Clark 22
Helen Clark enjoying time out in the backcountry
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Photo courtesy of Helen Clark
23
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Welcome to the second part of our editor’s interview with Helen Clark, who served three terms as Prime Minister of New Zealand and two terms as Administrator UNDP (United Nations Development Programme). In part one (see our April 2021 issue), Helen (for yes she said “call me Helen” talked of her love of hiking, ski touring, and mountaineering, plus about issues such as time management, the glass ceiling, global leadership, Covid 19 as a Chernobyl moment in global health, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and most poignantly, about her visits to Afghanistan. Despite being into her 70’s, Helen Clark is still very active in New Zealand and international affairs. In July last year she was elected as one of the three presidents of Chatham House (the Royal Institute of International Affairs), an independent policy institute. Each year the Chatham House Prize is awarded for “significant contribution to the improvement of international relations in the previous year”. Coincidentally, in 2005 the winner of the inaugural prize was President Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine, who happens to feature on page 111 of this issue. Being in her 70’s hasn’t stopped her either. Helen Clark still relishes her time in the great outdoors and this last New Zealand summer was posting online about hiking various trails in New Zealand. In this interview she talks about successful leadership, effective gifting to charity, the structure of the UNDP and landing a role at the UN. We also include a short section from the Afghanistan section which we published last time around, for we think it’s worthwhile to reveal how Helen foresaw the inevitable.
Helen Clark on leadership and networking
the United Kingdom have any influence upon you in New Zealand?
Whilst Margaret Thatcher and you were Prime Ministers at the opposite end of the political spectrum and she was a generation older than you, did her Prime Ministership of
Margaret Thatcher would never have seen herself as a feminist. She played a different game and probably would never have got to the job if she hadn't. She was seen as a rather obviously strong personality, who 24
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
managed to get her way. She was my father’s generation and didn’t operate the way the baby boomers or the way the young woman leaders of today operate, who are saying, of course, that we're feminists.
You served three terms as Prime Minister and were Leader of the Opposition for several years before that. What do you think enabled you to lead first your party and then the whole of New Zealand for so many years, particularly when two other female Prime Ministers, namely Julia Gillard in Australia and Theresa May in the United Kingdom, encountered so many difficulties from within their own parties, let alone nationally, and both of whom were Prime Minister for three
I think from a feminist perspective, it's good that she was there, because it showed that a woman could take the job. But she didn't provide a particular role model because of the differences in style and political tendency.
Traveling from Mogadishu Airport to the city for talks, Somalia, 2016 Photo courtesy of Helen Clark
25
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
years, compared to your nine years in that position?
It's better to under promise and over perform than the other way around. I think citizens and the business community like certainty. They want to know what the operating environment is.
Well, firstly, I was the leader of the party and leader of the opposition for six years before I became prime minister. I think that gave me time to put my stamp on the party’s leadership. In the case of both Theresa and Julia, they came in with convulsions, in Theresa's case, the loss of the Brexit referendum, which was clearly a shock to
They may not particularly agree with this or that, but you do it and if you can give them the certainty, you can also take away a lot of avoidable criticism. I adopted an approach which said, we'll do what we say and say what we'll do. People saw we kept our word, that we followed through, that we were predictable and that was very important to a long life as prime minister.
David Cameron, so he left. With Julia, she challenged for the job, she had never previously led the party. While I think being Leader of the Opposition for six years is like water torture, it does enable you to sort of overcome a lot of the innate resistance, as when you become a leader, there's always winners and losers, someone else wanted the job and you have to push your way in. I experienced that because I challenged for the job of leader of the party and therefore leader of the opposition, and it takes a long time to get over the resentments that leaves behind.
As you mentioned, you challenged for leadership of the party and then there was a need for relationship building. What advice do you have for people in terms of relationship building in tough situations? I think once you’re in a tough situation it's almost too late to build the relationships. You have to build long term relationships, for both good times and the bad, with people who believe in you and will stick by you. First and foremost, that's generally family and the network of friends you’ve long held, but to be successful in any organization, including a political party, you need strong networks.
I think my six years as leader of the opposition was effective for me, in that people got used to seeing me in a leadership role and by the time I became prime minister, there wouldn't have been much doubt that I could do the job, whereas they [Julia Gillard and Theresa May] were both catapulted in. I think that's one of the differences.
I joined the party in 1971 and it was 10 years until I became a member of parliament in 1981 and then another 18 years until I became prime minister. By the time I became Prime Minister, I had been around a long time. I had been president of the youth wing, I was on the party executive, I had travelled and spoken all over New Zealand, I’d helped electorate organisations with candidate selection, so I had huge networks and followings.
The second point - and I don't want to make this point as a reflection against either of them, because the circumstances are different - I came in against a period in New Zealand politics of about 15 years duration where the government had been seen to promise one thing and do another. That applied through the six years of the Labour government and the following nine years of the National government. People were just about giving up hope that politicians will keep their word.
I think what you've said there, is invaluable for other women, because I’ve heard several people complain about the old boys’ network 26
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
et cetera. But actually, it shows all of us can build networks throughout our entire life, whether it’s through school, university, work, sporting clubs, even a church, temple or mosque. Of course, LinkedIn and Facebook are a brilliant way of getting back in touch and rebuilding connections with people. So I think it’s important to emphasise what you’ve said about building networks.
You know, one can sympathize with the Americans for wanting out after almost coming up to two decades after 9/11. But you have a sinking feeling that you're doomed if you do and doomed if you don't, because a rapid exodus well, would see quite a rapid return to the Taliban, even if the government could hang on Kabul and a siege. So, all of this has huge implications for women because the Taliban period was so shocking. And we've all read the books, right? The Sewing Circles of Herat and all these incredible books written by and about women who have tried to cope in these very, very difficult times. And, you know, many have experienced something better from the last 20 years. But as I saw in these very poor and marginalized communities in just this one part of the country, even the last 20 years hasn't changed anything much for a lot of families. So, it's a very, very long haul. And when you say what can we do, I think,
Yeah, absolutely. Because that's what's going to stand you in good stead in the end. And as I say, at the point of crisis, it's too late to build.
Helen Clark on withdrawal from Afghanistan and the impact on women and girls I follow these talks with the Taliban. [editor’s note – this interview was on 1 March 2021 before the Taliban recaptured Afghanistan]
Helen Clark on a field visit to Equatorial Guinea, 2017 Photo courtesy of Helen Clark
27
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
In a Nepalese potato field Photo courtesy of Helen Clark Photo credit Jane Harries
on a human level, just supporting whatever organizations working to support girls being able to finish their education, and women having access to family planning, support for women, as small entrepreneurs, whether it's on the farm or a bit of land, or in the market. This is incredibly important. And certainly, I found the woman's market story very empowering.
when he gave numbers on the percentage that goes in bribes in various countries] but are there any particular charities where you'd say that our donations would go a really long way to help women? Yes, there are there are many. I obviously worked within the UN system, so I'm very familiar with the work of UNICEF and the UNFPA [formerly the United Nations Population Fund] for women's sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Helen Clark on supporting causes
When women flee to a refugee camp, it's UNFPA parcelling up dignity kits for the menstruating women and working on the issues of period poverty, which keeps a lot of girls out of school and stops them from completing their education, as they can't go while they're menstruating because they have no menstrual hygiene products.
I know that unfortunately bribery exists in a lot of places, in a lot of countries [Editor’s note for readers – Bob Geldof of Live Aid and Band Aid fame, confirmed this during a question and answer session following a presentation at the Royal Geographical Society attended by me a few years ago, 28
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Menstruation sadly, in a number of places is seen as a marriageable age as well.
core causes that do things, there’s a lot active in the economic empowerment space.
There are a number of good UN agencies and there’s a number of others too. Plan International has been a very well-run organization, working on opportunities for girls. I was also very impressed with what World Vision was doing in a very quiet way in western Afghanistan. Save the Children is another.
In fact, one story I found very poignant is Richard Branson's mother - who died of COVID in the course of the pandemic. She’d been to Morocco with him [in the late 1990’s] and was so moved by the women, she formed a charity creating opportunities. Everywhere you look, someone's trying to do something, right. And it's very important, you know, that this kind of work is very much codesigned and led by those it's intended to support, so it doesn't come across as patronizing, but something that meets needs and gives support that would be meaningful.
And then there's just so many good charities doing very specific things like that wonderful man Denis Mukwege in the Democratic Republic of Congo in Goma who does the surgical repair work on the girls and women who've been so damaged by rape, and other organizations which support local organizations to work to eradicate female genital mutilation. There's countless good
So not a white saviour concept, but instead doing valuable work for the people on the ground.
Helen Clark with school children in Khumjung, Nepal Photo courtesy of Helen Clark
29
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
That's right. People know what they want. It reminds me that one of the things I’m patron of is the Himalayan Trust, which was started by Sir Edmund Hillary. A lot of people climb a mountain and walk away, that's it. But Ed was very moved by the lives of the Sherpa men who supported his expeditions. He wanted to do something that would change the lives of their communities, so he went back and he consulted. He asked, “What do you need?”
And they said, “our children have eyes, but we cannot see, we cannot read. We need a school. We need health care.” In May 2019 I went walking for 12 days in the Sagarmatha national park area, where Ed’s trust is active to this day with schools, health clinics and tree planting to arrest deforestation. Talking to the first doctor who went into the first hospital that Ed had raised money for I asked, “what were the problems that you encountered?”
De Kami Temba and Helen Clark, at Khunde Hospital, Nepal 2019 Photo courtesy of Helen Clark
30
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
He said, “TB was rife. Secondly, chronic iodine deficiency syndrome.” That can have a range of impacts, but the most severe is severe limitation of IQ. It can also be associated with deafness and being mute. They started adding iodine to the salt and that early public health intervention made a difference.
staff I met who'd risen to the level of being their country representative, had come out of nursing. You also come across a lot of lawyers in different parts of the UN and come across people with good development degrees, economic degrees. The UN and the agencies’ recruiting vary widely across the skill set. The jobs are very competitive.
As Ed did, you ask “What do you need”? You go back to hierarchy of needs and to being able to have access to basic health care and knowledge - clean water, sanitation, schooling for children and young people.
There is also of course the need of having a diversity of appointments. An international agency can't just have senior teams from the north, agency staff has to look like our world. In UNDP up until and including the time I was there, we were very structured about this. The administrator, which was the top job, with one exception, had been a person who was a citizen of a developed country. So I was from New Zealand, there had been a string of Americans, one British, the only exception was Kemal Dervis who had a Turkish parent. The deputy was always drawn from a developing country to get balance. We had nine departments, five of them being regional ones. The practice always was up to including my time that the head of a region’s department came from the region, such as an African for Africa. The four other departments, which were management, external relations, policy and crisis management had someone from a northern developed country. So that was the balance, it did look like our world looks.
Fascinating that something as simple as iodine in the salt can prevent so much suffering. Very much. What tips do you have for anyone who might want to work for the United Nations or another global organization? It depends on the level that people are going in at. I went in sort of at the top. I’d been a Prime Minister and I made a bid for one of the top positions in what was the lead agency at that time in the UN Development System and I had the support the New Zealand government [now the other main party]. If you're going for the top jobs, you must have been very senior elsewhere and your government must support you.
At the levels below you also always look for diversity. Ban Ki Moon when he became UN Secretary General [2007 – 2016], wanted gender diversity, he wanted to increase the proportion of women at every level, so gender was important and geography was important too.
But more normally, people will come into a career position rather than a politically appointed position such as the Secretary General or a position elected by the member states. For a professional position, the bottom line is generally a master's degree, so people need to get their education. I think it's good to come in with experience, so you can show you've been able to succeed in something else, which could be any range of things. In UNICEF for example, many of the
It's good to know that if you work hard and you're successful, regardless of creed, colour, or anything like that, there's possibilities for people from all over the world. Yes. 31
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Helen Clark on hard work and resilience
will help to see you through challenging times.
Now, is there anything you think the readers of Adventure She magazine should definitely know about you, that might inspire them to go out and be their best selves?
Helen Clark on Learning From Each Other My friends told me, “If she asks you, why do you want the interview, what will you say”?
I think a lesson I've taken from life is that success is seldom something that comes quickly or easily. It's something that has to be worked for. So if you're going to pursue a career that you hope is going to get you to the top, whether that’s the top of a mountain or on top of your occupation, it will take a lot of planning, it will take time, it needs stamina and lots of resilience, because you will get a lot of knocks along the way.
I replied “I think it's important to learn from others. She’s done so much amazing stuff, been in so many roles, we need to learn from her”. So thank you so much for agreeing to do this interview so we can learn from your experiences. Well, I've always believed that you should tell it as it is, when you can. People often look at you in these top jobs and they think, they just assume, maybe it was all easy that it just all fell into place. That’s almost never the case. You have to really work at these things. So injecting that note of reality and the inevitability that you will take knocks along the way, I think is quite important. But the optimistic thing is, you can overcome them.
For some people those knocks are just so devastating that they go and do something that wasn't where they originally hoped to be. It's really finding the skills to overcome the inevitable knocks and challenges and to keep your eye on the bigger prize, because plenty of other people want to be at the top of these things, too. So this is a test of will and determination in a way. Remember to keep your networks and relationships, that
You can follow Helen Clark on these social media channels Instagram: @helenclarknz Twitter:
@helenclarknz
Facebook: @helenclarknz
32
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
an
www.adventureshe.com
Helen Clark posted this photo on her Instagram account on 29 May 2021, together with an update on the invaluable work the Himalayan Trust @himalayantrustnz which was founded by Sir Edmund Hilary, who is pictured on this bank note, is doing in Nepal.
33
Photo courtesy of Helen Clark
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Afghanistan, Women and Triathlon By Jackie Faye Photos courtesy of Jackie Faye
Leadership. It’s tough enough when times are easy. But what about when times are tough? What about when you’re based in a country where the culture is so different to your own? What about leadership when getting bombed is a distinct possibility? Do you lie low, or do you try to lead those who are so often subjected and treated as non-entities? In this article Emmynominated journalist Jackie Faye shares with us her experience of step by step leading Afghan women into the world of triathlon. 34
Learning about these children has really made the Adventure She team
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
December 11, 2019 – The sounds of guns and bombs go off outside my window. It’s normal but this morning seems a little closer. The alarms repeat, “ground attack, take cover.” It started as I was getting ready for the gym – it must have been just before 6 am. I wonder if anyone else training for an IRONMAN had their workout interrupted by an explosion. Probably not. And I can only think of two women who can actually relate. I think someone died. That was my journal entry as the Taliban attacked right outside the gate where I lived nearly three years ago. During the previous four years I had worked in Afghanistan I had heard my fair share of IEDs and rockets, but this was the worst. At least two people were killed, another 80 injured. Mostly civilians. I was locked in my room for 16 hours.
She was diagnosed the year after my father retired from the U.S. Air Force, the year after she got everything she had worked the previous 20 years for – a dream house, a great job, and family was close by. My fourth-grade year was a blur. One morning I do recall, I was waiting on the school bus as my mother was screaming in pain. My father had already left for work and I did not know what to do. Should I stay or should I go? I saw my mom’s caregiver pulling into the driveway and, as we both yelled, “I love you,” I went to school. Those would be the last words I heard from her.
It’s odd when the sound of bullets and bombs doesn’t faze you anymore. It was not always that way. I remember the first time I heard an explosion in January 2016. That time the Taliban had attacked the Italian Embassy in Kabul. I was outside at the bazaar and quickly ran for my body armor, but in December, I felt nothing, and actually walked outside, towards the sound, to see what was going on.
The next time I saw her was in the Intensive Care Unit at Greenville Memorial Hospital in South Carolina. I was scared, but looking back, I imagine my mom must have been scared too.
How did I get here?
