Wilderness has always been in me and me in it
We are one, this connected Earth and I
My fear and anxiety of leaving Africa for the cold and barren sterility of Antarctica was real
I often say ‘real is rare’ but this ‘real’ was eating at my Soul
Was I being foolish or brave?
I am still unsure

I have been home a short while and still I feel the pain
When I was on that frozen harsh relentless wilderness I hurt a great deal
My days and nights, all alight by the sun, were blurred by sense deprivation
No smell
No taste
No colour
…but I could dream…and my dreams kept me alive
My world was not real so I made it so
I was moving across a dead white earth
My vision tainted a strange orange hue because of my face-mask
My breathing rasping from my wheezing chest from the altitude

I thought I could die, perhaps would
Quickly and easily here

Back home now
I feel I could die
But from the Matrix I see
The falseness of our disguise in the chaos we have created
And call reality

But I choose to live
Be brave
Stand in the arena and fight the good fight
I choose to be guided in accepting my gifts

And that makes all the difference!

Braam Malherbe

I have long stood for the plight of the planet…this sacred place we call Earth. I have championed ’causes’ and fought strongly to defend them…in spite of people trying to pull me down in their vain efforts to justify their views. I am comfortable with that and applaud at least a stand taken as appeased to apathy.

Recently, I have been a strong activist in defence of rhino, physically, verbally and spiritually. I have been challenged on many fronts although each challenge has been a biased view where I have supported many views!

I have been told that ‘poisoning rhino horn is wrong’. I have been chastised for advocating ‘the controlled trade in rhino horn’. I have been scolded like a class pupil for suggesting that ‘educating Asian markets is futile’ and, believe it or not, I have been told that ‘increasing ground forces to fight poachers will never save them’. Well…

We need to do WHATEVER IT TAKES. I ABSOLUTELY STAND BY MY VIEW…

Read what I wrote months ago in my blogs www.braammalherbe.com YES, we must treat rhino horn with ectoparisiticide (poisoning the horn), because it is a viable solution in many instances. YES, we must explore trading in rhino horn (it should be a REGULATED trade. Like diamonds, we will never ‘flood the market’). YES, we should attempt to educate the Asian world (I am still working on Jackie Chan to ‘help save our rhino, just as we are helping save his South China tiger), YES, we must increase our ground forces (both in numbers and in training) to fight the scourge. YES, ‘government must intervene’. So…?

Do One Thing…DOT? What does it mean to you?

I will answer for me…I absolutely take a side…for the rhino’s, not ‘my cause’…for the rhinos! Red what I have written…not ONE side…ALL sides! If you fight an enemy there are certain basics…’know your enemy’ but more importantly…BE ON THE SAME SIDE in your fight! This is not about your personal view; it’s about saving a species from the brink of extinction! If your mother is dying from breast cancer, do you have the breast removed or let your mom die? If your brother is going to be killed innocently because his hair is a commodity, would you treat his hair with a dye to save him? If your sister was going to murdered on full moon for her toe nails would you employ armed guards to protect her? If your children were being enticed to use drugs, would you try and educate them?

‘YES’ to all of the above! May ‘ego’ with all good intention fade away now…and may we UNITE to a common cause…

“IT IS TIME TO STOP TALKING ABOUT WHAT WE SHOULD BE DOING BUT DO WHATEVER WE CAN TO SAVE A SPECIES FROM EXTINCTION…”

I will be posting on my Page as well as on United 4 rhinos and Braam Malherbe – Extreme Conservationist in MORE DETAIL on this pressing issue.

Remember…#DOT … Do One Thing … Please!

Photo credit: Henri van Schalkwyk, Urban Brew Studios

Braam Malherbe and Peter van Kets from Team SA finish the Scott-Amundsen Centenary Race to the South Pole in joint third position with Team British Green/Centrepoint

After twenty five days in extreme weather conditions and 742 kilometers of what is described as the toughest race on the planet, Braam Malherbe and Peter van Kets has arrived at the South Pole. Team SA and Team British Green/Centrepoint arrived at the South Pole on Saturday 28 January 2012 at 06:00 (SA time). They were exhausted, hungry and utterly overjoyed when they got there. For the past week they’ve been helping Team British Green carry the load of Andrew Carnie’s pulk (sleigh). Andrew fractured his arm just before the team arrived at the halfway checkpoint more than week ago.

