Events — joburg2kili

Written by Cam "Cambo" Kernes

This past weekend Warrick and I completed a First Aid Level 1 course with Neil Kelham from First on Scene.

Although it meant we had to give up our weekend, the skills we learnt from this course are invaluable. Both of us agreed that before we head off on this #Joburg2Kili expedition it is vital that we know what we should or shouldn’t do if we have any medical related emergencies along the way. I almost wish we had done this course years ago as there were so many things we have been doing wrong for years in terms of basic first aid. We hope that we do not have to use any of the new skills we have learnt such as CPR, the Heimlich manoeuvre, bandaging broken bones etc but it is really empowering to know that we could help in a medical emergency situation.

There are a lot of First Aid courses out there but we really do feel we chose one of the good ones. I would definitely recommend Neil Kelham from First on Scene who is extremely experienced and knowledgeable. He really makes the information relatable to all the attendees in the class and there is a lot of practical application done during the course. Click here for further details on First on Scene.

By Cam "Cambo" Kernes

This past weekend we decided to head off on a training camp with the team to the Pilanesberg National Park to test out all our camping equipment and to have some time to get to know the team better. However, Bobby was unable to join us as he will only be flying in from the USA next month just before our departure on the 30th July 2016.

We drove up last Friday afternoon, in the Jeep Wrangler with the trailer in tow, up to Bakgatla Resort where we had booked a campsite for two nights. Bakgatla Resort is where we will be spending our 2nd night of the #Joburg2Kili expedition so it was great to be able to familiarize ourselves with the place and note where the best campsite spots are along the fence to the Pilanesberg Game Reserve.

We arrived in the dark which made setting up the campsite more challenging especially as no one had ever setup the trailer tent before but we all worked together and managed to get it all setup relatively quickly. Throughout the weekend we took note of things we were missing to make our camping experience more comfortable for the expedition such as making sure we have enough camping chairs and cooking equipment etc.

Being situated right by Pilanesberg Game Reserve, we couldn’t miss out on the opportunity to drive through the Park to try and see some of the Big 5. We had some great sightings during our drives including seeing two cheetah, a brown hyena, a marsh owl, jackal and a pride of lions.

Bryan also taught us about geo-caching, which is the world’s largest treasure hunt. We managed to locate one of the geo-caches in Pilanesberg which was very exciting. Geocaching is something we would recommend our #joburg2kili supporters look into as its a lot of fun and allows you to explore new places in or around your city – there is a great video introducing the concept which you can visit on www.geocaching.com. Watch this space as you may hear more about geocaching on our journey.

All in all it was a very successful weekend away in preparation for this exciting adventure we will be embarking on in 43 days. Check out some photo’s from the weekend in the gallery below: