FIVE Cape Town students are counting the days until they embark on an epic 480km bush hike along the Kei River.
Besides hoping to become the first documented group to hike the river from source to sea, the intrepid adventurers have also set their sights on doing sociological and economic research on the centuries old divide between people living on opposite sides.
Vital water quality tests will be done to try come up with better ways to manage the precious resource.
Brandon Finn, a 22-year-old environmental science student, said doing a tough, physical expedition along such an important South African river was a dream come true for all five students.
“We are fascinated by the way the Kei River has acted, and continues to act as a border between farmers and rural communities.
“We want to explore this divide and find out where and why there are problems between the two sides, and also explore cases where there is a positive relationship.”
Finn said the students had tried to find documented evidence of similar expeditions along the whole Kei River without success.
“There are areas of the river that are extremely remote and we want to explore this terrain.
“We picked a river where we have found no documented evidence of anyone walking it before .”
The month-long hike will start on June 15 far inland and besides the research component, the expedition will also try raise funds for the Eluphindweni Community Crop Project that has been quietly helping the Caba, Ntsito and Qwili-Qwili communities grow their own food.
“We are involving ourselves with this project because we agree with the values it espouses fighting unemployment, promoting food security and improving infrastructure by promoting sustainable entrepreneurial and agricultural activity.”
Finn said the villages had no electricity, a dilapidated school, eroded farmland, no sanitation, unemployment and a lack of food.
The project plans to intensively farm a 50-hectare patch of community land combining labour-intensive high value crops and everyday household produce.
The aim is to establish how water is sourced and distributed in the Kei River from ground water, precipitation and runoff.
This could provide a basic framework from which to predict how this area may be affected by future climate change.
The group – which includes journalism student Kim Harrisber, social sciences student Stefano Maiorano, medical student Carla McKenzie and ecologist Daniel Poultney – will use new technology to plot the sites of 200 water samples they will collect during the hike.
Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) coordinates will record the exact location of every sample taken and they will each be tested in a spectrometer for hydrogen and oxygen isotopes at UCT by Professor Adam West. The group will then create a map of their finding highlighting areas of interest and concern.
“ExpeditionKei aims to be a multi-layered trip as we aim to conduct water research along the way, raise money for The Eluphindweni Community Crop Project and also document the divide between rural villages on the one side of the river, and the farmers on the other.” —
Students embark on epic 480km hike along Kei River
Besides hoping to become the first documented group to hike the river from source to sea, the intrepid adventurers have also set their sights on doing sociological and economic research on the centuries old divide between people living on opposite sides.
Vital water quality tests will be done to try come up with better ways to manage the precious resource.
Brandon Finn, a 22-year-old environmental science student, said doing a tough, physical expedition along such an important South African river was a dream come true for all five students.
“We are fascinated by the way the Kei River has acted, and continues to act as a border between farmers and rural communities.
“We want to explore this divide and find out where and why there are problems between the two sides, and also explore cases where there is a positive relationship.”
Finn said the students had tried to find documented evidence of similar expeditions along the whole Kei River without success.
“There are areas of the river that are extremely remote and we want to explore this terrain.
“We picked a river where we have found no documented evidence of anyone walking it before .”
The month-long hike will start on June 15 far inland and besides the research component, the expedition will also try raise funds for the Eluphindweni Community Crop Project that has been quietly helping the Caba, Ntsito and Qwili-Qwili communities grow their own food.
“We are involving ourselves with this project because we agree with the values it espouses fighting unemployment, promoting food security and improving infrastructure by promoting sustainable entrepreneurial and agricultural activity.”
Finn said the villages had no electricity, a dilapidated school, eroded farmland, no sanitation, unemployment and a lack of food.
The project plans to intensively farm a 50-hectare patch of community land combining labour-intensive high value crops and everyday household produce.
The aim is to establish how water is sourced and distributed in the Kei River from ground water, precipitation and runoff.
This could provide a basic framework from which to predict how this area may be affected by future climate change.
The group – which includes journalism student Kim Harrisber, social sciences student Stefano Maiorano, medical student Carla McKenzie and ecologist Daniel Poultney – will use new technology to plot the sites of 200 water samples they will collect during the hike.
Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) coordinates will record the exact location of every sample taken and they will each be tested in a spectrometer for hydrogen and oxygen isotopes at UCT by Professor Adam West. The group will then create a map of their finding highlighting areas of interest and concern.
“ExpeditionKei aims to be a multi-layered trip as we aim to conduct water research along the way, raise money for The Eluphindweni Community Crop Project and also document the divide between rural villages on the one side of the river, and the farmers on the other.” —
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