Unable to talk because of the tubes down her throat, she attempted to give my sisters and I a note, but the doctor had put the intravenous needle on the hand she wrote with, and it would bleed each time she tried. I’ll never know what she wanted to tell us and I hated that doctor for not knowing my mom was left-handed.
When I think of the most impactful moments in my life, I think of my mother. I remember the day she came home and my life changed forever. With tears in her eyes, she just kept saying, “I don’t want to leave my babies.” As a nurse, my mother must have known the cancer was bad.
Just ten weeks after she told us she had cancer, she died. I was 9 years old. 35
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
I knew then how delicate life can be, but as a child I hardly ever spoke about her death. I just wanted to be normal and threw myself into sports and school.
scored the winning goal, the crowd went wild. The image of her on her knees was seen across the world. I thought, you know what, I want to be just like her, after all, I could see myself in the fellow blonde. I even decided to wear Chastain’s number as I played soccer in high school. By my senior year, I was captain of the team.
I loved the outdoors and would often spend hours hiking through the woods, swimming in the creek that ran alongside our house, or getting dirty anyway I could. I’d always go to the neighbor’s house to borrow their hose to rinse off before I went home, so I would not get in trouble.
As an adult, I look back at my childhood and realize how important sports were in my life. I feel lucky for the role models sports provided me, and I’m super thankful for the women who came before me and pushed boundaries so I could play. Sports taught me how to win and more importantly how to lose, they taught me how to never give up, and they taught me that mental strength is just as, if not more important than physical strength.
At 13, my childhood best friend, Heather, had convinced me to play soccer, but there was no girls’ team at the middle school. Thanks to Title IV in the United States, we both played on the boys’ team, but Heather broke her collar bone within the first week of practice leaving me as the only girl. That earned me the nickname G.I. Jackie long before I work in a warzone.
I have never been naturally good at anything, but I outworked everyone else, and I’m not scared to take risks. I realize that every day is a gift.
That summer as I was preparing for high school, the U.S. women’s soccer team was playing China in the World Cup.
Fast forward to 2014, I made a few goals before turning 30. I wanted to move to New
The scoreless game went into overtime and then penalty kicks. When Brandi Chastain
36
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
York City, obtain a master’s degree, and finish an IRONMAN.
princes in Africa emailing you, but I responded and it was legit.
I made it all happen with six days to spare. My 30th birthday is the happiest day of my life to date.
Thinking this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, I packed up all my stilettos and put them in storage, strapped on a pair of boots, and in December 2015, I boarded a military plane headed to Southeast Asia.
As I was living in Manhattan, working as a freelance journalist and fitness instructor, out of the blue I got an email about an opportunity to work in Afghanistan on multimedia projects for the military. At first, I thought it was a scam. Like one of those
Kabul was the first time I had been exposed to a culture where women for the most part did not participate in sports, something I simply could not imagine living without.
37
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Sports for women in Afghanistan was seen as taboo.
Some weeks I’d travel with 4-star generals and ambassadors, others I’d be sleeping in the field on a cot for weeks, eating only local food and MREs (meals ready to eat). The experience was fascinating, but it made me realize how complicated the world is and how complex problems become when compounded with a dangerous situation and poverty.
I thought about how they had played such a vital role in my own life and thought if anyone needed sports it was Afghan women. I started doing research on the topic and found an article detailing the inaugural Marathon of Afghanistan. One Afghan woman finished. She trained for the 26.2mile race by running in her own backyard.
In my work alongside the military, I also saw that women had few advocates. Although I am a firm believer that men can advocate for women and vice-versus, I realized even the most well-intentioned person can never truly walk in someone else’s shoes.
I would tell her story of perseverance in the years that followed in my own fitness classes. Later, in 2017, I was promoted to working at NATO Headquarters in Kabul as their inhouse journalist. It was a dream job, but as a woman I did not always fit in.
I also saw different expectations for men and women at work. To bring awareness to this issue, I freelanced a two-part series about the double standard. It later got nominated for an Emmy.
The Lieutenant Colonel in my office who went on to be a spokesperson at the Pentagon, used to joke that I did not look military enough. He'd look so disappointed when I'd wear my long blond hair down with a flowered print shirt. Shaking his head, he would exclaim, "Your backpack has kidnap me written all over it."
But apart from awareness I wanted to do more. I wanted to see more women at work and I wanted to see more women in leadership roles across all sectors – from the military to politics to business. I saw how it was usually men who sat around the negotiation table and I saw how this left the interests of women behind.
But they couldn't kick me out because I bought them back the best stories. Despite not looking the part in their eyes, I did a good job.
I thought about the social change I wanted to create. I wanted more women at the table. I knew just how to do it. I would use the tool that had empowered me personally – sports. I decided to start an organization called She Can Tri, and to launch it I would attempt to do something no woman had done before – six IRONMANs on six continents within one year.
It did not take long for Generals and Colonels to ask for me by name, to come cover different stories for their units. Once a British Brigadier even sent a Puma, their version of the UH-60 Black Hawk, to come pick me up. The man working at the flight line ran into the waiting area and said, "Ma'am, your helicopter is waiting." Taking a helicopter to an assignment was nothing out of the ordinary, it was as common as taking a taxi in the U.S., but my own private flight, that was a first.
As I was training for my own races in Kabul, I came across women runners in Afghanistan once again. I started connecting the dots and realized the group was with Free to Run.
38
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
39
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Free to Run was also behind the Afghan woman who ran the marathon that I had read about years before. I started volunteering for the group – helping them organize some trainings. Running with the Afghan women became part of my own IRONMAN training and once I landed the world record in June 2018 it was a no brainer what was next. All girls need a role model She Can Tri was going to take on a challenge no one else had tried before. We were going to train the first women triathletes in Afghanistan. In January 2019, we recruited four women to take the journey with us. This was daunting for a few reasons: •
• •
None of the athletes knew how to competitively swim or cycle. We had no equipment. We had no funding.
Furthermore, the Taliban had destroyed many pools in Afghanistan and at the time only two pools in Kabul allowed women. They were both expensive, especially when you consider most Afghan women don’t work and the ones that did, were lucky to take home a couple hundred dollars a month. Also, if a woman was menstruating, she was not allowed in the pools at all. If a woman was caught swimming on her period, she’d be fined. In case you’re wondering, tampons are not typically sold in Afghanistan.
40
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Bravery She Can Tri organized and coordinated trainings within Afghanistan and also organized training camps in the UAE and Spain for the Afghan women.
Some Afghans also think that women who play sports are bad girls. The Afghan women who decided to train with She Can Tri were truly brave, pushing not just physical, but societal boundaries, and challenging the status quo surrounding what roles women could and should play in society.
Late 2019, I took a two-month hiatus from my job so I could train with the top two women full-time. The women also badly needed nice bicycles, so I flew two road bikes into Afghanistan from Dubai. I lived in a house in Kabul with Afghan guards. We swam in the local pool together and we rode bicycles down the street in the early morning hours. We also all ran the Marathon of Afghanistan in Bamyan.
I knew from my own experience that when one woman breaks down a barrier, others follow. I thought of Brandi Chastain and how just seeing her win a game for her country had encouraged me. I thought Afghan girls need a role model too.
In February 2020, after a year of training, we took Zahra and Zeinab to compete in an international competition – IRONMAN 70.3 Dubai.
I also thought of my mother and knew as crazy as what we were trying to do was – you really do only live once. 41
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
I knew just getting to the starting line was an amazing accomplishment. Literally, these women had gone from holding hands and counting to three before going below the water in a pool, to running full force into open water and swimming more than a mile.
women went on to earn scholarships to study in the United States. The Taliban Takeover I left Afghanistan in May 2021 knowing I would welcome Zahra and Zeinab to the United States a few months later.
When Zeinab made history as the first Afghan woman to finish an IRONMAN event I was beyond proud. She completed a 1.2-mile (1.9 km) swim, 56-mile (90 km) bike, and 13.1mile (21.1 km) run. The video of her carrying her country’s flag across the finish line was seen far and wide.
Zahra landed on August 11 as the situation was quickly deteriorating, but nothing could have prepared me for the news of August 15. On that infamous day I woke up in my condo in Austin, Texas, to find alarming messages on my phone. Hours earlier Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani had fled his country and the Taliban had taken control of the capital. The pictures of the Taliban flag over the government buildings in Kabul were chilling.
Remember my journal entry about the bombing, how I thought someone had died that morning and how I wondered what other triathletes lived under the threat of bomb attacks, for I only knew of two others? Those two triathletes are Zahra and Zeinab, She Can Tri’s top two Afghan athletes and part of a cohort who are true leaders. Both 42
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
And what about Zeinab. Was she still there? Why in the world would her flight to the U.S. fall on the very first full day the Taliban controlled her country, I don’t know, but on Sunday, August 15, I feared she would be stuck in Afghanistan and trapped under strict Taliban rule.
not even for hundreds of dollars. Our She Can Tri driver was also too scared to go and I don’t blame him. In a plea of desperation, we called the uncle of another one of our athletes, he mercifully agreed. Here is a summary of our conversation five hours later, 6am Kabul. It has been consolidated for clarity.
On Monday, at 1am Kabul time, I texted her, “As time passes it will get less safe, not more, I think maybe you should go to the airport, the worst thing that will happen is the Taliban will send you home, they will not hurt you, I’ll reach out to people I know on the ground first thing in the morning.”
Zeinab: Jackie Faye, I am going forward to the airport. Please let’s do our strongest push in this country. JF: I am with you on your journey – I will see you soon Zeinab jan [see foot note next page].
Zeinab agreed she would be brave. She would travel through the Taliban checkpoints and find a way to get out. Easier said than done. No taxi would drive her to the airport,
Zeinab: We are at the airport.
43
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
JF: Good, can you get inside?
could not fly, except one. He watched over Zeinab and made sure she got on board.
JF: I have called an Italian Special Forces Officer. Stay with me sweet girl. You will be okay.
She was told she could not take any bags, but this kind Turkish diplomat helped her sneak one on. She lost the one with all her sports equipment. Her bicycle obviously did not make it either.
Zeinab: Okay. JF: I need to know exactly where you are, but the officer says to go to the East Gate, that he is not sure if he can get on the runway. Send me a full-length body picture.
Once on the plane, they tried three times to take off, but could not because so many people where on the runway. U.S. Marines were firing gunshots in the air and finally started a fire to clear the people.
Simultaneously, I was speaking to the Italian officer, I sent him her passport, visa, picture, location, and phone number. Then silence for about 20 minutes. I knew the e officer must be near the airport gate. But there were also jammers there. He‘d probably lost cell phone service. I told Zeinab to go to the East Gate - it was an hour away, then he messaged me stating he was by departures.
Zeinab: We are moving. I think we are taking off. JF: We did it. I told you I would see you soon. After landing safely in Istanbul, Zeinab caught the rest of her flights to the United States. In tears, I said, “Welcome to America.”
JF: Stop! He is near departures. What’s Next For 30 nerve wracking minutes my phone was silent. Though safe in my Austin condo, I’m pretty sure I was a crying mess, such was my fear for Zeinab. Then a message.
She Can Tri is still working to get several of our staff members out of Afghanistan as well as continue to support women athletes in the country.
Zeinab: I am with the officer. For some time She Can Tri has dreamed of Zeinab taking part at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship, in order to show everyone what Afghan women are capable of doing. This is no longer a dream for its official, later this year Zeinab will be doing exactly this, she’ll be taking part at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships.
JF: Thank God. The Italian officer spoke to the Americans controlling the crowd and they let her pass so he could escort her to a chartered plane, but yet another problem. The plane was only for Turkish diplomats and Afghan government officials. Every Turkish diplomat said she
Jan (Persian: جان, pron.: Jaan) is the Persian word for soul. It is also used as a diminutive suffix attached to names and titles, and in this case, it means "[my] dear". 44
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
45
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
About Jackie Faye Jackie Faye is an activist, journalist, and entrepreneur. Currently, she lives in the Netherlands and works on the public affairs team at NATO. Jackie previously worked as a journalist alongside NATO troops in Afghanistan from 2015 to 2021. From NATO's Headquarters in Kabul, she launched her non-profit, She Can Tri. The organization is dedicated to empowering women who are the greatest in need and hold the most potential for positive change through sports. In 2020, they made history as She Can Tri's Zeinab became the first Afghan woman to finish an IRONMAN branded event. To launch She Can Tri, in 2018, Jackie became the first woman in the world to do six IRONMANs on six continents within one year. Also, in 2018, her two-part series about the double standard for women in the U.S. Marine Corps was nominated for an Emmy. She holds an MA in Business Journalism from Columbia University and went to Georgetown University's Institute of Political Journalism. She earned a BA in Broadcast Journalism from the University of South Carolina. She is also the founder and CEO of One January. The ethical apparel company based in Austin, Texas, makes activewear from recycled plastic and donates $1 for every $1 it makes to give sport and leadership opportunities to women impacted by war and poverty, truly changing the perception of what women can do worldwide! Jackie is available for online programs, media interviews, podcasts and keynotes on the following topics: women in innovation, women in high performance, and using sports as a vehicle for social change for yourself and others. Please email marketing@onejanuary.com to get in touch.
You can follow She Can Tri on these social media channels: Facebook:
@shecantri
Instagram: @shecantri Twitter:
@shecantri
Website:
www.shecantri.org 46
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
47
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
“By taking this journey, I knew I had accepted a big responsibility. I knew many girls are looking at us as their hope. There were times I was feeling really low for the challenging journey, but what has kept me going is thinking about other girls. I accepted this challenging journey to be a pioneer so that I can invite and encourage other girls to take challenges and push the boundaries”. Zeinab, Afghanistan 48
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Why triathlon? “To challenge myself and to show the women of my country that if they want something truly, they can get it.” Zahra, Afghanistan
49
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
What A Woman Award Feature As regular readers will know, for a while now in each issue of Adventure She we present a ‘What A Woman’ award. This award isn’t generally for someone featured elsewhere in the magazine. But this time around there’s no doubt that Jackie Faye deserves it for all her work helping women firstly in Afghanistan and now in Kenya too, for Jackie has recently run a program giving swimming lessons to girls from Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya, Africa’s largest urban slum. At the end of the swimming lessons the girls were sent home with food for their families. Jackie Faye, for your contribution to empowering women and girls, for your work in helping get Zeinab out of Afghanistan and for your work in educating and entertaining us, you are the latest recipient of our ‘What A Woman Award’.
50
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Adventure She Magazine’s April 2022 What A Woman Award
Jackie Faye Jackie Faye 51
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Hiking Mistakes By Jane Harries
52
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
We polled our Facebook group and asked what type of stories would you like to read? One of the most popular requests was stories about when things go wrong. Thing is, who’s prepared to put their hand up and admit to mistakes? If you are, please do let us know. Our editor has agreed to share the consequences arising from some of her hiking mistakes - probably in our next issue unless you get in there first and please do. Meanwhile here’s a story of mistakes and a very lucky escape.
53 Photo courtesy of Pixabay
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
H
igh up in the Rocky Mountains near Estes Park, Colorado, a youth hostel stood where once there’d been a homestead. There I sat on the terrace enjoying the sunshine of a late summer’s evening. Around me college students doing summer jobs and other backpackers, some from the USA, the rest from all over, chatted and played volleyball. I wished I had their aura, confidence and presence. They seemed so together. I on the other hand felt shy. I didn’t want to be shy, but I didn’t know how to be confident. I didn’t even know how to talk to the confident ones.
those red telephone boxes that used to pepper the UK’s landscape. So how then did I go from a shy 22 year old sat on the terrace, to three days later attempting a 14,000 foot peak in the Rocky Mountains, for that is one monumental leap. The answer is a man called Lou. Lou ran the youth hostel. Lou knew my capabilities better than I knew myself. Lou became my mentor. How did Lou achieve this? Lou created an environment where we all hung out together on the terrace. Secondly, he created an environment where everyone talked to each other and shared information. Finally, he created an environment that made us believe in ourselves.
