Peter Giddy Guided Tours. December 2019. Addo Elephant Park; Kragga Kamma wildlife reserve; Daniel Cheetah Project. Garden Route and Karoo Wildlife experience.
Peter Giddy Guided Tours -- Shore Excursions -- Addo Elephant and other Wildlife Reserves -- Garden Route. Flowers of Namaqualand --
0027 (0) 82 55 03 714 Whatsup
peter.giddy@gmail.com
- Addo Elephant Park Day Visit and Night drive.
- Kragga Kamma Wildlife Reserve
- Daniel Cheetah Project
- Pumba; Shamwari; Amakhala; Kariega -- Day trips Private Reserves.
- City Historical and Cultural Tours,
- Horse riding for both experienced and inexperienced riders
- Hikes and Walks around Port Elizabeth (2 hour Nature and Coastal walks)
- Garden Route Adventure Tours (Zip Lines; Segway in the Forest; Adventure Quad Biking; Bridge Walks; Bungy Jump; Knysna Elephant Park; Monkey Land and Birds of Eden; Big Cats Sanctuary; Oudtshoorn Cango Caves and Ostrich farms)
- Shore Excursions from Passengers ships
- Transfers. Airport; Hotel and Wildlife Reserve.
- Flowers of Namaqualand. Seven days of adventure and exploring places and sights you never even knew existed. History and natural beauty of the South West of South Africa
- Karoo to Garden Route. Six days of fun and activities. Prince Albert; Swartberg Pass; Die Hell; Oudtshoorn; Prince Alfred pass; Plett and Tsitsikamma.
- Wildlife Adventure in the Karoo. Three days; Three national parks; Lions; Cheetah; Elephants; Mountain and Plains Zebra and a variety of Antelope. Visit places of historical; natural and political interest.
Website -- petergiddyguidedtours.wordpress.com
For tours and bookings.. email me at. peter.giddy@gmail.com
Contact me on Whatsup.... 0027 082 550 3174
Sunday 1st December
Two days of assignments with Tracey. Azafani Tours. City tour and Kragga Kamma afternoon.
I am allocated a group of five men to take for a City Tour and then to the Trink offices in Newton Park. Colin is the National Franchisee for this organisation. Here he is with two from Israel and two from Mexico running similar businesses.
We have lunch at the Old Cash Store and then a brief visit to the Kragga Kamma park.
Monday 2nd. Again with a group from Tracey. Elephants at Spekboom with Colin Smith. The local owner of Trink and his two colleagues from Israel; Ilam and Yoel. I also met the two Mexicans; Raphael and Rual the smoker. And today we were with Louis and Ricardo from Brazil. Interesting listening to them talking about their operations.
Daniel Cheetah Project.
Looking at the Serval Cat with Melvyn and Sandra. Our guide is Maxine
Spotted Hyena. This is the male. There is now a 6 week old baby Hyena in the enclosure
Tuesday 3rd. Melvyn and Sandra for Daniel Cheetah Project.
I pick up Uli and Josie from Ikwanitsha which is near to Patterson
Kevin helps me to identify this as a Cape Bulbul. White Eye Ring and Yellow vent is how he describes it.
This family arrives. Two babies. Two mothers with purple marking on backside indicating contraceptive darting and one baby with gammy back leg.
Purple marking on the backside is a contraceptive dart.
Josie and Uli. He is an account manager in IT and she is a financial controller in an event organising company.
Wednesday 4th. I leave home at 5.30am to fetch Uli and Josie from Ikwanitsha near to Patterson.
We have a slow start to the day but finally we see huge numbers of Elephants including babies and the one baby which has a Gammy rear right leg. And females with a purple patch on the back where they have been darted with contraceptive we think.
This is Thembe. Identified by the Collar; Huge right tusk and broken left tusk. A big elephant but not dominant and is being dominated by other local big males. He backs down.
Broken left tusk and collar makes him easily identified.
My delightful guests today are Gerd (a graphic and web designer and a grand father to Ben and Nicole who works in one of the big supermarket chains of Germany.
A nice little family of Zebra on Mbabala loop.
Gerd proposed to Nicole this afternoon. See the ring finger. Here they are on a Sundowner Tour with the park ranger. A very much in love couple.
The Sundowner tour starts 5pm and is a two hour tour. Includes snacks and beverages.
Thursday 5th. A wonderful romantic afternoon with Gerd and Nicole at Addo today.
Matthias and Johanna at Spekboom Hide. Good sightings of Elephants today
Mike enjoying the activity at Spekboom
Saturday 7th. Mike joins me for an Experiential as he is training to be an Addo Guide. Also on the Addo Safari Tour is Matthias and Johanna. I pick them up at Manor 38 at 7am in an attempt to beat the heat of the day.
My Guest for the three day tour is Maxime -- Here he overlooks the Valley of Desolation with a view of Graaff Reinet in the background.
Sunday 8th. to Tuesday 10th.
Three day Karoo and Wildlife Adventure. We start our day at 7am in PE; Drive to Cradock where we visit the Cradock Four memorial. Then the Mountain Zebra Park ending our day at Ganora where we stay for two nights. Second day begins with a Rock Art walk and then in Nieu Bethesda and the Owl House. We visit the Valley of Desolation and back to Nieu Bethesda and a tour of the Fossil Research Center. Day Three . Tuesday we drive from Ganora to Addo where we spend the afternoon.