Fitting with the history of the race it was won by an extraordinary Norwegian team that amazed even the organisers. The Norwegians finished the race in 15 days, with the Welsh team arriving second in 22 days. Third place in the Scott-Amunsen Centenary Race to the South Pole belongs to Team South Africa and British Green, who finished in 24 days. Race organisers agree that it was quite an achievement for Braam Malherbe and Peter van Kets to complete this race as they were not use to the extreme cold conditions (it was –45˚ C the last couple of days) and skiing on snow. Van Kets has rowed the Atlantic Ocean solo and unsupported and Malherbe run the entire Great Wall of China, but both agreed that the race to the South Pole was the most difficult endurance adventure they have ever done.

Malherbe, who is a MyPlanet Ambassador and van Kets took part in this race to create awareness about climate change and the effect it has on Antarctica. The entire race was filmed by the Johannesburg based production company Urban Brew Studios and will be broadcast as a 4-part documentary series, Cold Sweat, on SABC 3 later this year. For more information visit www.coldsweat.tv

Speaking from the South Pole Braam said that Andrew Carnie is extremely grateful as he would probably have had to give up so close to the end as he would not make it. “Peter and I continue to push on – taking things one day at a time. I just can’t explain how tough this race is, there is nothing on the planet that compares.”

Commenting on the conditions Braam said, “visibility is poor and spindrift is around them with very soft snow and gradual uphill.” The extra weight they are carrying is slowing them down quite a bit. From a physical perspective their strides much shorter and extreme fatigue has set in due to the altitude and cold. It is getting colder the closer they are getting to the pole, temperatures are in the region of -45°. Due to these conditions they have no appetite and are force feeding themselves because their bodies need the intake – all they want to do is sleep.

Currently Team SA are averaging 31 km for the next 4 days and 35 km the last 2 days. They are skiing about for 11 hours now with two 15 minute breaks in between. When resting they need to take 4 layers of gloves off just to eat something and one hand at a time!

On Friday 20 January, Norwegians Erland Gray, 28, Harvard Svidal, 35, and Mathias Seim, 23, were able to maintain a consistently impressive pace, to cross the finish line first.

In a tweet Braam sent his congratulations to the winning team “Not called the “toughest race on earth” for nothing! Congrats to the Norwegians on their record breaking win!”

Braam would like all South Africans to get behind them and DO ONE THING! They are racing for climate awareness and everyone in South Africa should do one thing towards this cause. In support of Braam and Peter, MyPlanet is giving card holders the opportunity to win a signed MyPlanet flag that travelled all the way to the South Pole and a VIP dinner for two with Braam Malherbe, upon his return to SA. To enter go to www.myschool.co.za

To view the team’s minute by minute progress visit www.coldsweat.tv

An Update from Antarctica
Drama during the first week Scott-Amundsen Centenary Race to the South Pole