Whilst others had come here to hike, I hadn’t. Though a mere 22 years old, I was here to look at the picturesque mountains whilst sitting on my bottom. Be that bottom on the back of a horse (I grew up horse riding), or on the seat of a bus, or on the steps of a terrace, it didn’t matter, my eyes and brain could savour the view whilst I sat on my bottom.
That’s how after just one night at the hostel, I ended up going on a hike. Lou knew of an epic stunning trail, perfect for beginners. He knew the weather forecast was good for the following day and, he knew the trail to and beyond Bear Lake (9,450 feet or 2,880m) was ok to do in tennis shoes (yes, smooth soled tennis shoes, not trail runners), for it was on a very well-maintained path, not quite a pavement /sidewalk, but very well constructed. Quite simply he knew I could do it. Besides the hike was being led by a park ranger. So the only remaining question was how to get there? Lou of course had the answer. Each day he drove his hostellers – sat in the back of his open truck – into town. The trailhead was on the way. All I needed to do was hitchhike back into town and be ready for Lou’s daily 5pm collection from Estes Park. Even that hitchhiking shouldn’t be a problem said Lou, for the only place the road went, was back to town.
You see I didn’t know the first thing about hiking. Apart from a few local day walks with my school, when we wore jeans, cotton t shirts and trainers, or the occasional stroll up what mountain people would call a hill, though us Pembrokeshire people called a mountain (all 300 metres of it), I’d hadn’t hiked. True I’d twice gone bike packing with friends, cycling along country lanes and the main road, whilst staying in youth hostels for a week at a time close to home, but I knew nothing of hiking, of kit and of mountains. Even those days spent cycling had involved wearing cotton socks, cotton fashion shorts not cycling shorts, and cotton tshirts. My diary of the first trip recalls the cold and our sheltering from the rain in a bus stop. My mind even remembers the three of us once taking shelter in one of
54
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
I loved the hike. I loved it so much, when the guide and the rest of the group turned around, I kept going, heading on to Mills Lake and Black Lake (10,630feet), only turning back thanks to the time and my way inadequate supplies for what turned into a 12 mile hike. In case you’re wondering, my grossly inadequate and inappropriate supplies comprised one small carton of orange juice, a diet coke and a packet of crips! Seriously! What! They had however been all I could muster from various vending machines at the hostel and trail head. What had I been thinking? No wonder I descended upon one of Estes Park’s fanciest ice cream shops later that afternoon and gorged on a variety of luscious creamy flavours, the richer the better.
14,259 feet Longs Peak. Lou warned of afternoon thunderstorms and warned them that if they were going, they needed to start hiking in the dark, to give themselves enough time to summit and get back down to the tree line before Colorado’s legendary high altitude afternoon thunderstorms hit. I had a total of 6 weeks to see as much as I could of the USA. I’d planned on a maximum of 3 nights in the Rocky Mountains. I was meant to leave in the morning. Somehow though I found myself being persuaded by the Australians to join them on Long’s Peak. What on earth was I doing? I was still clueless, I still only had tennis shoes and I still didn’t have the right clothes. I might have been fairly fit (I’d walked 5 or 6 miles every day to and from College of Law – like Law School – for the previous few months), but I wasn’t mountain fit and I certainly wasn’t used to uneven surfaces let alone massive mountains.
Back at the hostel, that night I was a different person. If I’d been a bottle of water, instead of being quiet, flat, still, I was now like a bottle of shaken up fizzy water with my cap newly opened. I felt effervescent. It was as though I’d turned into a geyser. Ok, only a small geyser, but still a geyser.
At 2.45 am I rose. 3am we were off in Y’s hired car. En route we noticed flags flying straight out and that was down in the valley. What would the wind be like once we got onto the mountain? 4.15 am and still dark, we started hiking. Up, up, up. Several times I contemplated giving in, for it was hard. But I didn’t. Instead, I found
That post hike high I was feeling, could however have been my undoing, for the following night two Australians (I’ll call them X and Y) decided to have a stab at the local 14,000 plus foot mountains, the
Sunrise over the Rocky Mountains as seen by the author from the slopes of Long’s Peak
55
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
me to do my first hike. I wish I’d written to Lou before he passed away, so I could have thanked him for his encouragement and for empowering me to hike, as opposed to just look at the mountains. Lou was a true empowerer of people, he assessed us and he guided us, stretching us without overstretching us. I really hope I can follow in Lou’s footsteps and help empower others to achieve their goals.
The author in 1989 - Happy but dressed totally inappropriately for hiking. Please do NOT copy.
my grove. I was enjoying this. Then after a few hours, X and Y called it a day. Scared I wouldn’t be able to get a lift back to town, or that if I got a lift it would be with a weirdo or worse, I turned around with them. The mountain didn’t make me turn back; it was my fear of having to rely on strangers that caused my retreat.
time we realised that we’d met before, in Estes Park. She was one of those confident Americans whose aura I wished I had! She and her husband live in Colorado and are mega mountain people. When I told her my Long’s Peak story, you should have seen her face. Her exact words were “you were lucky”.
Years later whilst on a trip to the Pyrenees I met an American women named Judy. We became friends. As friends do, they swap stories. Over
Reflections and lessons learned Looking back, I owe (the now late) Lou, for he’s the one who empowered
56
I also now realise it’s ok to be confident and it’s ok to be shy. After all, we’re all different. But confident people and shy people can be friends, they can play together, they can laugh together, they can be each other’s yin and yang. Besides, people can be confident in some situations and shy in others. If we’re kind to each other, we can help each other through the tougher times, just like when the confident volleyballers came up to me and asked me to join them. So, I guess the lesson I’ve learned is, if someone seems aloof, or standoffish, it might be shyness, so why not go up to them and ask them if they’d like to join in.
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
Saying yes to a game of volleyball is however very different to letting one be persuaded to attempt a mountain such as Long’s Peak. You guessed it, the ones to be wary of aren’t the shy, or the confident, it is those who overestimate their ability, like possibly X and Y, for looking at photographs of us during a rest stop on Long’s Peak, I see they too are dressed inappropriately. Yes, I owe them for turning back, but the reality is, none of us should have been there, for Long’s Peak has a lot of rugged terrain and also huge drop offs. Long’s Peak is a mountain where many
www.adventureshe.com
people have died, it’s neither a place for novice hikers nor inadequately dressed hikers. Instead, we should have asked others for their alternative recommendations, even gone to the tourist centre or the library to find out about more suitable trails for our ability and gear. That’s what I do now, I research the trails in advance and I choose the right one for the weather, amount of time I have, kit and of course ability. Way back then I had no idea what climbing a mountain like Long’s Peak involved. I
had no idea of the inadvertent risk I had put myself and the others in. I suspect they too had no idea of the risks. We’d been foolish and we’d been very lucky. That deliriously happy look on my face in the photograph, well that stayed for the rest of my time in the USA. But, with our inadequate kit and inexperience, had we continued further up Long’s Peak, that smile could most easily have turned into fear, doubt, despair, perhaps even the realisation that disaster had struck and death was imminent.
About Jane Harries Step by step Jane has learned about hiking, kit and food. She’s gone on to hike numerous world famous trails including the Inca Trail (Peru), Mount Roraima (Venezuela), High Atlas (Morocco), Abel Tasman, Routeburn, Milford, Kepler, Heaphy tracks and Tongariro Northern Circuit (New Zealand), Kakadu 10-day circuit (Australia) Camino Frances to Santiago de Compostela (Saint Jean Pied de Porte, France to Santiago, Spain), Annapurna Circuit and the Everest Base Camp Trek (Nepal). She’s also done the Marathon des Sables. During her time living in Australia (2002 to 2011) she won two gold medals at orienteering in the 2009 Australian Masters Games, with her teammate won the Open Women section of the Victorian Rogaining Championships in 2006 and with her two teammates was runner up in the Women Veterans section of the Australian Rogaining Championships in 2011. Whilst she remembers her early hiking days with much fondness, she definitely doesn’t recommend emulating her mistakes, for she freely admits a few were so bad, she’s lucky to still be here. You can follow Jane Harries on the following social media channel: Instagram: www.instagram.com/adventurebyjane 57
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Hiking Tips
By Harriet MacMillan Photos courtesy of Harriet MacMillan 58
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Whilst some hikers survive whilst doing everything wrong, others aren’t so lucky. At times even experienced hikers need rescuing through no fault of their own. Is there anything we can do to help ourselves, from falling and twisting an ankle, or from getting hypothermic, or even having a diabetic episode? In this article Harriet MacMillan shares some of her tips on hiking safely. It’s not intended to be an exhaustive list, after all each of us has a different level of experience and vary in our ability. If you’re an experienced hiker, we figure it can be good to remind ourselves of the basics. If you’re a newbie, we hope you will find this article to be of help as you start to explore trails. Our editor wishes she’d read an article such as this one, when she got into hiking.
Check the weather
temperatures up top, even if it’s hot down below.
I’ve said it before, I say it again, the weather is probably one of the biggest considerations of them all.
Rather than relying on just standard weather forecasts, checking the mountain weather forecast is a good idea. Mountain forecasts get broken down and include information about altitude, the wind, temperatures, ‘feels like’ temperature (which can be very different to temperature) and much more. There are a variety of sources including:
Check the weather forecast before you leave home and again if you stop enroute to the mountains. After all, you may not have an internet connection when you get into the mountains. Also, why waste all the time, money and effort in getting to the mountains, if the weather’s too bad to adventure? Plus, if you know the weather forecast, that can give you more information on what to take with you. If it's a warm day, even 20°C, extra water and sun cream could be more valuable than 2 extra jackets, a warm hat and a pair of gloves. Of course, if going up in elevation, go prepared for colder
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/s pecialist-forecasts/mountain www.mwis.org.uk https://www.yr.no/en (A Norwegian website, but this is a link to the English language version and their weather
59
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
forecasts aren’t just for Norway. I think their app is great).
A hat and gloves can make such a difference and they’re so lightweight why would you not have them? I love to use reusable hand warmers inside my gloves for super cold days, mornings or evenings, or even for when I might get generally chilly hands. So, you may want to try those. Remember a lot of heat is lost through the head, so don’t forget a warm hat in cold conditions, or even if it’s just going to be feeling cold on the mountain top. On warmer days, a sun cap and sunglasses for me are a must.
Kit Finding the right kit can be a very big challenge for a lot of people. I appreciate you may not want to spend much money to spend on kit, particularly if you’re unsure how often you’ll use it. I also understand lots of people can get really confused with all the jargon used by people and product manufacturers.
I like to imagine myself dressing like an onion, but not smelling like one. Lots of layers (less in summer, more in winter) things like base layers, fleeces and synthetic jackets. I always have an extra layer in my bag, just in case. In winter I can often be found in 5 to 6 layers on top.
So, when buying stuff, don’t be scared to ask shop assistants for their help. A lot of people working in reputable outdoor shops are keen outdoors people and will be happy to help you. Remember though, for the outdoors, purpose and fit are far more important than look. In the outdoors, it’s all about having kit that’s right for you and that includes being comfortable and functional. If in doubt, ask yourself “what am I buying this for”?
Why layers as opposed to one big jacket? One big jacket gives less opportunity to dress just right for the conditions, and can cause you to get too hot, too sweaty and then too cold because you’ve got wet with sweat. It can also be heavy and cumbersome to carry around if you don’t need it. So, one big jacket is definitely another no no.
Fabrics to use and to avoid Before talking about clothes, first a warning about cotton. Whether it’s rain, sweat, or condensation that causes cotton to get wet, once wet, cotton holds water and stays wet a long time. Cotton also conducts heat away from the body 25 times faster than air. So, I definitely avoid cotton, whether jeans, hoodies, t-shirts. socks, gloves, hats or something else.
Body - bottom Sporty trousers, leggings, fleece trousers, walking trousers (if it's really cold you can put thermals or long johns underneath). Again, leave your cotton sweatpants at home.
Fabrics like wool, wool blends (merino is good but can be expensive), fleece, synthetic jackets, can all be good.
Waterproofs These are different to water resistant. A waterproof jacket and bottom should be carried. These have two jobs, firstly they protect you from the rain and secondly, they protect from the wind and therefore
Please no cotton.
Head and hands
60
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Dressed in layers and wearing warm hats on a perfect blue sky but cold mountain day
wind chill (when the wind causes you to lose body heat).
different seasons. I’d rather have a pair of boots for a long time and get them resoled rather than buying lots of different boots (for environmental and comfort reasons).
Feet Walking socks - they’re usually slightly thicker and longer than normal socks. Trainer socks or thin socks especially if you are wearing walking boots, should be avoided, as they can cause hot spots or blisters. Of course, no cotton socks.
Again, a lot of choices out there, comfort in this area is very important, and therefore, if there were anything to invest in, this would be a high priority for me. Everyone’s feet are of course very different, so remember to buy what’s right for your feet, not what everyone else might have.
Comfortable walking boots with a good sole are a must for hiking. They can protect you from the elements, keep your toes warm and dry and most importantly provide ankle support.
Depending on where you’re hiking, you may also want to buy gaiters. These can help minimise mud, chippings, and other debris getting into your boots and causing
There are different types of boots for
61
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
A selection of well used boots
you to have to stop, take off your boot, get rid of the annoyance. They may also help protect you from other potential nasties like nettle stings.
really expensive, due to the fabrics and techniques used to make it. If you are planning for an overnight trip, travelling or expeditions, you will probably need a larger pack. A lot if not most avid adventurers end up with a few packs.
Rucksack This needs to be comfortable and easy to fit all of your kit in – you don’t want to be struggling to squeeze everything back in every time you grab a snack or take off a layer and want to stuff it into your pack.
Definitely try on a rucksack before buying, especially if buying a larger one for an overnight hike, as it’s essential you get the right size for you. Some bags come in different length sizes, with the size depending on the length of your back. Some also have a women’s specific fit with e.g., narrower shoulders. A reputable outdoor shop should be able to help you to choose the right pack for you and allow you to walk around their shop carrying the pack with a whole load of weight in it, so you can see what it feels like. If they can’t, try a different shop!
Rucksacks are measured in litres (L) (this is an easier way to account for pockets and unusual shapes. A 20 or 25 L rucksack would be a good place to start for a day bag for hiking in decent weather. If you were packing more including extra jackets for colder weather, you may prefer a 30L day pack. If you see some people carrying far smaller bags, they might be underprepared, or, they might have bought ultra-light kit which can pack up really small, and therefore be able to fit everything into a smaller bag. Good quality ultra-light kit can however be
Don’t let a pack’s colour put you off. Far better a pack in a colour you don’t like and which fits you, than the other way around. Also, if you do have an accident,
62
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
you never know, having a really bright pack could help others to spot you.
Dry bags in different sizes, material and colours Photo credit Jane Harries
Drybags We’ve all been caught out in the rain at some time. A sensible hiker is prepared for the rain and as well as wearing waterproofs, has the contents of their rucksack inside a separate a dry bag. Dry bags have a fold top which you roll over, preventing moisture from going inside. Some people choose to have a few dry bags, one for spare clothes, another for their first aid kit, another for food. They come in different weights, colours and sizes. Mind you, when I started, I only used a thick reusable shopping bag as my first ‘dry bag’ and I have to say it worked pretty well and lasted a while.
Don’t forget to take a small rubbish bag and to take all your rubbish home with you, be it apple cores, sandwich wrappers, or something else.
Food and water
Electronics
Fuelling your body right is super important, especially if you are out in the elements for a long time.
