When IT professional turned adventurer Ray Chaplin started his walk to the source of the Orange River on 7 April this year, he had a rough idea of what lay ahead of him. Not only would the estimated six-month journey be a world first, but he was undertaking the project with an environmental message closely linked... highlighting humankind's impact on our river systems and our marine environment as a result.
"As an ambassador for the South African Shark Conservancy, I get to see first hand a lot of what really goes on in our oceans and how are marine life suffer. It all really sunk in when I spent an afternoon in the Dwars River outside Ceres in the Cape and got incredibly ill. I just had to take action, and what better way than a journey down a river" says Ray about linking adventure and awareness.
But, as he soon found out, nothing could have properly prepared him for the 2,460km journey westward to the Atlantic Ocean!
Heading off completely alone with no team or backup crew following him, he was packed heavily carrying 35kg of gear and food at times to ensure he could survive the long distances between towns. An early cold snap in Lesotho saw him regularly waking up with snow around him, and frozen gear, making the early stages slow and more challenging than expected.
His rate of progress improved once back in South Africa but the river quality also rapidly declined. "I came across four towns that are spilling sewerage into the river, drastically changing the ecosystem of our nation's lifeline. Millions rely on it for drinking water, while travel & tourism, mining and farming sectors are all dependent on it too" said the eco warrior.
As a result of this, the rocks in the river have become covered in a strange slime which, despite his utmost care, resulted in Ray falling on several occasions while scouting rapids and getting in and out of the river. One too many falls resulted in two broken ribs and severe spinal injury, making it just too painful and too risky for Chaplin to continue. Having already covered a little over 1,000km and eager to continue the education work at schools along the river, Ray rushed his rehab and was home for just nine weeks before setting off again from where he left the river.
Doing presentations on environmental responsibility and the importance of living sustainably to schools along the way was part of the programme and Terence van der Walt, Cluster Marketing Manager for Nampak Rigid Plastics has this to say "From measly diets, to waking up to the sound of lions, to cracking ribs and finding scorpions in his wetsuit, this has been a dramatic journey and it has been a privilege to align our environmental goals and consumer education on recycling with his expedition".
With the river ever-changing en route to the sea, nature seems to have found a way of filtering much of the dissolvable toxins. But the physical trash like bottles, cans, bags and vehicle tyres are evident around all the urban centres and along many of the farms. To help clean up existing pollution in the river, members of the plastics industry joined forces with Ray to help coordinate community clean-ups and education sessions en route. In total, Ray presented to over 9,500 learners along the river with over 5,500 bags of litter being collected through clean-ups, with many more follow-up clean-up days already being coordinated by schools and communities.
"We would like to thank Ray for his commitment to sharing our vision of supporting environmentally responsible actions that benefit both industry and society" said Anton Hanekom, Executive Director of Plastics SA.
After a tough and lonely final stretch from Augrabies Falls, which he walked around, Ray finally reached his goal of Alexander Bay on Tuesday 10 December where the Orange River empties into the Atlantic Ocean and promptly went out into the breakers to play and celebrate completing the first source to sea descent of the Orange River by riverboard.
Alicia Monahan, a fellow riverboarder, had this to say upon receiving the news of Ray's arrival at the sea: "I am so proud of Ray for planning and taking on this adventure! Not only did he challenge himself mentally and physically, but he raised awareness in many ways and was a positive role model for us all".
When asked "What next?", he simply smiles and says "Some quality time with my family and friends over the festive season".
For more details on this incredible feat and a timeline of the journey, visit www.RayChaplin.com.
