Walking for lions cross the finishing line

After a long mentally and physical taxing journey, the team at Walking for Lions crossed the finishing line on Monday. 

The team kicked off their awarness raising walk in Windhoek on May 4 and 18 days later, on Monday the 20th of May 2013, accompanied by 30 volunteers, they entered their final destination – Ghanzi in Botswana – after a trek of 520 kilometers. 

“We cannot describe this as there truly are no words for this. With all the blisters, injuries and sore muscles the journey is finished”, they said on their Facebook page. 

The core group of four who started the journey in Windhoek, were given a special welcome in Ghanzi by the Chief of the town. A welcoming speech was delivered and the group were introduced to the Botswana Wildlife Department. 

Highlights of the trip included the friendly people with whom the group came into contact, from communities living on the route to Botswana, camp fire stories and the “friendly people”, many of whom  joined the group at various intervals. 

During vairous Facebook updates, the team often noted that despite the blisters, hot weather and painful muscles, their journey was kept alive by their absolute determination to create awareness of the plight faced by the African lion. 

In Namibia, lions in the wild are primarily threatened by illegal killing as a result of human wildlife conflict.