The main purpose of having your phone with you when out is to be able to make emergency calls. I always have my phone on flight mode to save the battery. Batteries don’t do so well in the cold - they can lose their charge quickly, so I either keep them next to my body (chest pocket) or in an insulated bag in my rucksack (wrapped in a jacket will do).
I like to take a reusable water bottle or flask with at least a litre of water (diluting juice or cordial is also good). I avoid diuretics and energy drinks. Depending on the weather, the toughness of your hike and the length of your hike, you may need a lot more water than 1 litre. In winter, I take a hot drink in a flask.
I also take a portable charger with me don't forget the charging cable. A lot of newer portable batteries are insulated, so if you’re looking for a present, this could be a good one.
For food, a morale boosting lunch - bring your favourite sandwiches – is key, as are a few extra snacks such as cereal bars or something with a mix of carbohydrates and protein. Trail mix is also good and you could always mix your own.
Lots of us use our phones to take those all important snaps. You can do this with your phone on flight mode but remember
63
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
to put it back somewhere warm. Also remember to watch the battery as taking photos and videos runs down your battery so much, you may not have enough ‘juice’ left should you need to make that emergency call – whether to help yourself, someone else in your group, or a stranger that you come across who’s in need of help.
Headtorch I keep my head torch in the dry bag in my rucksack and check the batteries before going out. I also take rechargeable spares. Light is measured in lumens (light brightness). Most torches have multiple settings, the brighter the setting the torch is on, the less time the batteries will last. I find 100-250 lumens is more than adequate for me (you’d want more for night time walking or navigation). Also, if you aren’t used to rough terrain, you may need more lumens than what I need, to feel comfortable. If inexperienced on rough terrain and rough paths, probably best to get used to them in daylight hours before attempting them at night. Far better to turn around early on your hike and get back safe, than continue on to a summit only to find yourself descending in the dark and way out of your comfort zone. If you are definitely going to need a torch, consider carrying a spare, in case the bulb goes, or it malfunctions in some other way. Best that your spare torch uses the same type of batteries, so you don’t need to carry two sets of spare batteries.
64
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Walking poles Some people choose to use walking poles. If you do, please be mindful of other hikers, especially on styles and in more crowded places, as walking poles can sometimes appear to take on a life of their own and ‘aim for’ other walkers’ eyes or face. They can however also be really useful, especially on rough and steep downhills.
Environmental considerations What can we do on an individual level when we are out? Use reusable water bottles and use natural alternatives to single use plastic or reusable containers for food Take all your litter away with you and recycle where possible. If you see litter, pick it up. Others will hopefully follow your example and if litter droppers see you and other hikers pick up litter, in time they too might be converted to litter pickers not litter makers. Don’t climb over fences, walls or other people’s properties (this could lead to damage). Don’t pick flowers, damage plant life (they could be endangered or protected) or collect seashells. Instead, practice the principle of ‘Leave No Trace’.
Animals Give all animals space, and don’t get in between young and their mothers. Keep your dogs on leads especially around sheep (sheep scaring / worrying is an offense). Dogs can cause immeasurable stress to sheep that can cause them
Headtorches in action
65
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Rubbish collected by our editor during only an hour’s hike on a local mountain walk Photo credit Jane Harries
injury, suffering or to lose their lambs. A farmer has the right to shoot a dog that’s sheep worrying, yep that’s right, keep them on a lead if you’re not sure. By law, on open access land in England and Wales, dogs MUST be on a lead between 1 March and 31 July, even if there’s no livestock in the vicinity.
This is such a great topic and should be discussed openly. When out we should take everything home with us, by that I mean sanitary items, toilet roll and poo when possible. Not only are they unsightly but they do have an impact on our environment. Remember to clean your hands before and after. You could use water and biodegradable soap, or ensure your hands are free from dirt and use hand sanitiser.
Some cows hate dogs. If a cow is coming for you and you have a dog on a lead, let the dog go, even if it’s between 1 March and 31 July. Cows can kill and have killed people.
Please pee at least 100 metres away from a water source (river, lake etc). That wasn’t a typo, yes, I really mean at least 100 METRES. Using toilet roll is one option or try using a reusable or biodegradable panty liner to protect your underwear. You can put any waste in a sanitary bag or poo bag (not food waste bag because they leak).
Do not feed any animals you may come across. They might be allergic to your food, or on a restricted diet. Also, animals can quickly start to expect food from people and might bite or otherwise attack responsible hikers who don’t feed them, if they have become accustomed to being spoiled by people.
Top tips (speaking from personal experience), as well as first checking that
The 3 P’s Pees, Poos and Periods
66
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
you are more than 100m away from a water source, check the ground isn’t too rocky (so you don’t get any splash back) and then when you squat, keep your feet wide apart and pull your trousers far forward so they don’t interrupt the flow or get wet.
inches. You can buy a lightweight trowel in camping shops that are designed for this specific purpose. Of course, even digging a hole and pooing in it does have an environmental impact, so if at all possible, carry it out, especially in a busy area where increased pressure from us humans magnifies our impact upon the environment.
For poo’s, if you’re out for the day it is worth trying to go to the bathroom before leaving home and / or, at some loos enroute to your hike.
An alternative approach that leaves less impact on the local environment, is to carry biodegradable dog poo bags (even if you don’t have a dog). Then you can poop where you need to, pick it up and carry it out. If needs be, you can always double or even triple bag the poop. It might sound disgusting, but lots of people pick up dog poop every day, so why not pick up our own poop and help keep our mountains at least as gorgeous as they currently are? Remember to also carry
If you must go during your hike, many books describe digging a hole with a trowel that is at least 6 inches deep and going in that. Before heading off on your hike, it’s worth marking your trowel with a line measured using a ruler, so when outside, you know exactly how deep 6 inches is. Remember 6 inches is the minimum and some suggest digging to 8
Let’s leave no trace, by leaving nature as we find it Photo credit Jane Harries
67
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Map reading and navigation skills are key skills to have, to get the most out of the great outdoors
out any loo paper you use. I personally use scented bags and double up on the bags.
Fortunately, we’ve had lots of positive changes in the period world, so if you aren’t happy or comfortable, there are now some options other than pads or tampons.
Once you’ve pooped and bagged, you can put your poo bag in a designated sealable waste container inside your backpack (I use very thick sturdy dog poo bags they’re cheap and environmentally conscious). If you have lots of side pockets to your rucksack, you could even designate one as your ‘poo pocket’. A designated ‘poo pocket’ can also be a good idea if you hike with a dog, who’s poo should of course also be bagged and carried out.
The introduction of menstrual cups and period pants means we don’t have to use pads or tampons when out hiking. Many of us still use sanitary items for various reasons and like poo, these can be packed out in dog poo bags and later binned. If bins are full or near full, please keep lugging your waste around until you find a bin with space, even if this means using a bin in your own home.
Tell someone else
We’re all different and that extends to periods. Some women appear to have no issues with periods, others can have a tough time. Some women get on with it when outdoors, others find dealing with a period outside can be a difficult one.
You should always tell someone capable and responsible where you are going, where you are parking and what time to expect you back.
68
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
It can also be a good idea to have the phone number of an emergency contact written down inside your backpack, just in case you are in an accident. After all, even if you have an ‘ICE’ (in case of emergency) number on your phone, if you have a fall and hurt yourself, your phone could get damaged, making it harder for emergency crews to get hold of your nearest and dearest.
meeting friends, make sure you arrange in advance at which park and ride car park you will meet. Also make sure you don’t miss the last bus back to your car. Whether you’re in a national park or somewhere else, please do not block gates and entrances, even if they appear to be unused, as access might be needed by the owner, or coastguard / mountain rescue or even the emergency services.
Parking Blocking entrances to farms, fields and lanes can also make for bad relations between locals and visitors. Remember, a farmer might be pulling a big trailer, so could need all of the area around the gate in order to turn the trailer through the gate. So, it’s more than not blocking the actual gate, it’s about not parking the vicinity of a gate when there’s an area cleared around it.
Last but not least, parking. Before you head off to the mountains consider where you can park and whether there is an option to lift share. Check whether there is a car park and do some research as to what time it’s likely to fill up. In some places car parks are full by 9am if not earlier, even in winter. Remember to take coins as well as a card, as payment machines may have been changed, or the coin slot / card reader might be out of action.
Navigation /map and compass Finally, finally, finally, this is a really big topic. That’s why I’ve written a separate article on it. Check out the December 2021 issue of Adventure She magazine to read that article.
Some national parks might not allow parking in popular spots and instead operate a park and ride system. So if
About Harriet MacMillan Harriet MacMillan is a mountain leader in the UK’s Lake District. She has worked in the outdoors for over 15 years and as part of an effort to increase female participation in the great outdoors, runs women led navigation and mountain skills courses. You can follow Harriet MacMillan on the following social media channels: Website:
www.navigationwithharriet.co.uk
Instagram: www.instagram.com/navigationwithharriet Facebook:
www.facebook.com/navigationwithharrietm
69
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Adventure Revolution
By Belinda Kirk Photos courtesy of Belinda Kirk 70
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Wellbeing. An oft used word, but how do we go about ‘wellbeing’ or being well? According to Belinda Kirk, founder of Explorers Connect, a not-forprofit organisation dedicated to helping people to live more adventurously, “adventure is essential to wellbeing”. This isn’t a blasé statement, thrown out on a whim, but one Belinda makes after spending over 25 years leading groups including youth development challenges, pioneering inclusive expeditions for people with disabilities and managing scientific research missions in the Amazon, Sinai and Alaska. During her time leading groups, Belinda has seen many participants change during their adventure. Once outside the Royal Geographical Society she was embraced by a middle-aged woman she’d never met before who exclaimed “what have you done to my daughter”? It was a good embrace. The daughter in question had transformed from a timed girl to a confident young woman during the group adventure.
I
Here Belinda shares some of her thoughts on the importance of believe we were all born to adventure. It’s as if we are on autopilot, with adventure in our life predictability and even boredom replacing It's in our DNA. Our bodies and minds uncertainty. We have become so unaccustomed to and even fearful of the unknown or unplanned, instead of seeing the boundless opportunities which come with each unique day, uncertainty can cause us feelings of anxiety. This can lead us to live less boldly, limiting ourselves by avoiding challenges, and underestimating what we can do.
evolved to live as hunter gatherers, with our ancestors having to be adept at improvisation, exploration, and opportunistic problem-solving. Their life was rife with uncertainty. It seems we’ve created modern lifestyles that counter what our mind and bodies are designed to do. Modern life is rule bound, routine and repetitive. The beep of the alarm. The stress of the commute. The rules of the road and the office. Check my teeth and hair before heading in for an unremarkable workday. After, get some exercise (maybe). Watch TV. Check social media (again). Eat, sleep, start again. Each day bleeds into the next.
Yet because of our innate need to belong, we continue to dutifully follow rules and conform, for we’re told that by behaving like this we can create efficiency and achieve success. I think we’ve somehow lost the balance along the way. We’ve sacrificed our freedom, in some cases our health (think heart disease, 71
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
cancer, diabetes, obesity, mental health), and our ability to embrace uncertainty, for the illusion of control and the chance of society sanctioned success. Of course, our ability to conform and follow rules does have advantages, after all its enabled us to build civilizations. But have we gone too far? As someone who has a tendency to over worry myself, I’ve used adventure as a respite from the constant pressures of the modern world and have discovered that I am most at peace when trekking through a dense jungle or facing the elements out at sea - times others assume I must have been most stressed. Instead, it’s during those moments I find myself enveloped in a feeling of calm and purpose. It’s my escape from chronic stress, and it’s my path to personal growth through what I call the ‘Adventure Effect’. Of course, before leaving on the adventure, there’s a million and one things to do, but as soon as one sets foot on the plane, sits on the seat of a bike or heads off with a full backpack, life immediately becomes so much simpler. Any nagging feelings dissipate and are replaced by something more exciting: the challenge, the unknown, demanding you to be alert, engaged, committed.
72
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
From my own selfdevelopment I knew adventures can be transformational and good for a person. But I wanted to know more, so I started reading scientific papers from a huge range of disciplines including adventure education, outdoor education, positive psychology, anthropology, tourism, evolutionary psychology and more. I first shared the idea that ‘adventure can change lives for the better’ by sharing stories of transformation with the Explorers Connect community. Then in 2016 I spoke to 500 people at Base Camp Festival laying out my ideas and trying to get others interested in the psychology of adventure. I started planting the seed that adventure is not frivolous but can in fact be life changing. I hadn’t intended on writing a book initially (Adventure Revolution, published in 2021). I’d been asked to write books before, memoirs mostly, about my extreme expeditions, but I’d never really fancied sitting down to do it. In fact, I wished someone else would write a book on this issue, but no-one did. So, Adventure Revolution became the book I felt compelled to write, as I felt I had discovered something worth sharing, that I had a message that needed to be out there, that I needed to share how adventure is essential to wellbeing. 73
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
It wasn’t easy to write. I had done a lot of research for it and I had interviewed a lot of people, but with everything going on including my expedition leading and then becoming a mum, I wasn’t giving myself the time and space to write the book. Covid took away the expeditions, it took away the Explorer Connect meetings, it took away my public speaking engagements. I know a lot of people suffered terribly during the pandemic, especially during the lockdowns when unable to see dying loved ones and my heart goes out to them. It really was awful. I was one of the lucky ones, because of Covid, I suddenly found I had this bank of time when I had to be at home, I actually had the time to sit down and write the book.
also meant leaving my comfort zone. It was painful at times, but in the end, it was worth it, because I believe it’s when we leave our comfort zone that we are at our most authentic, where we experience flow and joy, where we learn that we can deal with hardship and move forward, where we find that we can do more than we thought. Writing is much like an adventure. Looking at the book now, I wish I’d been able to read it 25 years ago, when I was starting out. I think it would have validated the choices I made. Going forward, my mission is to continue to spread this message via the book but also via my conference Adventure Mind. Adventurers, outdoor professionals, wellbeing professionals, international researchers, teachers and policy makers will meet at Adventure Mind 2022 to work out the next steps to getting adventure into education, urban planning and healthcare.
To write it though took resilience. But my adventures have taught me how to be resilient when needs be. Writing the book, into which I put my heart and soul and then letting it go into the world,
About Belinda Kirk Belinda Kirk is an explorer and a campaigner on promoting the benefits of adventure on wellbeing. For the past twenty-five years, she has led dozens of international expeditions and remote filming trips. Belinda has walked through Nicaragua, sailed across the Atlantic, searched for camels in China’s Desert of Death, discovered ancient rock paintings in Lesotho and gained a Guinness World Record for rowing unsupported around Britain. In 2009, Belinda established Explorers Connect, a non-profit organisation connecting people to adventure and has encouraged 30,000 people to engage in outdoor challenges. In 2020 she launched Adventure Mind, a conference which explores the positive impact adventurous activity has on wellbeing. You can follow Belinda Kirk on the following social media channels: Website: belindakirk.com also explorersconnect.com Instagram: www.instagram.com/explorerbelinda also www.instagram.com/explorersconnect
74
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
75
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Books Reviews Amazon Hitchhiker By Alycin Hayes Amazon Hitchhiker follows the author on her 1970’s journey overland from her home in Canada, all the way to southern Brazil at a time when backpacking was in its infancy. The author goes way beyond the usual tourist routes. In Costa Rica her experiences included sharing a room with a local woman who was quite possibly making her living by selling her body, hiking across rough mountainous terrain to stay with that woman’s family and being forced to eat the last food in a home as she was an honoured guest and not to eat it would offend her hostess.
fishing and more foraging of fruit), wild animals including Amazonian wild pigs which raided their camp and yellow spiders that burrowed their way into the author’s body, plus team ‘tensions’ – not ideal when you’re all literally in the same boat! A substantial part of the book is devoted to this journey which makes for fascinating reading.
In Colombia she joined other travellers and set off down the Putumayo River, a tributary of the Amazon, in “one old dugout canoe”, where they faced issues such as hunger (having expected better
If you’re interested in raw adventure, adventure at its most basic, then this book will certainly take you there.
76
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Where There’s A Will By Emily Chappell Reviewed by Caroline Powell
This book will inspire you to live your dream or at least to keep trying to. It describes the physical and mental journey of the author to train for and undertake the Transcontinental race of over 4000km across Europe.
her dear friend and training partner Mike Hall, chief instigator of the Transcontinental. Many other long distance cycle races are described and if like me you are fascinated by the capabilities and capacities of the extraordinary people who take on these challenges, you will find plenty of material in this book to engage and educate you.
Emily worked as a cycle courier and clearly built up amazing endurance and stamina, possibly without recognising so herself, whilst she discovered the joy of Audax’s 100 mile non-stop UK cycle rides. Eventually she competed in and won the Transcontinental race in 2015 and 2016. Her descriptions of the long hours of gruelling cycling, eating on the bike and sleeping momentarily in fields, ditches, bus shelters etc were so vivid, I felt as though I was on these journeys with her. Initially I felt she was very tough on herself and her achievements but through the book an appreciation of what she has achieved and herself belief starts to shine through. We learn of her close friendships with a small number of similarly inclined individuals and the tragic early loss of
77
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Mountain Biking From No Clue to Leader By Julia Stevens Photos courtesy of Julia Stevens
78
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Have you ever thought, I’d love to go mountain biking, but I don’t know where to go? Have you ever thought, I’d love to go mountain bike, but I’m scared, what if I fall off, hurt myself or the bike, and am stuck in the wilds? Have you ever thought, I wish there were others I could mountain bike with? Perhaps you have your regular cycling buddies, but what about when you’re on holiday. That’s where the likes of Julia Stevens comes in. For Julia’s one of a band of women who throughout the UK and lots of other countries too, have set up companies leading guided rides. This is Julie’s story, from being nervous, anxious and unhappy, to an inspiring hard core mountain biker.
Mountain biking – where do I start?! I haven't always been into mountain biking, or any kind of exercise. I 'dabbled' in running, I did a bit of biking, but it was on fire roads and for fitness only, rather than enjoyment. I love swimming but I didn't want people to see me in a swimsuit. Then in 2019 I lost 2 stone in weight. I knew I was heavy, heavier than I wanted to be and found that my clothes were getting tighter. I just didn't have the inclination to do anything about it. With two children, my busy cleaning job and home to keep, I was constantly tired. I had been given a voucher for Velocity 2 at Zip World (the fastest zip line in the
world) and as part of the process, you have to get on the scales. I was horrified at how much I weighed and although I didn't voice this at the time, in my head I made the decision to do something about it. My sister was attending Slimming World and was doing well so I thought I would give it a go. A friend of mine went and I tagged along with her. She didn't hide her annoyance when I lost a pound here or there, but in all honesty, that made me more determined to keep going! Who needs negativity? It was hard and some weeks it was frustrating when I either hadn't lost or stayed the same, but I persevered and eventually got to my target weight. It
79
was then a matter of trying to keep it off! I must admit, I felt amazing. I went to a birthday celebration and bought myself a fabulous new dress. In fact, my old clothes were all now too big, and I had to buy a size down. That felt incredible. I had more energy, confidence, was happier and I enjoyed looking at myself in the mirror. The only downside was, I was unfit! My husband has been a keen mountain biker for years and we wanted to give the children the opportunity to give it a go so we booked them on a mountain bike training course at Coed y Brenin. Through that I met one of the Breeze Leaders Gaynor. She explained
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
what Breeze was all about – it is biking for women only and for all abilities. They have Breeze leaders who specialise in road biking and leaders who specialise in mountain biking. Their website is www.letsride.co.uk/breeze and you can search for groups in your area. I had never heard of Breeze before, but quite fancied giving it a go. With Gaynor and Ieuan's (my husband) encouragement, I signed up for their next ride in the forest. I had very little mountain bike equipment. I did have a helmet, but no bike and I didn't have any 'sporty' clothing. I borrowed my husband's extremely heavy full suspension bike, gloves, and a pair of his biking leggings...
www.adventureshe.com
contact with today. I absolutely loved every minute of it and Becky who was another of the ride leaders stayed with me the whole time. I was given advice on how to position myself – in a nonpatronising way and other tips and hints too. I was hooked. We bought a second-hand full suspension bike, and I went on every Breeze ride at Coed y Brenin until 2020 when the pandemic hit. Through Breeze I even did ‘Rock n Roller' training, which was how to ride rocks. It was brilliant and certainly gave me the confidence to 'take them on'. As well as all the Breeze rides, I did some local rides – either by myself or with Ieuan.
On the day of the ride, I was absolutely terrified. I told my husband I wasn't going to go, but he managed to convince me to give it a go. I was so worried about slowing everybody down. As silly as it sounds, my other concern was sweating, which I do a lot of when I am hot. It makes me self-conscious. Also, I knew I’d met Gaynor, but I didn't know anybody else – would I fit in? Well, I did go, and I met some incredible people, most of whom I am still in 80
Now I bike as and when I can. I sometimes find I am apprehensive about going, maybe even anxious and don't want to go. But I know that if I go, I'll have a great time and feel amazing, so I make myself go. I am lucky to be able to ride from home and when I do, I generally ride by myself. I do have friends I can contact though if I fancy a ride and chat and if there's time, a coffee afterwards. During lockdown 2020, with the home schooling and the pandemic putting a halt on my little cleaning business, I felt I was sinking into depression. (I cleaned people's houses – I had 6 to do per week and I had built up a great relationship with
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
these people – most of whom relied on me not only for cleaning but for conversation.) I missed the social side and found it tough going out on the bike because I was at home with the children and they were too young to be left alone. My husband is a selfemployed Energy Consultant and his work had dried up. He managed to get a job with the local Job Centre but it was tough for us all. I needed a new focus. Ieuan knew how much I enjoyed mountain biking and riding with women. He suggested I set up a women's only mountain bike guiding business. Me, aged 44 setting up something new!
www.adventureshe.com
There are times when you ride and you feel invincible, other days, not quite so. Yesterday I felt like Superwoman so I took on two massive rocks and a gulley, all three of which I have avoided in the past.... Has anybody else got a Superwoman story to share? Julia Stevens
I knew though that setting up Trail Divas was right, as in my part of mid Wales I felt there just weren't enough 'women only' ride opportunities and with a woman guide too. I don't dislike men; I just prefer not to ride with them. It’s
not about competition, I want to ride with women who enjoy biking as much as I do. To ride, chat, enjoy ourselves, make new friends and just 'be', after all, we women don't always give ourselves that break away from the day to day humdrum of life. Firstly we came up with a name Trail Divas. I contacted Maisie, an incredibly talented local girl (aged 18) who came up with the fabulous logo. Carlos did the website and with constant Facebook advertising, I was off! I spoke to my friend Becky who was an outdoor instructor. She came to Machynlleth, and we went out riding, looking for suitable routes. They didn't always work out, but it was worth the time and effort. Becky was a huge support to me, and I will always be
81
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
grateful and thankful to her. Ieuan was also amazing. We sat and studied the OS Maps to put a couple of routes together, rode them several times to make sure they were rideable, then mapped them on the Garmin. We decided to grade it a red as there were challenging sections, yes women taking part need to have experience of riding and be capable of handling different terrain – rocks, grass, tarmac, steep ups, and steep downs. Day one would be a challenging 22 miles with a lot of uphill riding on fire roads, with an elevation gain of around 3,700 ft, though I think the views are well worth the effort and the feeling of achievement on reaching the top to be amazing. Day two was also going to be a challenge, with an option of some single track, but in terms of distance a lot shorter at approximately 14 miles. Although I had undertaken first aid training, the Fundamentals of Mountain Bike Training with Pedal MTB at Coed y Brenin, and my British Cycling’s Level 2 Mountain Bike Leadership Award (which allows you to lead rides), I didn't yet feel that I could lead a ride. Fitness had always been my big hang-up, so I contacted Al from Pedal MTB who put 82
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
83
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
me in touch with Kath Goodey from RideHigh MTB, a guide and coach based in North Wales. I agreed to Kath's prices, and she put the dates in her diary. Kath had the insurance, first aid training, knowledge of how to repair a bike if there were mechanical issues, preridden route information (including risk assessments) and the experience. I also had insurance so we were covered should anything happen. The first Trail Divas ride was so nerve racking, I wondered if I had done the right thing. Was I capable, was everything in place that needed to be in place, would everybody get on, were the participants capable of doing the routes? You just don't know until you do it. But I did it and this year I plan on doing the guiding all by myself - I can't wait.
www.adventureshe.com
Is life perfect now I’ve got into mountain biking? No. I am currently carrying an extra stone (14lbs) in weight after eating far too much and not exercising over Christmas, so my weight loss journey is not over. Plus sometimes, I talk myself out of going for a ride. Silly - isn't it – especially as like today I was grumpy when I left the house, found myself smiling on the ride and felt incredible by the time I got home. Still mountain biking has definitely brought me a lot of joy and pleasure, as well as new friends.
About Julia Stevens Julia and her husband moved to the market town of Machynlleth from London in 2002. They have wholeheartedly embraced their move and are proud that both of their children, who were born in Wales, are fluent Welsh speakers You can follow Julia using the following social media channels: Instagram: www.instagram.com/traildivas Website:
https://traildivas.co.uk 84
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
85
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
86
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Ultra Running Everest
By Vivian Lee Photos courtesy of Vivian Lee 87
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Vivian Lee epitomizes the step by step process to her adventures, with each big adventure seemingly tougher than the one before. On May 29, 2019, ultra-runner Vivian Lee became the first American woman to complete the Everest Extreme Ultra. Here she shares with us her experience from that incredible event.
The Race
The Trek
With its start line at Everest Base Camp (EBC), since 2003 the Everest Marathon is the world's highest altitude race. To commemorate the historical summiting of Mount Everest by Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Sir Edmund Hillary in 1953, in 2013, to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee 60th anniversary of the first Everest ascent, the organizer added a 60kilometer event.
Our group flew to Lukla Airport, which is rated one of the most dangerous airports in the world due to its precarious location and length. There we started on our 11-day trek to EBC. Because of EBC’s altitude of 17,515ft, the trek to EBC is a key part of the pre-race preparation. To give you a sense of how high EBC is, it’s worth noting that it’s more than 3,000 feet higher than the highest point of the entire
continental United States, which is Mount Whitney at 14,505 feet. In Dingboche village (which is almost the same elevation as Mount Whitney), our group doctor measured everyone’s blood oxygen level. Mine measured a “normal” level of 88. I am pretty sure that back at my sea level hometown of San Diego, this number could easily land me in an emergency room. Yet that was the state of my body at around 14,500 feet, where the air holds less oxygen than at sea level. As we’d climb, the oxygen in the air would reduce even more and by EBC there would be only 50 percent of the oxygen available at sea level. As we trekked ever higher, I definitely felt I was moving slower. Our highest point was Kala Patthar at well over 18,000 feet and so considerably higher than EBC. The hard work to make it to Kala Patthar above Gorak Shep, was however worth it, as there
88
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
were awe inspiring views of Mount Everest. Unfortunately, despite the 11 days we had to acclimatize to the higher elevations, several runners developed severe high-altitude sickness and did not make it to EBC. The Race For us ultra-runners, completing the 60 km race from EBC to Namche Bazaar meant running across Himalayan highland terrain, which cannot be found in any other race in the world and would involve crossing 5 high passes, Lobuje, Dughla, Pheriche, Nha La and Mongla, at elevations ranging from about 12,795 to 16,765 ft. So, whilst overall the race had more elevation lost than gained, it would still have several big, long, tough climbs. This was truly going to be a race like no other.
Photo opposite page: Lukla airport Photos this page: Top: Dingboche Middle: Lhotse with the cloud plume and Everest peaking from behind Bottom: Everest Base Camp – note how small the tents look next to the glacier (Everest the mountain is not visible) Next page: Dingboche
89
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
90
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
91
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Mount Everest
West Shoulder South Col
North Col
92
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
The first 2 miles of the race was surprisingly difficult as far as ground conditions go. While the Nepalese runners sprinted across the ice and boulders like Himalayan goats, most of us foreign runners formed a queue along a narrow and icy track full of rocks - we were running on top of a glacial moraine. We also had to be careful of the caravans of yaks, to which we had to yield, sometimes it took to 5-10 minutes for an entire “fleet” to pass.
www.adventureshe.com
Once the track widened, I attempted to run on some gentle downhills. Despite being downhill, because of the elevation being still over 16,500 feet, it was extremely laboring, boy did I feel in desperate need of more oxygen. Soon though I settled into a combination of a fast walk and slow jog as I continued on the long descent to Pangboche, some 14 miles from the start at EBC. The marathoners also ran the same course for these 14 miles to Pangboche. It was from Pangboche on, that 93
the real challenge started for us ultra-runners. While the marathoners continued the descent towards Namche along the Everest Base Camp trail with many villages and teahouses along the way, that was not the case for the ultra-route beyond Pangboche. We had to
Photo opposite page: View from Kalar Patthar Photo this page: Thukla Pass Memorial
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
The author, Vivian Lee
Nepali ultra-runners with author (third from left) at the start line
94
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
A yak on the race course
95
The race start at Everest Base Camp Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
about 12,795 to 16,765 ft
www.adventureshe.com
96
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
97
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
climb the trail leading to Nha La village. Due to the difficulty of this next section, each of us foreign ultra-runners was assigned a Nepalese pacer. The whole point of having a Nepalese pacer was to ensure our safety, in case of an accident. It proved to be crucial as one New Zealand woman fell on the rugged trail and injured her shoulder. She had to be evacuated by a helicopter to Namche Bazaar for medical assistance. To say this 11 mile stretch of the ‘course’ was intense would be a gross understatement. The 1,500 ft ascent does not sound much, but if you are starting from 13,000 ft, then it is totally a different story. It was probably the most dreaded ascent I have ever had, even worse than the ascent to Dead Woman’s Pass during the Inca Trail Marathon. After the race I learned that this section was then, the highest uphill trail running stretch in the whole world. It went well above the tree line on a very narrow rocky trail, with the steep hill on one side of the trail dropping straight down to a glacial river below. My pacer, Bhim Raj Rai, was my guardian angel during the race. Not only did he encourage me, as we negotiated the narrow
www.adventureshe.com
hairline trails over the steep hills he protected me, by staying on the side where the slope dramatically fell away. Later in the afternoon when the fog moved in and the temperature dipped down, he even took off an outer layer for me to put on to stay warm. The climbing season had tapered down at the end of May so this much less traveled route was almost deserted. Most teahouses were closed. Us ultrarunners had been instructed to take shelter overnight if we arrived at Nha La Lodge after 4pm. But for some reason it too was closed. Three runners (Roberto Mello, Kapil Josh and me) had no further instructions on what to do or where to go. We’d understood there would be two aid stations leading to Nha La, but we hadn’t seen them, so there was no point our returning to those locations. We had no cell phone signal or any other way to communicate with the organizer. Roberto had run out of water for a while and was furious with the situation. Both Roberto and Kapil’s Nepali pacers were equally surprised by the lodge closure. By now the temperature was dropping fast and fog had rolled in quickly. Luckily my pacer Bhim Raj Rai – was very 98
familiar with the area and led us to Phang Village about an hour and half away. Even with his local knowledge and guidance, we barely made it to the lodge in Phang before it was completely dark. The last runner on the course was not as lucky - if you could call us lucky. Tony Briant is a runner from Southern California. Apparently, his pacer did not escort him to Nha La Village, instead the pacer pointed out Nha La village in the distance to Tony and just left. Tony reached Nha La Village just before dark, only to be surprised by the closed lodge. The fog rolled in. There was almost zero visibility. The route markers were regular fabric flags, not reflective material, so they couldn’t help him in the dark foggy night. Tony ended up spending the night under a big rock in the wilderness at about 14,500 ft elevation, in freezing temperatures, with only an emergency blanket and no drinking water. 6am next morning, when we were ready to leave the lodge in Phang Village and to continue our race, we saw this orange ghostly figure stumble to the front door. To everyone's surprise, it was Tony, whom we’d thought had probably dropped out of the race.