“I would rather be a live donkey than a dead lion.” These famous words of Ernest Shackleton when he turned back short from discovering the South Pole, aptly describes a drama of 36 hours in the historic Scott – Amundsen Centenary South Pole challenge.
It started when the expedition doctor was called out for a situation which turned out not to be serious at all and it ended with the emergency evacuation of competitor and another one giving up the race.
A call was made early on day 5 of the race to Dr. Ian Davis, the Explore World Races exhibition doctor, for assistance. Frank Runge of Team Tri-National developed a condition during the night that led to severe vomiting. The GPS co-ordinates, which was given for their position, was not accurate and it took two expedition vehicles almost three hours to reach the team.
They were eventually located in a treacherous snowfield with the expedition vehicles almost getting bogged down in deep and soft powdery snow.
Once they caught up with the team, it was established that Runge was fine and fit to continue with the race.
Just by chance or through sheer luck, the rescue team ran into Marc Woods and James Marc, from Team British Blue / SlandenWoods. James was pitching their tent and signaled that they were in trouble. Marc was nowhere to be seen.
On their arrival Dr. Davis found Marc lying in the hastily pitched tent. He was struggling to breathe and it seemed that his physical condition had deteriorated. According to Dr. Davis, Marc was also slightly disorientated and very anxious. He had developed a life threatening Asthma condition and Dr. Davis realised that the situation was stretching their medical capacity in the field to the limit.
After a quick consultation with Dave Martin, from Extreme World Races and expedition leader, it was decided to call a code red emergency situation. The operational centre at Novo base was alerted with a satellite call and an emergency standby airplane was being readied for a mercy flight to evacuate Marc and to return him to Novo base where better medical facilities were available to treat the unfortunate competitor.
Unfortunately, the pilot who was on duty had already flown his maximum hours for the day and take off had to be delayed until the next morning.
Realising how serious the athlete’s condition was, Dr. Davis decided to stay with Mark in his tent for the night.
To complicate matters a whiteout condition developed overnight. By morning it was clear that the rescue plane would not be able to land. The flight was delayed until visibility returned and a safe landing at the spot would be possible.
The emergency plane with the sick athlete and his teammate was finally able to take off at about eight o’clock in the evening.
Marc’s British Blue teammate, James Mark said: “I have decided not to leave Marc until he was safely back in Cape Town. It is a big disappointment for me but I will deal with the emotional stuff later, once this emergency is over.”
According to James the conditions they were experiencing was extremely tough and Marc’s physical condition began to deteriorate soon after the start. The cause might be the altitude of 3000 metres above sea level, the dry air and extreme cold.
He said things might have taken a turn for the worse if the expedition doctor arrived on the scene an hour later. It might have been too late to save Mark.
“It was clear to me that Marc was in a very sad state and I knew that I needed to get help fast. It was sheer lack or providence that the doctor turned up on his way back from another call at that moment. If he did not, Marc might not have made it” James said.
Marc, who had left leg amputated below the knee when he was just 17 after being diagnosed with bone cancer, is no stranger to hard work. He competed in Paralympics at Seoul, Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney and Athens, scooping four gold medals, 12 in total. He also wrote the best selling novel, Personal Best.
Marc said he was devastated not being able to complete the race, but that he was encouraged by Shackleton’s famous quote. Sir Ernest Shackleton faced a similar crisis when he had to turn back when the South Pole was within reach of him, more than a hundred years ago.
Meanwhile, another competitor, Leonie (Yoyo) Menten-Scheepers, from the Netherlands, who has successfully skied to the North Pole and was the only female entrant into this extreme challenge, decided to give up her attempt to reach the South Pole.
“The conditions are much tougher than what I expected and I realised that I might be to old to do this type of thing” she said.
Her Anglo Dutch team mate Matt Elliot, decided to continue in the race and he will be shadowing the Tri-National team hopefully to the end.
In the South African camp, there seems to have been an improvement in Braam Malhere’s chest condition. Unfortunately, it now seems that Peter van Kets, his teammate, is also developing chest problems. Pete has spent the past two nights coughing up phlegm. On day 6 Peter woke up with a swollen and uncomfortable face, which also could be caused by the altitude.
Despite their physical condition both team members are still in high spirits and very optimistic about finishing the race in a good position.
Team SA decided to have a few shorter days in an effort to let Braam get some sleep. They only covered 22 kilometres on day 6. Usually they walk for 35 kilometres per day.
“We are really in survival mode now. This is the hardest thing I have ever done. It is much more challenging than rowing across the Atlantic Ocean,” Pete said.
Braam Malherbe tweeted and said “its definitely the harshest terrain in the planet. Be part of our cause”. Malherbe is a Woolworths My Planet ambassador and TEAM SA is competing in The Race to the South Pole to create awareness on climate change.
The Norwegian team is still the overall leader of the field by approximately 80 kilometres.
At this stage the Welsh Team, Mark Morgan and Billy Morris is in second place and maintaining a steady pace. Lying third is team British Green who has fallen back slightly.
As the field is getting closer to the South Pole the temperature is steadily dropping and harsher conditions can be expected ahead.
Daily updates on the Scott-Amundsen Centenary Race to the South Pole can be seen on www.coldsweat .tv.

More about MyPlanet
Braam Malherbe is the ambassador for MyPlanet. MyPlanet classifies Planets as organisations that focus on the improvement and protection of the environment and animals. Examples of Planets that Woolworths customers support to include SANCCOB, The Society for Animals in Distress, Endangered Wildlife Trust, EWT MyPlanet Rhino Fund, SPCA National Fund, Border Collie Rescue, FreeMe, National Horse Trust, Animal Anti-Cruelty League, WESSA and BirdLife SA.

