They say 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.
For our Odyssey hikers, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘁 few 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲. Up one mountain, down the other side… and then, inevitably, another climb waiting ahead.
There is something about a mountain that strips things back to the simplest of choices: 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨. One foot in front of the other. A little further. A little higher.
Tired legs, heavy packs and plenty of climbing – but also spectacular Karoo views, shared encouragement and the quiet satisfaction of discovering that you can do hard things.
And perhaps that is one of Odyssey’s greatest lessons: 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗲𝗿. 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿.
Every step of 𝗢𝗗𝗬𝗦𝗦𝗘𝗬 was shared with three very special people: 𝗠𝗿𝘀 𝗗𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀, 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿’𝘀 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲, 𝗠𝗿 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗸 and 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗠𝗿𝘀 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗺𝗸𝗲, who walked the entire route with our learners.
𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘣𝘴, 𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.
𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗞 𝗬𝗢𝗨 Mrs Botes, Mr Beck and Mrs Lemke, for your encouragement, patience and humour and for helping our learners make memories they will carry long after their backpacks have been unpacked.