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
He was shivering, exhausted and took quite a while to warm up and be able to recount what had happened. That scene reminded us of Beck Weathers, the climber who was left to die on Mt Everest but miraculously made it back to camp. Tony had two numb toes that were turning yellow/greenish, after stepping into a freezing river due to low visibility after dark. Still, we had no communication with the organizer or any race staff crew. There were no race sweepers, and we were so deep in the mountains that the closest helicopter pad was still 2 hours away. My pacer Bhim suggested our best bet was to continue on the course until we managed to get some cell
www.adventureshe.com
signal. So, Tony took some painkiller and started to move. By mid-morning, we reached Dole village where we finally had phone signal. We eagerly called our group guide, hoping he would be able to contact the organizer and they could send some medical help over. Unfortunately, the group guide wasn’t successful in securing help for us. As an alternative the group guide suggested Tony call his travel insurance company for evacuation. It might have been very well intentioned as a solution, but still we looked at each other in disbelief, as who knows how long it would take to get through to the insurance company and for them to organise and send a helicopter. It felt to us
that we were pretty clearly on our own. Tony gave a wtf look to his injured foot, laced up the shoes and calmly said: “Let us go.” Kudos to this tough guy! At that point, reaching the finish line safely together became our top priority. The rest was history when we crossed the finish line hand in hand. That is why I love ultraraces - it gives me a chance to see the best of people in the worst of situations. Such precious moments will forever be engraved into my heart.
About Vivian Lee Vivan Lee is married and a mum of two boys. She loves to travel and loves to run, sometimes combining the two. It’s only seven years since Vivan took up running, something she’s clearly taken to like a duck to water, for in those seven years she’s done Marathon des Sables, UTMB and the North Pole marathon, plus a whole load of other extreme races. She’s currently training to ski to the South Pole. We hope to bring you more stories from Vivian in future issues, for we think she is a truly remarkable person. If you would like to get in touch with Vivian, please do let us know and we can pass on your message.
99
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Safe, sound and successful, the author Vivian Lee, after finishing the ultra-marathon from Everest Base Camp
100
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Post race celebration from left to right: Roberto Mello, Kapil Josh, Vivian Lee, Tony Briant, Bhim `Raj Rai)
Namche Bazaar
101
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Ukraine Remembered By Kirsten Hamilton -Sturdy Photos courtesy of Kirsten Hamilton -Sturdy Additional historical research by Jane Harries
Adventure She magazine aims to empower, educate and entertain. Traditionally our UNESCO World Heritage Site feature focuses on a particular site. This time around we’re doing things differently. Whilst individual sites, buildings, and locations are important, aren’t countries also important? So rather than an UNESCO feature, we have an Ukraine feature, which does actually include mention of two UNESCO world heritage sites. Alas given what is happening now, who knows what will happen to the Ukraine Kirsten Hamilton – Sturdy visited and recalls with much love. 102
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
M
ost of us know the names Odesa, Kherson, Zaporizhzhya, Kyiv and the Crimea due to our nightly news. It's hard to believe that a country so full of history as Ukraine, has been under such bombardment in a short period of time.
The people of Odessa sided with the crew and were attacked in the nearby streets. In the film, the military fire from the top of the steps at men, women, and children. Mounted Cossacks then attack the people from the base of the steps. The haunting black and white scenes of old woman and children including the slow-mo pram going down the steps is seen as cinematic genius. So haunting and real were the scenes, later they were used in propaganda films as if it was news.
In 2004 my parents invited me to join them on a river cruise along the 4th longest river in Europe, the Dnieper in the Ukraine. They had lived in Moscow during the Soviet Era in the late 1960s. After the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990’s, my parents travelled around parts of Russia where previously they hadn't been allowed to go, due to Soviet restrictions. Now they were branching out to other countries within the former Soviet Union and Ukraine was next on the list.
As I walked up the steps, instead of revolution or disorder, there were tourists in summer attire looking towards the sea and posing for photographs. The Crimea From Odesa we sailed across the Black Sea to the Crimea. Whilst Crimea had a large percentage of ethnic Russians and a long history of Russian history connected to it, since the collapsed of the Soviet Union, it was part of Ukraine, not Russia, at least until 2014 when Russia ‘took it back’. I had been obsessed with Crimea since junior school when we studied the Crimean war, Florence Nightingale and the brutal charge of the Light Brigade in the valley of Balaklava.
Odesa In Odesa, an important port town on the Black Sea coast with long French and Italian style boulevards, we watched large bosomed babushkas in button up dresses tend to the flowerbeds on a hot summer’s day. Meanwhile the dome of the Opera House was being renovated by builders clad in their underpants and boots. I wasn't sure if it was due to the heat or for tanning purposes. Not really the highest of health and safety standards.
In 2004 Balaklava was a glorious valley full of grapes that made the sweet sparkling wine we drank at dinner every night. How many men were killed here in this beautiful valley, a tragedy so profound it led to the Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poignant poem ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’? It seems bizarre to think of so much death in such a beautiful spot, like the two ideas can't be linked.
What I was most excited about seeing in Odesa, were Odesa’s famous steps, which cascade down to the harbour. The bottom steps are wider than the top steps to add to the illusion of grandeur when looking up from below. For any Film Studies students it was also where the classic silent film Battleship Potemkin was filmed in the 1920s. This was a film based on real events during the 1905 Russian Revolution (which ultimately failed). The crew of the battleship Potemkin mutinied against their officers because of the rotten maggot infested meat which they had been served.
Our next stop was Sevastapol - home of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Even when Crimea was under Ukrainian rule, Sevastapol was usually 'closed' to tourists. But in 2004 for some strange reason cruise tourists could enter. It was a rare opportunity to see the town and not long afterwards it was 103
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
mysteriously closed to all tourists again. Old naval ships and submarines lay rusting in the harbour under the gaze of a ginormous soldier/sailor statue pointing out to sea. Lenin stared down from a nearby hill and other giant monoliths of communist monuments were dotted about. It was a city showing the might of Russian power and Russian history in this region and we were treated to a show by the Russian Fleet, with dances and rousing music by young men and women in uniform.
concrete tables spaced out under the trees. It was wonderful to walk along and every now and then stop to watch a game. Some tables had big gatherings, others just one or two hangers-on. I liked the idea of a casual game of chess in the park with a stranger. There were also dance competitions taking place, complete with girls wearing flowered headdresses, boys in baggy trousers, brass bands and singers. A quick change of costume amongst the bushes, waves to us and giggles among friends. It was a balmy evening and we sat with head-scarfed grannies nibbling snacks well into the night, clapping and cheering the performers.
One night in Sevastapol we strolled through the parks and watched games of chess between friends on the
B
104
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Opposite page: Odesa steps This page top: Scenes from Odesa This page bottom: Ukrainian banknote showing depicting the UNESCO world heritage listed 6 th century columns (see next page for more on this)
105
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
A few miles west of the centre of Sevastapol is the town of Khersones, not to be confused with the town of Kherson further north at the mouth of the Dnieper. It is also known as Chersonese, where the Greek Colony of Taurica (or Tauris) was in the 6th century BC. Its remaining columns stand naked by the crumbling walls next to the sea, its story left in the mosaics and bricks. Compared to sites in Greece it’s a small but local people were excited about showing it off; it’s even on one of the bank notes and since 2013 has been listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage site.
one of Alexander Pushkin's poems. He saw the fountain and was so struck by its depiction of grief, that he wrote the poem 'The Fountain of Bakhchysarai' in 1823. Pushkin is considered the founder of Russian contemporary literature after publishing his major work in 1820, entitled 'Ruslan and Ludmila' which sees the hero Ruslan rescue his bride Ludmila, daughter of the Prince of Kyiv, from an evil magician. Later after Pushkin was banished from St. Petersburg for political poems and spent some time in Ukraine.
About 30 miles northeast of Sevastapol is the city of Bakhchysarai. This was the former capital of the Crimean Khan, home to the Crimean Tatars, 16th century Muslims. During the Crimea war of 1853-56 the town became a hospital town. The Khan's Palace was a delight with gardens and fountains, mirrored rooms, colourful lattice windows, secret courtyards and tall slim mosque minarets. Within one of the courtyards is the Fountain of Tears which became infamous thanks to
In Yalta, a beautiful resort city with high forested mountains coming down to meet the sea, Chekhov had his summer home. It seems lots of Russians did. Little shops lined the bay and ice cream was sold from a man on a bicycle. Up the road from Chekhov’s white dacha amongst the hills of Yalta, is the Livadia Palace, a summer home of the Romanovs. The Last Tzar wanted to be banished there with his family when he
This page and opposite: Livadia Palace – a summer home of the Romanovs and scene of the 1945 Yalta conference
106
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
thought he would be exiled. When I was a child, I read a lot about Tzar Nicholas II and his family, especially his youngest daughter Anastasia who might or might not have survived the family’s massacre. So, as I walked around the huge, manicured gardens and slipped into their private chapel, I wondered about their life here. Had Anastasia smelt the flowers or pulled back the velvet curtains? A place of ghosts.
noticeable as a casual traveller, everyone just seemed pleased to see us. Kherson We left the coast and headed up through the mouth of the Dnieper and into the heartland of Ukraine. Our first port of call was Kherson which appeared with pretty little islands and bull rushes that gave way to a huge industrial ship building port. The cranes looked dramatic in silhouette at sunset, mechanical giants.
This Palace is also where the Yalta Conference between Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin was held in February 1945. In light of what’s happening now, it seems tragically ironic that this treaty was a collective security document designed to aid the peaceful rebuilding of Europe after the 2nd World War.
Taking a smaller boat, we ventured further into the tributaries and by-waters to visit the Fishermen's island, with its seemingly quieter more gentle way of life. People lived more off the land, grew a few things, fished, swam in the river and enjoyed the seasons. At an island pier we were greeted by villagers selling fruit (from their gardens), jams and beautiful handmade products, tablecloths, lace and cotton tops. We walked along the grassy paths past painted picket fences and
I left Crimea thinking I had some understanding of how thick the layers of history are interwoven and of the strong Russian connection to Crimea. I could discern no animosity between Russians and Ukrainians. Perhaps it was not easily
107
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
little boats bobbing in the long reeds. It was very free. One lady grabbed us and before we knew it, we were seated at her garden table with a spread of fresh food, pickles and local liqueur. We stayed about half an hour enjoying her and her husband’s company. I could have stayed all afternoon at that shaded table in the garden, the breeze lightly flapping the curtain pulled over the kitchen door. It seemed such an idyllic relaxed place to be. On 2nd March this year, 2022, Kherson was captured by the Russians. As I’m writing this, Ukrainians are fighting to take back their city.
couldn’t sleep due to loud ongoing accordion music and finally at about 1 am I went to knock on the next-door cabin door. I was greeted by one very old and rotund veteran wearing the largest pair of white underpants you have ever seen. He was quite drunk, his friend was sitting, clothed, behind him with the accordion. There were bottles on the small table between the bunks. I did hand motions to explain I was trying to sleep. They both gave me the biggest smiles. Of course, I felt incredibly guilty for telling a war veteran off for being noisy when he had helped in the fight for freedom.
In 2004 our boat’s horn brought us back to reality and we left the lady’s garden with jam and linen napkins as keepsakes.
Another night as we sat on deck listening to some live music, I noticed one of them - an old lady with tissue thin skin and wearing a long cream crochet dress. Her wispy white hair moved in the evening breeze as she smiled and twirled to the music of the band. I wondered, what things she must have seen, endured and fought for? In that moment as she danced, she appeared happy and free.
At Kherson a group of veterans joined our boat. They were men and women who had been Resistance Fighters in the 2nd World War and who had fought against the Nazis. As this was the 60th anniversary of Ukraine’s liberation from the Nazis, they were being thanked with this trip. At every subsequently port they were welcomed by ladies dressed in traditional costumes and presented with bread and salt, bands played and flags flapped. Local T.V presenters also came to interview. Later as the ship left the port a band played us out of the harbour and a small wreath was thrown overboard. It bobbed about so small and lost in the water as we all waved at the crowds on the bank. It was a piece of history... a moment to share.
Up until these veterans joined us, our ship was mostly French and German tourists, with about 20 of each. There were only seven British people, two of which were an old couple from South London. She was British German and he was British Ukrainian from the city of Lviv. He too had fought in the 2nd World War, but on the Nazi side. After the veterans arrived, we saw very little of him, only at dinner and never on deck. It made me realize how we assume everyone was against the Nazis. Of course, perhaps he was forced to fight for them, perhaps his nearest and dearest had been victims of Stalin’s terror of the 1930s. There’s a name for that
Sadly, we didn’t get to really mix with them as they ate in their own dining room and were busy during the day. But one night I
On 29 March 2022 when searching for data on the number who died in the Holodomor, an appendix to a letter dated 7 November 2003 from the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General and which was signed by several countries was found at the below stated web address. From recollection it quoted a higher number of deaths. However, at time of finalisation and double checking, that source could no longer be located. Therefore the lower estimate of 3 to 7 million has been used. http://repository.un.org/bitstream/handle/11176/246001/A_C.3_58_9-EN.pdf
108
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
terror, the Holodomor, when it is claimed (see box) between 3 million and 7 million of Ukrainians died of famine between 1932 and 1933. History has so many stories, what was his full story?
Ukrainian specialist monitoring editor recently seemed to sport such a haircut during the Ukrainecast podcast broadcasted on the BBC’s News Channel on 25 March 2022.
Zaporizhzhya
There’s a wonderful museum in Zaporizhzhya which showcases the history of the Cossacks. Later we were treated to a 'show' of their legendary horsemanship. I would not want to be facing a line of Cossacks mounted on horseback, they looked terrifying as they thundered past, whips lashing.
Our next port of call was the wonderfully named Zaporizhzhya, where for centuries the rapids have caused problems for invaders attempting to cross the river. Huge bridges now span various parts of the river, making journeys easier and less perilous. (Bridges are so important you may have seen on the BBC news that in the town of Voznesensk locals blew up their bridge, as part of their -at least for now - successful campaign to hold back invading forces).
We kept heading upriver, negotiating many locks, including some of the largest in Europe. As we drifted past Cherskasy I spotted a wide river beach crammed with sunbathers and swimmers. We waved down to them and they waved back at us.
Zaporizhzhya is home to the Cossacks who are reviving their culture. Young men shave their heads and leave a long fringe that they can tuck behind one ear. A BBC Russian and
As we travelled on, I found it interesting how like most Eastern European countries emerging from the blanket of the former
A greeting for the WWII Veterans
109
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Soviet Union, Ukraine seemed to have embraced European ways. The further we headed from Crimea, the cities felt less Russian and more European. This was also evident with the language. My father could speak a little Russian, but it was only the older generations that could or would speak to him in Russian. The younger ones were happier trying English.
la Republique, the objective being to prevent further building of barricades and revolutionary acts, instead the military would have a clear line of sight to shoot at protestors. Under Stalin cities like Kyiv, Warsaw, Berlin and Moscow also got wide boulevards leading to an open space. Here though the comparison with Haussmann ends, for Stalin’s idea was to glorify the revolution that had been. As in Moscow, Kyiv’s grandeur was subsequently the background for grand Soviet military parades.
