We’ve reached the end of the trail

And, suddenly, the journey is over.

Our 11 characters have reached the end of their journey, and so did our writer’s competition. Our fictitious travellers would probably agree that the experience had been absolutely amazing. And we would also agree.

When we started with this (competition) journey, we were very worried that we would not get enough quality entries. Things started off slowly, and we had to encourage readers via various platforms to enter. The first two weeks were worrying, to say the least. We were more than willing to add “some spice” to the stories entered, but we just needed the entries.

Then the entries started arriving. The first was Anke Roos from Levubu. (Thank you so much, Anke!). She set the tone and paved the way for others, such as the inimitable Zwothe Thothori.

Zwothe needs a special mention. This 17-year-old girl kept on trying, sending in one or more entries for each of the characters. She is so talented and full of enthusiasm. If she does not become an accomplished writer, she will become well known for whatever she sets her mind to.

But not only our young people entered. The third winner was the 70-plusser, Frans Jäckel. He showed everyone that creativity does not die off with age.

Just to prove that the 20-somethings were also present, Chantelle van Vuuren sent in the winning story for Emma. (And this was also one of the best of all the entries.) Anke Roos showed that her initial win was no fluke and she sent in the best entry for the character of Shabnim.
Ridgeway College’s writers dominated the competition, and 17-year-old Ronewa Ramulongo won the sixth prize for his story about Adrian. Just to prove that women can also tackle difficult topics, Ndivho Mukoma (16) wrote about Gerrit’s scar.

Zwothe Thothori’s persistence paid dividends when she won the prize for her version of how Takalani was scarred. Then, just to show that the competition was not only for young people, 60-year-old Rozanna Scorgie-Spence sent us an absolutely splendid story on Rovha’s character. Her description of Kilimanjaro was so real that it felt as if we were all there. (And some of us would know, because we have actually had the privilege of ‘sitting on the top of Kili’.)

Last week’s judging, to decide on a final winner, was the most difficult. We narrowed things down to five finalists, making the choice between the entries very hard. After a lot of deliberation, the judges opted for the entry sent in by 14-year-old Rabelani Dzambukeri. Her ending also summarises our experience:
“Let’s toast to us, to the great memories we have had - to the night of scars!”

Finally – a special word of thanks to the local representatives of the Endangered Wildlife Trust. Our fictitious characters followed a trail along the Western Soutpansberg. For the travel part of the series, we leaned heavily on the route descriptions on the EWT’s website.

The Old Salt Trail is definitely worth a visit. Please put that on your bucket list. We have such wonderful treasures here in the Soutpansberg, but, sadly, so few residents bother to explore these gems. For more information, visit their website at:

https://www.ewt.org.za/old-salt-trail/

Thank you, thank you, thank you ... and let’s do it again soon.

Let's start the adventure