Walk 6000 km along the Nile to
the good cause

Claude Cazes did not think long to contact one of his first key partners in the success of this adventure, Laurent Gamez, who runs the Sarda pharmacy in Béziers. He tells me how the first contact was established: “When I told him about the project, he assured me that I could count on him for the distribution of the drugs. For obvious security reasons, knowing that I could be a target in some at-risk countries, I decided not to transport the drugs myself, as they remain rare and precious in Africa. My pharmacist friend helped me with the logistics. Very quickly, I was also able to count on the members of the NGO  "At hand", who offered to take care of all the administrative part. They helped me in particular with the entrance fees, visas, etc ... The provisional budget to ensure the entire organization of the expedition was around 20,000 € without the costs related to drugs. On social networks, we appealed for donations. Part of the funds will be donated to the NGO "A reach de mains". This will help them develop education and integration projects and help improve the living conditions of vulnerable populations. What motivated me at first to carry out my mission was to be able to shed light on these African countries in need, we must not forget them, we must help them again and again, because 'sometimes they don't have a tap to get water, they don't have a pharmacy nearby, most of them don't have a switch like us to press for electricity. My crossing of East Africa in almost complete autonomy is a physical challenge, but for me, it is also a way of talking about the situation in Africa which is close to my heart and which remains the great forgotten one. of our planet. My message is addressed to future generations and to all people who want to do something good in their life: when you believe in it and put all your strength into it, you inevitably get there . This is what I tried to prove by going to the end of my adventure despite the many pitfalls encountered along the way. "

During his journey in Africa, Claude Cazes thus escaped death twice. The first time following an intoxication which led him straight to the hospital, the other because of an ambush created by armed bandits in southern Sudan, while he was taking the only road between Nemule and Juba .  

These two misadventures were not the only difficulties he encountered. He had to make several U-turns in order to avoid dangerous situations, to take to the air because the land borders were closed. He was also forced to call his financial partners, because his money was stolen from him during his sleep when he had fallen asleep from exhaustion or he was forced to call the French embassy to his arrival in Egypt, because he was held against his will by the local authorities for 15 days for "administrative verification".

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In addition to all these difficulties, Claude found himself confronted with an often hostile environment having to face many animal species that live in these regions such as gorillas, lions, leopards, hippos… During our discussion, he m 'says more about his knowledge of these natural environments: “I have studied at length on the internet the different types of terrain crossed, whether mountainous, or in a more tropical atmosphere in the jungle. I knew that there would be precautions to take with certain animals such as hippos for example, which can be very aggressive if we are not careful. Of all the animals, in my opinion, they are among the most dangerous. The hippopotamus lives in a group and when you get too close, it becomes very aggressive and instinctively charges the human. In Uganda, to go up the Kagera river, I could have met gorillas, leopards, jaguars… There were also snakes, scorpions and of course crocodiles on the banks of the Nile. In this wild environment, there is no room for mistakes. In addition to the tropical climate complicated to manage, I had to walk in the savannah, but also in swamps. To avoid going around them and lengthening the road, I sometimes had to cross them. Fortunately, I had planned anti-leech socks. An infection could have ended my expedition very quickly. The climatic conditions and the geographical reliefs were therefore sometimes hard to bear physically. "

On this last point, Claude told me more about the conditions of his training: “physically I was already following  a very rigorous and intense preparation, because I was preparing to walk in Greenland before embarking on the crossing of Antarctica, a project initially planned for 2021 that I had to postpone to 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic and the border closure. Fortunately of a far-sighted nature, I had pre-established the 5 years of expeditions to come. For this new adventure in Africa, I could therefore count on my daily training program. Like a real athlete, I tried to get my body used to extreme efforts. To do this, I used a mask that simulates breathing at an altitude of over 4,000 m, but also a weighted vest and sometimes even a sled to pull. To familiarize myself with the temperatures of the South Pole, I regularly took showers in cold water or during cryotherapy sessions, I would sometimes immerse myself in an ice bath, as does the Dutchman Wim Hof nicknamed "the" ice man ”(Iceman) who holds records for resistance in extreme cold conditions, which I tried to beat in my turn.