Kyiv Ever onwards and upwards along the river that cuts Ukraine almost up the middle, we made it to the splendorous city of Kyiv. I think it is an underestimated city, with its wooded hills and the large river lazily flowing past. It had long wide streets filled with department stores and a huge open square called, Maidan, with a glass dome which forms the roof of an underground shopping centre. It feels French and there is a reason for that similarity.
Maidan might be a square where I could wander or shop, but Maidan is also a square that has seen much pain. Only a few months after I had walked through Maidan, starting on the 22nd of November 2004, Maidan became the scene of demonstrations, with over half a million people said to have gathered there to protest the result of the presidential election where the pro-Russian candidate Viktor Yanukovych was named the victor. Independent electoral monitors however claimed there had been electoral fraud. Demonstrations were also held
Haussmann redesigned Paris during the time of Napoleon III, creating wide boulevards leading to open spaces such as the Place de
This page and opposite: Maidan Square, Kyiv, Ukraine
110
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
elsewhere in Ukraine. Viktor Yushchenko ultimately became president after the Ukrainian Supreme Court ordered the runoff election between the two Viktor’s to be reheld.
Saint Andrew’s Cathedral is now said to stand. The cathedral is not the only intricate religious building in Kyiv. It has several fabulous pastel blue and green monasteries and churches. The painted figures staring down from dark walls entwine with plants and triangular halos. The faces clear and real, expressionless, the detail is exquisite. The golden domes associated with the Russian Orthodox Church were of course stand out architecture. Even on an unusually grey day (for my trip) the golden domes of Kyiv-Perchersk Lavra (the cave monastery) still gleaned bright, like huge shining orbs directly handed down from Heaven. Together with the Saint-Sophia Cathedral, the monastic buildings of Kyiv-Perchersk Lavra have been on UNESCO’s World Heritage List since 1994. Will it even still exist come next year; an issue already identified by UNESCO. Endangered heritage in Ukraine: UNESCO reinforces protective measures - UNESCO World Heritage Centre
That hasn’t been the square’s only insurgency. In November 2013 Maidan is where protests, against the then pro-Russian president of Ukraine, President Viktor Yanukovych (he finally became president in 2010) and the government broke out. The protests continued for months ultimately leading to Yanukovych and certain members of the country fleeing Ukraine, but not before over 100 people, including police, had died. A pro-European government was subsequently elected. Kyiv is the birthplace of the Russian Orthodox Church, which is said to have been founded by Andrew the Apostle. One legend claims that Andrew came to Kyiv and foretold that it would become a great Christian city. He put a cross in the ground and that is where Kyiv’s
111
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Reflections
she fought for, of the life she lived, of the life she may now live if she is still here.
Reflecting on my time in Ukraine and thinking of its people, culture and landscape, makes my heart ache. I think of those I met, including the veterans on board and what they have gone through. I think of the old woman with the paper-thin skin and the white crochet dress twirling to the music of the band. I think of her fighting, of the life
As she and others of her generation fought for themselves and future generations, now their descendants are having to face their own battles, fighting fiercely for what they believe in and for an ongoing independent Ukraine.
About Kirsten Hamilton-Sturdy After obtaining her Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) qualification, Kirsten Hamilton-Sturdy spent 14 years travelling and teaching overseas. She’s lived in 14 countries and travelled to over 70 countries. She has previously written for Adventure She about her time teaching English in Romania. She has also written for the travel publisher Bradt. You can follow Kirsten Hamilton-Sturdy on the following social media channels: Instagram: www.instagram.com/kirstenhsturdy Twitter:
www.twitter.com/BraundKirsten
112
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
St. Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv, Ukraine
113
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Houseboat Life in Berlin By Annie Voigt Photos courtesy of Annie Voigt and Denis Alevi
114
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
However much we want to adventure, few of us can make it as full time adventurers. That of course means making the most of our annual leave or of breaks between jobs. Sometimes though all one needs for an adventure, is a simple temporary change of address.
“Would you like to boat sit a houseboat with me?” Denis asked, grinning. “What’s boat sitting?“ I replied. “It’s like babysitting. But with a boat, instead of a baby.” The boat in question was a self-made, maple marvel on giant black floating tubs. Denis had helped build parts of the boat.
boats are allowed to set anchor at the Rummelsburger Bucht, as long as someone checks on them every 24 hours. That isn’t an issue if you’re living on the boat – but it is when you’re out of town for a while. I guess that’s what volunteers with a current obsession for life on the water and a motorboat
“Absolutely!” I grinned back. The houseboat belonged to a friend, who was out of town for the week. Under normal circumstances, most boats have a parking spot, where you anchor your boat and leave it there – but due to mysterious and unexplained circumstances, the boat was no longer allowed to anchor at its original mooring place. In Berlin, the place to go for boats with this issue is the Rummelsburger Bucht. According to a rather historical law allegedly dating back to the 1800s, 115
license are for! Denis had a motorboat license, making him an ideal choice for a potential boat sitter. Day 1 On the Monday I finished up the experiments at work as quickly as possible, then cycled along the shore of the Spree, until I saw Denis
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
steering towards me on the water. “Need help?” I yelled. “Not much. Just stop the boat from bumping against the peer,” he shouted back. A few moments later, my bike, my backpack and I were safely onboard. Denis gave me a small tour. Kitchen, workspace, bedroom and oven were all in the same main room. I sat on the bed, pulled out my laptop and, as the boat swayed and a murder of crows cawed at the top of their voices, got back to my day job. With my eyes moving across the words of the grant I was editing, I remembered something VERY important, something that in my excitement to live on a houseboat I’d completely forgotten about, I get seasick super easily - oh dear.
www.adventureshe.com
Day 2
don’t deserve the name ‘vehicle’ anymore.”
It is encouraged for people to park away from the shore and only head to the shore when running errands / picking people up, as there's not enough parking in the docks for everyone. The plan was for Denis to collect me from shore after I’d finished work for the day. But Denis wasn’t there. He texted that he was struggling with the anchor, so I started chatting with one our neighbours, the tanned, scraggly salt and pepper bearded Torsten. Torsten explained he and his ‘gang’ had lived on the waters in the Rummelsburger Bucht for nearly a decade, “alongside nearly 200 other floating… well, things … some boats
116
The ‘gang’ referred to themselves as pirates and “Spreepublikaner” (“Spree” being the river they live on) and were as much at ease on water, as on land. Denis evidently got the anchor loose, for we could now see him trying to steer the boat towards us. But the wind pushed him so hard off course, he had to run the approach manoeuvre not once, but twice. Torsten, amused by the antics of us landlubbers so obviously lost at sea, helped with parking the boat right next to a “NO PARKING” sign. “Eh, the police don’t care if you just stop next to the ‘NO PARKING’ as long as you do what you need and then leave again right away,” Torsten huffed.
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
Denis greeted me with a “Sorry for being late … the anchor got stuck.” “That’s no surprise,” answered Torsten. “There’s 18m of toxic sludge at the bottom of this lake, dating back to the industrial revolution. Pretty tough anchoring well in that.” A little while later and with the help of three other people, we managed to repark the boat, nearly taking the NO PARKING sign down in the process. “Take it down, take it down!” yelled one person. Another man sitting on the pier jeered “No one likes that sign anyway!” That night I made us some soup and offered Torsten a bowl as he sauntered past. “I already have all the soup I need before bed,” Torsten
www.adventureshe.com
waved a cup in his hand. “It’s a pirate drink before bedtime, rum and coke, sleep well you, two.” Later rain pattered against the glass as lights on the other boats turned off one by one by one. But I absolutely could not sleep. It wasn’t the thought of Torsten sending us off to sleep with “Hope you don’t get robbed, byyyyye” that kept me awake, nor was it the wind rocking the boat sometimes gently, sometimes more raucously back and forth. No. It was that giant light in the sky that refused to let me sleep - the full moon shining onto our pillows as if the bed was a stage and us the main attraction. Day 3 At 7AM, the first dinghies joined us on the shore. A dad and his kid, the latter
117
carrying a school backpack, tied their small canoe to the dock and waved hello. A few curious joggers ran past and as they did so, stared into the boat as I worked on my computer. It was a little disconcerting. Sometimes the gawking was accompanied by the question: “Can I rent this?! Like a Boat-BnB?” “It’s not a Boat-BnB. This is somebody’s home!” Cue raised eyebrows. I guess #HouseboatLife has yet to become socially accepted. After a day at the lab, I returned to the boat completely knackered. But there was work to be done: a water pipe in the bathroom had broken and we needed to saw open the wooden floors to remove the now soggy and unless it was removed, soon-to-be mould riddled insulation material. We were out of
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Denis arrived: “So… after I dropped you off, I tried to park at the docks again… and 10m from the shore, the motor broke down.” After work, Denis asked me to turn on the engine while he examined the motor to check what was broken. Standing at the front of the boat, I turned the key in the ignition. Immediately I heard shrieks from the back: “TURN IT OFF!!!” I went over to check on Denis and the motor - the distinct smell of gas hung in the air. Denis showed me the video he’d taken of the motor turned on. Instead of a functioning motor, we had a petrol-spouting, miniature version of a massive geyser, like Yellowstone’s Old Faithfull!
petrol, too, so we walked to the nearest gas station to get some. I am a firm believer in ABT (“always be training”), but I do admit it’s not an easy task to carry 20 litres of petrol, even for 500m.
the full adventure package.” Denis and I checked 13 weather apps. They all had different opinions on when the storm would hit, but they all agreed on thing: it would get messy.
By now reality of life on the houseboat was starting to sink in (pun intended) and I began to suspect it might be harder than it looked, plus a storm front was due for the following day. Micha, the houseboat’s owner had texted us, warning we were in “for
Day 4 I woke up to the most serene, calm and sunny of mornings - so much for “full adventure package”. I cycled to the lab, raincoat stuffed into my backpack, when a message from 118
Jonas – the friendly owner of a neighbouring houseboat and who’d helped tow Denis the last few metres to shore that morning - chuckled “tomorrow morning at 10AM, the police will be making the rounds to make sure we’ve left this place…They make you leave every day between 1011AM, so these places don’t turn into permanent parking zones.” “But we can’t move!” Jonas grinned “You’re gonna have to convince them of that!”
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
Before bed Denis checked the boat was securely attached at both ends of the dock. I however couldn’t help but think that if we did come loose and drifted off, at least we wouldn’t have any problems with the police tomorrow! I did another type of drifting off and fell asleep, a state I remained in throughout the muchawaited storm which finally hit that night. Denis though did wake up, and as the storm raged, he fixed our mooring and moved some loose items from outside to our "living room". Nothing was damaged, thankfully! Whilst I had fallen asleep and woken up in the same place, some people had woken up to discover their houseboats had been blown by the wind and that they were at a very different place, to that where they had fallen asleep.
www.adventureshe.com
“Ha! Many things. But one thing in particular: when the Soviets arrived, they washed their uniforms in these waters, they used a soap containing perchlorate. It’s meant to disinfect – which it does. Forever. And everything around it too. It has a lifetime of a few thousand years.”
Jonas’. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but the boat stayed. Next, they moved on to Jonas’ boat. Again I couldn’t hear what was said, but his boat also stayed. Next, it was our turn.
Just then, the police arrived. We were still lounging in the “No Parking from 10-11AM” zone – at 10:30AM. Jonas chuckled. “Let’s see if we can’t sweettalk ourselves out of this.”
“We can’t, our motor is broken!”
“What happens if we can’t?” Jonas didn’t respond. He was already on his way to the boat’s bow to welcome the arriving water cops. I watched them reach the first boat, parked in front of
Day 5 By the time I was up Denis has already left the boat. I was still fiddling with the gas stove when Jonas arrived. “I heard you work as a sewage treatment researcher! Can you explain to me what happened to the water we’re living on to make the mud below so toxic?” I asked him. 119
“Ey! Y’all are supposed to be gone!” The policeman yells at me.
He raised an eyebrow. “Huh. All three of you with the same issue. It’s a bloody epidemic of broken motors at this dock, I’ll be damned.” Jonas’ boat may not have been ready to sleep on he’d told me earlier how one evening that week his girlfriend had literally broken through the floorboards - but I knew
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
both his and the other boat had perfectly fine motors. “I want all three of you gone tomorrow by 10AM! I ain’t got time to write frigging tickets anyway,” the policeman sighs. Reflections Living on a houseboat turned out very differently from what I had expected. Where I had previously believed it would fit easily into my life and returning home to a houseboat would be like going home to an apartment, I quickly realised it was much, much trickier than that. I’d say living on a houseboat is the closest thing you can get to camping while still living in an urban area. Because not
www.adventureshe.com
only did my own scraggly, uncombed hair and slightly wrinkled clothing remind me of times I’ve been camping, but also because the apparent easy-breezy “it is what it is” attitude of those living on their boats permanently, made me think laissez-faire hardened campers - I even heard one houseboat occupier say “That ain’t under my control” three times in under 10 minutes. The third time was when his boat, complete with a raised pirate flag, drifted away from the shore. “It’s free now,” he huffed. Then added “I’ll get someone to help me catch it later, I need to go pay some bills on land first.” Living on a houseboat is not easy. From constant
120
repairs, to being dragged offshore by a poorly set anchor, to being greeted by strangers staring into your window in the morning, there’s a lot about this life to take into consideration when trying to decide if saving rent money really does pay out in the long run. Plus, there’s issues like getting to work on time. Our plan had been to motor to the shore around 8AM each day, but because of bad weather and engine malfunctions, that journey always took much longer than expected. Without a paddle boat to use as a taxi, it was however something we had to do. Whilst living on a houseboat may not be easy, it is an adventure and a great one at that.
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
About Annie Voigt Annie’s adventure career began with climbing, when she claims to have ticked off nearly every single box of “Mistakes to Avoid While Trad Climbing” on her first outdoor trad climb. She clearly survived and says she then went on to see what other “Great Bad Ideas” would not kill her. Her biggest adventures have been solo expeditions: a 3000KM bike ride to the Nordkapp (Norway) and running a solo 1000KM Ultramarathon from the Lowest to Highest point of Germany. Outside of adventures, Annie is a trained biochemist currently working on her PhD in neuroscience, and the comic artist behind BotsAndBrainz. You can follow Annie on the following social media channels: Website:
TheBotBeyondTheBrainz.com
Instagram:
@thebotbeyondthebrainz
121
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
River Niger, Bamako, Mali Photo courtesy of Hugh Watts
122
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
MALI – PART 2 ON THE ROAD TO TIMBUKTU By Jacki Hill-Murphy
123
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Timbuktu a name, a place, a history, that can conjure up feelings of awe and wonder. A place so remote and exotic, that thanks to the difficulty of getting there and war, few western travellers have visited. One of those who has been there is Jacki Hill – Murphy. In this article she shares what she encountered on her road to Timbuktu in 1988, from a camel riding Tuareg striding in their camp, to a village full of freed slaves and more. As travellers took few photos in 1988 and by now those photos have deteriorated in quality, additional photography by Hugh Watts (who happens to be a friend of our editor) and who travelled to Mali in 2007, accompanies this article.
A
t the Niger River I could see wooden boats bobbing up and down manned by half naked men shouting, as they manoeuvred their craft with long poles. Donkeys stood tethered on the banks and there were dry-baked walls and low houses rounded and smoothed by the burning sun drying carefully applied mud.
We stopped to camp in the sands outside the small village of Nioni where there was a police post and a petrol station. After eating a bean curry with rice washed down with local beer we sat around our small camping table, music played from our cassette player and stared out at the descending darkness, no breeze disturbed the leaves of a nearby mango tree, fruit bats swooped around our heads and dogs barked from the stillness of the African night, a woman shouted and a baby cried. Then suddenly there was a young man standing there in the gloom, he introduced himself in hesitant English as Chieck Camara and we invited him to join us at our table, Co-pilot opened a beer and proffered it to him.
