Forged in fire, weakened by wind, stopped by snow, Carel Botha completed one epic sporting journey when he emerged from the icy waters of the Berg River Canoe Marathon in Velddrif, Western Cape, on Saturday.
Finishing the Berg is a big thing in itself but when one realises it was only one small part of his sporting adventure the enormity of his achievement sinks in.
Turning 44 later in July, Botha is one of those people whose default mode is to deflect from his own deeds and rather focus on helping others less fortunate.
In April 2024 Botha was badly injured while helping his brother to protect their property near Blaauwklippen, in Jamestown, Stellenbosch, that was being ravaged by a gale-driven veld fire.
A 13m branch of a mighty 30m oak tree fell on him and his brother. Unbeknown to Botha he had broken two vertebrae and his pelvis. Doctors urged him to undergo an emergency operation, but not Botha, who begged doctors to give him a chance.
“I’m a spiritual guy and prayed long and hard … doctors gave me a chance to rest and heal, did another scan and said there was a chance that everything would heal naturally.
“That did happen but it was a very long six weeks lying mostly immobile….”
It was during that time that he had time to think of helping less privileged people.
An accomplished businessperson with three financial degrees, Botha said he and his wife, Maré, “through Mobility Buddy, wanted to help someone less privileged and we found a young man, Requelmy, [with the help of my wife] in Jamestown, Stellenbosch, and asked if we could support him. We met him and his mom and saw that he needed a new proper wheelchair because his one was broken.”
A standard wheelchair costs R3,000 but Requelmy, 18, born with paralysis, will soon be receiving a customised “off-road” chair worth R18,000. The Back-A-Buddy campaign has since been reopened and any extra funds will enable other needy recipients to benefit.
Back to Botha’s most recent adventure, which he dedicated to Requelmy. On Saturday he became the 16th man to complete the Extreme Triathlon Challenge across SA.
The challenge involves the simple matter of running the 90km Comrades Marathon road race from Pietermaritzburg to Durban, returning to the start the Freedom Challenge Race Across SA the very next day and then finding one’s way back to Wellington, Western Cape, on a mountain bike with no GPS, only with a compass and a map … and then jumping into a canoe for four days of battling the Berg River Canoe Marathon from Paarl to Velddrif on the west coast.
Botha managed the first two legs of the same event two years ago before the freezing grip of the Berg saw hypothermia getting the better of him on the first day.
This time he was better prepared despite only really having being able to start training in January because of other injuries.
“This year Comrades was just about pain management and not cramping … Comrades people are very special. This year I thought it would take a lot out me because I was out of action so long and my muscles had to learn again … it was daunting but it went better than 2023 and I only felt bad right near the end.”
After the finish it was straight back to the Pietermaritzburg start, an ice bath, a few anti-inflammatories and he was ready to hit the pedals at 6am.
“The first day I managed just over 100km on the bike in the rain and wind, and through a big river but I was amazed not to feel that much pain.”
A few days later as they entered the Eastern Cape things became chilled and not in a relaxing fashion.
“The wind was really strong and after my own tree incident I was really worried. Then I saw some snow and met with an experienced rider who said it was up to 25cm thick ahead and too risky so we opted to hole up overnight; my wife wouldn’t have been happy if I’d got into trouble.
“We had to carry our bikes through the snow near the Swartberg and the slog continued, day after day. We were lucky enough to hook up with a guy who had great tactical awareness and he helped quite a bit. The first 10 days were the worst and also, Stettynskloof near the end was bad — the bushes were so thick you had to carry your bike on your back.”
Finally, 20 days after getting into the saddle, Botha arrived in Diemersfontein, the end of the cycling stage.
There followed two days’ rest and catching up with the family before tackling the Berg and trying to shake off the shivering memories of 2023.
“Luckily I’d only lost 4kg of weight by the time I started the Berg, compared with 7kg in 2023. I had also learnt a few things. I cut my wetsuit in half and opted to also wear cycling shorts because the extra padding delayed the inevitable leg cramps for longer.”
Day one saw him coping well, despite falling off in a weir and hitting a tree block but he managed to avoid hypothermia.
“The next day I was thrown out in the very first rapid but luckily the amazing police divers helped me out and saved my boat as well. The weather was bad and even for a guy who loves adventure it was getting too much.”
The predicted bad weather for the third day eased slightly but Botha was battling with sore shoulders for six hours of the stage.
“Thankfully my daughter Anna-Marie, 8, massaged my shoulders in the car home after the stage and ran me a bath and gave me the whole spa treatment.”
Day four was another battle: “My shoulders were sore again, the weather was really opening up and the waves were big. But eventually I saw the finish and the feeling of relief when I saw the finish line, not of just the Berg but after the whole three-sport journey, was simply out of this world. I couldn’t believe I’d finished this whole thing.”
From east to west, Botha beat all challenges he was confronted with. Next on his list is a possible crack at the Western States Endurance Run in the US but what will always be a certain is that he will turn to any point in the compass to help people less fortunate than him.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.