FOLLOWING in the hallowed footsteps of St James, as other pilgrims have done for thousands of years, three Zululanders are ready to take on the challenge.
Charmaine Corbett, Sonja Hartley and former Zululander Cecily Bull will tackle a part of the longest pilgrimage route in Europe that stretches over the Pyrenees from France and into Spain, converging on the cathedral of Santiago de Compostella.
Many walk the route to honour the Apostle James, others to fulfil their own spiritual journey.
Sonja
Stay at home grandmother Sonja Hartley said she has at no stage had an inclination to do any sport activities.
‘Charmaine had done the Camino before and mentioned in April that she wished to do it again in September. She asked if I wanted to do it with her, and I laughed.
‘Little did I know she was serious.’
Visas, plane tickets and equipment seemingly fell into place, and Sonja realised it was meant to be.
‘I cannot speak Spanish yet, and maybe never will, but I am prepared and training daily to be as fit as possible.’
Sonja is looking forward to the pilgrimage to clear her head and have the time to reflect on truly important issues.
‘I will be walking to honour my daughter Mandy, who has so bravely fought cancer, and daughter Tanya and grandchildren Jamie and Shiloh who left us so suddenly.’
Charmaine
Charmaine Corbett will be walking the Camino for the second time this year.
‘Cecily, who now lives in New Zealand, introduced me to the idea of walking the Camino, which I did without her in 2008,’ she said.
‘It has been a dream of mine to walk the paths with her, and this year it just worked for the three of us to be there.’
Charmaine walked the first time to ‘find herself’.
She described how the Camino is about walking the paths that St James walked preaching the gospel, with yellow arrows showing the way through forests, fields and not very often the road.
‘I had never done anything like it, and I wanted to just take care of me. This time I am hoping to find the other half of me.’
The three long-time friends and adventurers will walk for 17 days, covering 311km from León to Santiago, living in ‘albergues’ (backpacker establishments).