Once we crossed the Niger on the Sansanding Barrage and Bridge we could truly see the Niger’s importance to Mali’s people, with its water running into irrigation channels enabling rice plants, sugar cane and cotton to flourish, whilst fat healthy cattle and goats wandered freely. This was the Mali that the explorer Mungo Park saw in 1806, nothing had changed on the river that snaked through a desert with only a few feet of pale grass clutching its banks before giving up to ruthless sand, the odd boats resting calmly on the water looked almost primitive.
Chieck was a remarkable man and from him we learnt a great deal that evening about the region we were driving through and life as a Malian. He was an engineer on the irrigation project and had gone to university, he had been thrilled to hear English voices from his little hut nearby as he had been trying to learn English from
124
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Top right – crossing the Niger 1988
the World Service on his radio by listening to the cricket and he had hoped we could help him practice it. He told us that he earned very little and that he had to have his own smallholding a way out of town, that he had water twice a day, to help him survive.
Photos on this page courtesy of Jacki Hill-Murphy
and we saw him develop in his career, although always still broke, he talked about marriage and trying to save up to marry the girl he had met, I sent him gifts, including books and cassettes to learn English, when I could, and raised funds for the local school in Niono. When my son was born, he sent a beautiful royal blue and sunflower damask tunic and legging set that he had had made and then the letters stopped and I never knew what happened to him.
On our return to the UK many months later I looked through all the names and contact details I had collected over our year in Africa, they were written on scraps of paper that fell out of the maps, guidebooks and notebooks, the detritus of a journey. Chieck was one of the many I chose to correspond with, I’m not sure why, but I was struck by his humility and sincerity and the romance of the evening that we met him. We wrote for ten years
The next morning was Monday morning of our 13th week away and we had a delightful drive through a very lush region
125
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Ferry crossing, River Niger, on the road to Timbuktu – 2007 Photo courtesy of Hugh Watts
126
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
River Niger, 2007 Photo courtesy of Hugh Watts
All day we drove blind, trying to follow tyre tracks in the sand and vague directions from the Sahara Handbook, that often dissipated into nothing. Andy Kershaw, the BBC DJ was there at about the same time as us making a radio programme about the music. His subsequent three-part broadcast described a very similar journey to ours commenting:
of the Niger River and at one point had to stop while twenty Patas monkeys, with long arms, narrow bodies and funny furry faces crossed the road. We were faced by difficult decisions about the route and John the journalist didn’t really help by constantly asking did we know where we were going. Once past N’debougou there was nothing, but the odd cement filled bollard for the next 300 miles. ‘Going to Timbuktu’, isn’t that a euphemistic way of implying you are travelling to the back of beyond? I felt that I was beyond everything by now beyond modern life, world news, moving through a sea of sand away from
“I’m on the road to Timbuktu, - if there was a road!” The Niger River was now far to the south and we were following the Canel du Sahel, a narrow sludge snaking through the dusty desert with barely a blade of grass on its dry banks. Our thoughts were still excitedly turning to this Forbidden City, which has always fascinated travellers we were going to Timbuktu, that place of mysterious beauty, famed Islamic learning
everything we knew in sand up to the horizon, a dry ocean.
127
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
and reported enormous wealth and always the goal of so many European travellers throughout history. There was a dusty harmattan wind blowing and soon even the faintest of truck tracks were indistinct and the chance of finding an isolated village to ask the way was becoming harder. Alexander Gordon Laing, was staggering around here after having his hand chopped off in 1826, what a miserable end to his brave life I thought. Further on in its history in the 1890s Timbuktu was formally incorporated into the French colony of Mali, imposing itself on its fragile culture - but were never able to endear them.
darkening mist. I found John some mats and a sleeping bag and lay them on the desert ground for him to sleep that night, although he kept insisting that there were large scorpions everywhere. The grey, the quietness, the skeletal dead twigs pointing like spindly fingers into the night sky, the ticking of some desert insect nearby made us all reflective, lost in our own thoughts of our ephemerality, sharpened by the harsh desert landscape; we could die here if we were lost, our water ran out or we wondered off. Then, as if in a dream, or a clip from a T E Lawrence movie, a white shape appeared silently out of the mist walking towards us. We stared in disbelief. We hadn’t seen a person, any type of creature, a living tree, or a footprint in the sand for hours in this moonscape of barren countryside and then here was an enormous, snow-white camel standing before us resplendent with brightly
As dusk fell in the flat sands, we found ourselves driving through a depressing forest of dead hawthorn bushes and we stopped to camp beside the dank canal and we weren’t quite sure if we were lost. We ate rice and cucumbers at our flimsy picnic table while staring out into the
A Toureg man – 2007 Photo courtesy of Hugh Watts
128
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
coloured patterned rugs and tasselled harness, ridden by a white-robed Tuareg with a large head dress, wearing sunglasses, so that every bit of him was covered apart from his hands. We attempted to converse, he had a presence about him, a coolness and his clothes were starchy pristine clean, although from our stilted conversation it seemed he had been riding all day to buy a sack of grain for his family which was strapped onto the front of his saddle. He studied us hard, scrutinising our wobbly table, inside the back door of the Land Rover, never removing his dark glasses, although I’m not sure he could see much through them in the gloom.
“Going to Timbuktu, isn’t that a euphemistic way of implying you are travelling to the back of beyond? I felt that I was beyond everything by now - beyond modern life, world news, moving through a sea of sand away from everything we knew in sand up to the horizon, a dry ocean.”
“I think he wants a drink, like wine or beer or something,” I suggested. We were too far out of Bamako to have any alcohol left and we gesticulated that and offered him a warm can of Pepsi - which he seemed really happy about and drank it straight down before turning his great camel away and riding off once more into the misty night. We sat there, almost in disbelief, until the darkness became complete and the silence, apart from insects and a slight moan from the light breeze. I don’t think John the journalist slept much that night.
Jacki Hill-Murphy
a small village of round huts, like Kogoni, where I noticed babies dressed in only a string of beads or shells around their waists and a naked woman shouting into the air carrying tins on her head, here we found a lad who hung on the side for a few miles and showed us the way onto the track to Nampala Village, before he ran back with a few African francs in his shorts pocket.
In the morning sky, the distant dawn fizzled in the dreamy light and another cloudless blue sky was born. A lone egret flew out of the bank of the slow-moving canal and we packed up and left, following our compass north-east. The Land Rover heaved and rocked over much harder terrain and we weaved once more through dead woods that hadn’t seen rain since 1972. We had planned on reaching Timbuktu that day - but it wasn’t looking likely and we drove on without finding any signs of life to ask the way.
Nampala never seemed to appear and as the day wore on the heat exhausted us and once more, we felt lost in the drifts of timeless sand. The piste became firmer with deep ornières or ruts making traversing even harder when the wheels got stuck into the grooves. Then a stockade appeared surrounding a small village of round domed mud huts thatched with straw. The heat was bouncing off the white bonnet of our Land
129
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Rover, our brains were frying so we couldn’t think, the warm water in our containers barely quenched our raging thirsts anymore and our energy was zapped, we all agreed that we needed to stop.
down into dark spaces and a dusty shelf was crowded with stone jars with lids, straw baskets and cooking pots. A lozenge of piercing sunlight lay like a golden rug near the low opening and a large older lady took her place on it - pulling up her skirt of fabric in her arms and heaving herself onto the hard ground with a grunt. I lay there and closed my eyes, but I couldn’t sleep, it was too fascinating, the small children who followed us were at the open entrance cheekily trying to take a glimpse of us before the big lady’s switch came down on them and onto the chickens too who pecked at the ground outside. Chickens, goats and children, the same all over the world, but not the sounds coming out of the pots on the shelf, which were ticking and rustling and scratching and my head raced with questions and curiosity and my heart raced with heat and thirst and worry that we were very lost and I wondered at the lady’s worldly possessions that lay in this hut. Journalist John and Co-pilot were lying either side of me on the thin mat, I think they slept, but I just lay mesmerised by the sounds and the activity beyond the hut and I imagined all the elders leaning against our Land Rover discussing it, nodding, looking at the bonnet and the jerry cans.
When we approached the small village to see if was possible to rest from the midday sun for a short time, there didn’t seem anything different about it; we didn’t notice the army watch tower close by, or the posse of large men guarding the rustic gate. There was great excitement at our arrival, from every direction, children, whose naked black skin looked polished in the sunlight ran towards us, screaming and laughing and they followed us, jostling with each other to get closer, looking up at us with large smiles. The boys’ hair was cut short, but the girls’ heads were partially shaved except for small plaits that sprung up or were tied into little knots, the older women’s heads were covered in the African print that matched that thrown around them as an elegant dress and long plaits of hair and large yellow beads hang down around their faces. Sometimes you know you are in for something special, an event that only comes once in a lifetime. This time had come.
It was six years before I found out who these people were. I found out quite by chance after sending a photograph of our brief stop in the village, with our Land Rover surrounded by smiling children, to Chieck, the friend we had met in Niono and who I corresponded with on our return. I asked him if he knew who they were. I was shocked at his reply, that this was a village of slaves who had been freed from the Tuareg, hence the army presence and the look-out towers, because it was very likely that they would try and snatch them back. He wrote that
We were ushered in by kindly hands towards a hut that was thatched to the ground and surrounded by spiky branches that formed a crude barrier, we stooped low and entered into the dark space inside the simple dwelling. The hut was cool and we lay down on rush matting beside an old rusty bed swathed in mosquito netting, curved walls led
130
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
The children of N’Doupa - 1988 Photo courtesy of Jacki Hill-Murphy
the village was called N’Doupa and that they had been freed in a rebellion and there was a military camp established for the surveillance of the zone around the village. Then in 2005 I found an article in The Times called “Fresh hope for slaves as Tuareg chief frees 7,000’, it wrote about a slave called Halima from Niger: ‘It is midafternoon. This is the first time today she has paused in her back-breaking work, collecting water, herding cows and pounding millet with a heavy club in the fierce 40C (105F) desert heat. Halima’s labours are not for herself, but for a nomadic Tuareg chief who owns her and her children, as he owned her parents and her parent’s parents.” The article gives staggering insight into what slaves live through and have been for centuries and is still widespread throughout the southern Sahara, in Mali, as we were seeing, Mauritania and Chad. The freed slaves in the article were from the Inates region of Niger and Halima is quoted as
saying that her master treated her badly, raping her often and they were made to do all the work for their Tuareg masters. So, what must it be like to be freed, to be able to choose who to marry, where to live and who to work for - and to earn money, for the first time? Our village must have been populated by traumatised ex slaves whose biggest immediate change was psychological. Chieck had trudged the twenty five miles to the village to see these people in the early nineties and identified some of the villagers in the photograph, ‘that grand lady with the collier (necklace) on her head is Maladu and she is with her little girl’. It was humbling to hear that some of the villagers who had missed seeing the photographs had walked back to Chieck’s village later to see them.
131
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
On that Tuesday in April in 1988 we staggered back out into the sunlight, slightly refreshed and certainly cooler. What was waiting for me was heartbreaking. The elders had probably decided that as the Land Rover was white that we must be doctors and there, lined up in the shade of the vehicle, were many women of all ages and they stood with pleading eyes and broken bodies and ailments. Standing alone in my helplessness I was aghast. Now that I know what hard lives they led, I am even more bereft. Mali was, and still is, one of the world’s poorest nations and is affected by poverty, malnutrition, epidemics, inadequate hygiene and sanitation and they have a terrible shortage of doctors - in 2009 there were 729 for a population of 10 million people. Malaria is rife, along with other arthropod-borne diseases and cholera, hepatitis, meningitis, polio, rabies and tuberculosis, but these women were also showing me lumps on their breasts and terrible skin conditions.
practices, which can impact badly on a woman's health. Female genital cutting often occurs between the ages of 4 to 8, and results in haemorrhage, shock, pain, damage to organs, urinary infections, and other serious diseases. Because the equipment used may not be cleaned completely, HIV and Hepatitis B is also spread with the procedure and in Mali, most women undergo this barbaric practice. If I could wish for something it would be that the villagers, who had so generously offered us shade and a place to rest that day, are still free, but sadly the likelihood is that they are not. Slavery in Mali still exists today, three decades later, with as many as 200,000 people held in direct servitude to a master and in the Tuareg Rebellion of 2012, ex-slaves were recaptured by their former masters. In 2006, a movement called Temedt was actively struggling against the persistence of slavery and the discrimination associated with ex-slaves, but they have an uphill battle.
In Mopti, on the way back from Timbuktu, we met a couple of foreign aid workers in a bar and I told them about the women in N’Doupa and their desperate need for doctors. The two men gave me a look indicating this was quite normal and one, an American, told me: “What you are not seeing is the ones in the huts, dying, you only saw the ones that could walk”.
After leaving the former slaves we crashed and bumped our way on through the desert, through Niafounke and Goundam situated on the shores of Lac Télé, passing Tondidarou, a small village built near the site of a well with over a hundred pre-Islamic stone monuments or megaliths whose origins are unknown. The piste became flatter and sandier and now, we were definitely on the right road to Timbuktu. Timbuktu, that legendary city of learning, was now within our grasp. The excitement was building as the city emerged, unfolding slowly, first as a white shimmering glow on the sandy horizon with minarets pointing at the sky. Little were John the journalist, Co-pilot and myself to know that much more desert drama was about to start.
If the mental fragility of having been enslaved, the lack of basic subsistence - all the things that we take for granted, are not bad enough, let’s make it worse, by adding one more evil to the mix: female genital mutilation (FGM). Like so many other African countries, Mali engages in female genital cutting
132
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
En route to Timbuktu - 2007 Photo courtesy of Hugh Watts
About Jacki Hill-Murphy Jacki Hill-Murphy MA, FRGS, is an explorer, writer and speaker who has travelled to some of the most inhospitable places on earth to re-create the journeys of daring women adventurers from the past. In tracking valiant women who left inhibition at home and journeyed into the unknown, Hill-Murphy pays tribute to their invincible spirits and achievements. She has followed in the footsteps of Victorian explorers Isabella Bird who travelled by yak across the Digar-La in Ladakh, India; Mary Kingsley, who pioneered the route to the 13,255 summit of Mount Cameroon; and Kate Marsden who trudged from Moscow to Siberia in search of a cure for leprosy. Hill-Murphy also braved piranha-infested waters in a dugout canoe to replicate the 1769 expedition of Isabel Godin, the only survivor of a 42-person, 3000-mile expedition along the Amazon River. Jacki says: “We are all adventuresses who need to travel to be who we are and we are better people for it.” You can follow Jacki Hill-Murphy on the following social media channels: www.adventuresses.com Twitter @jackihillmurphy
133
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Coming Up We hope you’ve enjoyed this issue and have found it to be empowering, educating, and entertaining. Here are some ideas we have for future articles, but please do let us know what you’d like to read about and please do keep sending us your stories. We love publishing them.
Women of the Tour de France
Drinking Tea With The Uyghurs
Exploring Sri Lanka
Getting Your Film Into A Film Festival
The Importance Of Attitude
Swimming in Antarctica with Cath Pendleton, the Merthyr Mermaid
134
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Navajo Nation – A Nation Within A Nation
Australia’s Kakadu National Park
Getting Into Adventure Racing
New Zealand’s Coast To Coast Race Cycling Victoria’s Rail Trails
Nepal After Hiking New Zealand’s Abel Tasman
Hiking in Romania
Interview With Explorer Lucy Shepherd
Rowing the Atlantic – Part 2
135
Adventure magazine, Issue 16, April Adventure SheShe magazine, Issue 16, April 20222022
www.adventureshe.com www.adventureshe.com
Adventure She is a brand of TNA Consulting Services Ltd, Pembrokeshire, United Kingdom
136