Great weather and beautiful sights as amputee Athol completes ‘Philocaly-by-sea’

The Philocaly Trail proved to be a huge success this year as 450 walkers took to the beaches of the North Coast.

Although the coronavirus pandemic pushed the event back from July, moods were not dampened and it proved to be the largest edition of the trail yet.

The walkers made their way from Mtunzini to Sheffi eld over the course of 5 days from September 23, totaling a distance of 84km.

While one group of 19 walked all 5 days of the trail, more than 450 joined for sections of the event, said founder Nikki Williamson.

Philocaly translates as the ‘love of beauty’ and walkers certainly had the experience as advertised with a multitude of marine sightings and incredible scenery.

“It was really amazing. We saw dolphins, turtles and a pod of whales that seemed to be doing the trail with us as we saw them on a few days,” said Williamson.

Alongside the trail, amputee and cancer survivor Athol Kitchen completed his 10km paddle with John McCarthy from the Tugela Mouth to Zinkwazi on September 23.

“It was an absolutely amazing experience. We had a bit of trouble getting out but it was bliss from there on,” said Kitchen, a Ballito resident.

They were also treated to a few marine animal sightings.

“We had an incredible interaction with some whales that came and swam next to us. To get into that situation was just unbelievable for me,” he said.

Kitchen said the paddle could not have been completed without the support that Quentin Power and the National Sea Rescue Institute provided.

The trail raises money for Wild Oceans Conservation and Breathe Conservation, and the event raised over R100 000 in donations this year.

“The walk is obviously a huge part of it, but we really want the beauty of our coastline to be the main takeaway, and these organisations work tirelessly to achieve that goal.”

In keeping with the theme, beach clean ups will also be organised in the coming months, and will be announced via the Philocaly Trail Facebook page.

The success of this year’s event means that planning has already started for Philocaly 2021.

“It was the most incredible experience for everyone involved and we hope to see 1000 people next year!”