For more information go to http://www.myschool.co.za/schools/myplanet

More About Urban Brew Studios
Johannesburg-based production company, Urban Brew Studios, has obtained the film and media rights from ultra-adventure operators, Extreme World Races, for the toughest endurance race on the planet, the Scott-Amundsen Centenary Race to the South Pole. A film crew of Urban Brew Studios is currently in Antarctica filming this epic race. Cold Sweat, a four-part documentary about the Centenary Race to the South Pole will be broadcast on SABC 3 during 2012
www.coldsweat.tv
www.urbanbrew.co.za

Sent by: Ann Toerien Urban Brew Studios

We now fly to Novo (Russian base in Antarctica) on Tue nite 11h30 because 160km/p/hr winds wrecked the tents…nerves are up but as I always say…’when the impala goes to a new waterhole, it doesn’t know what lurks there…it must be scared and cautious.’ I go to face a new fear…and I will and I will come home with special stories to tell of how we all need to dream big and believe we can each, as individuals, become (as Ghandi said) the change we want to see in the world.

Please…#DOT Do One Thing…and watch what we can do together!

Before I ran the entire length of the Great Wall of China, a distance of 4, 218kms, I was told by doctors and sports scientists that it was physically impossible. Well, as a relatively ordinary guy, I proved them wrong. I put this down to a simple belief I have: that if you have big dreams and plan well, then NOTHING is impossible!
In my opinion, COP17 is the most important meeting of nations on Earth ever. And it is now, more than ever, that we need to have faith!
What does it mean to be “of faith”? Individually and collectively?
There is a wonderful definition of faith: ‘Faith is to believe what you do not yet see…the result of that faith is to see what you believed.’
“I am not just talking to people who believe in God or a higher power (although I do). I am talking to everyone who has faith in a sustainable future for all of us – and by us I include all species that we depend upon for our very survival – not just our species.
I have often spoken publicly of the grievous crimes against humanity of the past… the Polpote regime, the Rwanda genocide, the Holocaust and the horrors of apartheid. But, as adults alive today, have we not perhaps perpetrated the greatest crime ever against humanity? Namely, the state of the planet we are leaving to our children?
I recently had the great privilege of spending some quality time alone with Dr Jane Goodall, affectionately known as the Chimp Lady. We were discussing that profound American Indian saying: “we did not inherit the Earth from our forefathers; we have borrowed it from our children.” Dr Jane said to me, “We haven’t borrowed it; if you borrow something, you give it back. We have stolen it. We have stolen it!”
I ask, “Can we still repair it? Can we still protect it?” I believe, if we join together en masse, we can.
“There is the simplest yet profound law in nature…”every species gives to at least one other species and, in so doing, ensures their own survival. A simple example of this is the honeybee and the flower. Every species that is, except most humans. We tend to come from the premise of ‘what’s in for me?’ before I do anything! It is this attitude that may well be our demise!
We, as the human species should be giving back by at least honouring what god has given us in this unique and precious world. Currently, we are abusing and desecrating our sacred home. This has resulted in the moral decay we see in most societies today.
We are blessed with a prefrontal cortex, i.e. the ability to affect the world around us beyond our immediate reach in space and in time. A large part of the difference between human and chimpanzee, less than 2%, is related to language, spoken word, the conceptualization of past and future – how do we want to use this unique special gift? It’s all we need to live in harmony on and with the planet. No species is better qualified to communicate and affect our future in a positive way by learning from our past.
Well… a lifetime as a species that might be shorter than we think unless we make dramatic and radical changes, rapidly.”
A great part of our evolutionary heritage as humans is that we learned to behave like nomads… to take as much as you can and move on. Our behaviour was shaped in an environment where there were very few of us but LOTS of resources. Now, our Earth holds over 7 billion humans and very few resources. Yet, we continue to behave with the same mindset as our biological forefathers…take and move on. We cannot just ‘move on’. There is not another planet to move on to.

Hence we need to make a shift in our consciousness and behaviour and evolve beyond that evolutionary heritage to become beings that, with intellect and spirituality, can free themselves of biological constraints. Our ability to do that will determine the fate of our species. Einstein said, “Problems can’t be solved with the same mindset that created them. “
That mindset is still what drives our culture and economy– the world is still controlled by corporations and people that are trying to squeeze the most money out of the system and gain the most influence in the short term (the next quarter, the next year, or until the next election), without thinking of the system’s recovery or carrying capacity long term, many generations ahead. We need to start thinking like a sessile species in a finite environment, which will be psychologically extremely difficult.
How successful has that been for us? Remember the millennium goals? How much has changed, almost 12 yrs later? We now have more poverty, more disease, more crime, more mental illness than ever and a trashed planet.
The economy cannot be driven any longer with productivity, returns to stakeholders and a capitalist structure that is predominantly driven by gaining more than what is given. Any economy is only sustainable by what the planet can give it… whether that is fossil fuel, mineral wealth, nuclear energy, and indeed the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe. When a finite resource that sustains us becomes ill… and our Earth is ill… she needs to be healed. It is now the time for us to give back – healing Earth by giving back.
Clearly all that technology and knowledge has not made things any better.
We must now change our subconscious thinking, ingrained habits. We must, more than ever, learn from our past and reconnect with and value what sustains us. Caldwell stated, “The environmental crisis is an outward manifestation of a crisis of mind and spirit…it is concerned with the kind of creatures we are and what we must become in order to survive.” We need to adjust our thinking to a different environment and condition as we find them today. It is time to evolve beyond our biology and start thinking and living in a much more enlightened way.
Think of the planet the way we think of our own house or garden – because that shows how far reaching and connected our global influence has become. “There is no away!” You wouldn’t empty out toxic batteries on your lawn or defecate your couch. We need to start thinking globally.
The great Chief Seattle said, “one day we will wake up suffocating in our own waste”. I fear that time has come. Now what’s it going to be? Many prophecies talk about shifts in human consciousness in 2012 while others speak of giant catastrophes and ‘judgement day’. Are YOU going to influence which one is going to happen?

On the 19th December my friend Pete van Kets and I will depart for Antarctica where we will complete in a “Race for the Planet.” It is an unassisted race to the South Pole…a distance of some 900kms. We will symbolically be racing against time. Pete and I will be the main characters in a television documentary called Cold Sweat. It is about climate-change and the effects on South Africa and Africa. We are creating the awareness and we invite you to be part of the action in finding solutions. Join my DOT initiative…Do One Thing…Be part of the journey by connecting the dots to creating a critical mass and a tipping point of a billion children and adults and the shift to a new consciousness. No longer accept current world systems of governance and insist on a shift in consciousness by your actions.
DOT – If you were to do one thing that were to change your life for the positive and knowingly would also change the lives of others by your actions… what would it be? And when you have that answer, will you do it? This is my challenge to you.

As you are surely well aware, the rally will be taking place at Kings Park Stadium on Sunday 27 November. Gates will open at 10am. Community based entertainment begins at 11h00. Official entertainment starts at 12h30 and ceremonial procedures begin at 14h00. Tickets are free. The purpose of the rally is to ask delegates negotiating at the upcoming climate change conference (COP17) taking place in Durban from 27 November to 9 December, to do so with courage and fairness.

The biggest climate change roadshow on earth and the biggest conference of its kind ever held on the African continent comes to Durban, South Africa, this weekend when the Indian Ocean city hosts delegates from 193 countries, plus a huge civil society contingent and others, for COP17-CMP7.

To drive action over talk, Nobel Peace laureate and South Africa’s favorite cleric, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, is inviting Africans and the world — including delegates, activists and the general public — to join faith leaders, political leaders and music stars at an “extraordinary” mass rally and afternoon concert.

The Archbishop will host the “We Have Faith – Act Now for Climate Justice” rally and concert at which he will call on world leaders attending the COP17 climate change talks to reach a fair and legally binding agreement to curb climate change.
Top South African and African musicians including Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Arno Carstens, rap star HHP and Kenyan Gospel rapper Juliani have confirmed they will perform at the pre-COP17 rally.

Faith leaders including Pope Benedict XVI, Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks and Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams have been invited. Those who cannot attend have been asked to send video clips of support.

Environmental campaigners and motivational speakers Lewis “the human polar bear” Pugh and conservationist and extreme adventurer Braam Malherbe are two of many earth activists who will address the crowd.