The Owl House in Nieu Bethesda with all these strange looking statues built by Helen Martins
Inside Helen's house ... Neat and well preserved
Wednesday morning Hiking group at Settlers Park. People who I can identify: Dennis and Flo are our leaders; Ian and Dave; Dave and Naomi; Paul and Rose; Dave and Heather plus two children; Keiko; Debbie; Martie; Errol and Mo; Eugene; Di and Jimmy; Jim; Sheila; Lesley; Steve and boy; Iva who I have to ask her name again. Two ladies? I think that we were 30 walking today.
In St Georges Park the bridge made of Railway Sleepers.
The St Georges Park Conservatory
St Georges Park War Memorial. Celebrating the Anglo Boer War as well as naming some of the people involved in the Great War (WW1) and World War Two.
The Art Gallery.. MCMXXV11. M = 1000. C = 100 so MCM is 1000 plus 1000 Less 100 = 1900 and XX is 20. V11 is 7. So we end up with 1927.
King George V1. King George the 6th was the second son of Queen Victoria who became King when his elder brother, Edward , abdicated to marry an American divorcee, .... Wallis. .
This Art Gallery was established MCM = 1900. L = 50 and V = 5. So we have 1955.
At the Atheneum we have this Mosaic and the reflection in the center pole.
Inside the Atheneum is an art gallery.
At the top of Donkin Road.
Newly restored homes and offices .... A coffee shop and the Bulls pulling a 100 year old wagon.
Wednesday 11th December 2019
I meet my hiking group at the Bridge Street Brewery for a bit of an educational walk. We start up the Baakens Valley and up to the Settlers Park parking area. Up to How avenue and into St Georges Park.
Our first stop is at the Conservatory which is presently in excellent condition. We continue to the War Memorial and the swings park area.
We pass the Cricket Stadium and the Duck Pond to the Art Galleries.
We walk up Bird Street and past the various Lawyer Offices down to the Little Theater in the Atheneum. Here we find the Mosaic which is a real point of interest as well as visiting the Art Gallery.
Our next port of call is the Donkin Reserve where a new set of lights has been erected and the park is busy planting trees on the borders. Unfortunately there remains a huge section where there is litter and a mess just below where the flag is supposed to be flying. Presently there is a situation with the motor of the pulley to raise the flag. So for a number of months we have not seen the flag flying.
We continue our walk to the Donkin Avenue and past the fountain / mosaic and down past the newly restored area where we find the Metal Bulls and the 100 year old wagon.
We walk along Chapel street, past SARS and below the Opera Theater to John Kani street which used to be Whites Road. Down to the Market square. Here we seem to become split up as some people are taking quite a while to get going.
I am walking with Ian and David and we continue over the New Bridge over the Baakens at the Tramways building and along Valley Road back to our cars.
In the snake park with Surprise; Lily; Kagiso and child.
I receive a call for a City Tour where I meet Surprise and her daughter Lily and two grandchildren; Kagiso -- 17 going into Matric and 5 year old cutie pie Kalalela I think her name is. We start off at the University and then Bayworld where we visit the Museum and Snake park. There is a live presentation at 12.00 each day. Unfortunately we miss that.
We do a city tour passing some of the placed I had walked earlier and then I drop them off at a shopping mall until I fetch them and return them to their hotel.
Something I learned today about the Sacramento Cannon.
The Cannon were Bronze. Weighing up to 3500kg. Cast in Macao in 1640. 40 cannon were salvaged in 1977 from the wreck of the Portuguese Galleon -- Sacramento.
The Sacramento and the Nossa Senhora da Atalaya sailed from Goa in India in 1647, carrying cargo of cannon intended as a Coronation Gift for King John IV of Portugal. Both were wrecked along this coast.
The Coat of Arms is that of the City of Macao in China and the Lion Crest that of the Telles de Menezes Family. The inscription reads: "Antonio Telles de Menezes Governor of India, ordered this made in the year 1640 by Manoal Tavares Bocarro"
Jancke is our guide at Daniell Cheetah Project. Her trainee is Jandre. Lucas and Philip are my guests.
They have two Lions. This is Chuck. Norris is sleeping
Lucas has a close encounter with the Cheetah named Chiquita.
In Addo we see plenty of Elephants at the Water Holes and on the road. Here we see two bulls and about 30 Zebra. Also in sight are a couple of Kudu and Warthog. The Elephants have a great time chasing the poor Zebra who are lining up for a drink.
Thursday 12th.
I have two for Daniel Cheetah and Addo from Conifer -- Philip and Lucas. Overall a good day despite driving rain in the early morning; sunshine during our tour and finishing with strong easterly winds.
Friday. Barbara flies to Cape Town and I have a list of Chores including some Dole Work.
Saturday. I meet Adrienne who is now back from working as a Carer in England; Susan and Mike at the beach front for a 5k. I am still not able to run and am losing my fitness rapidly. Susan tells me she has been battling with a cold so she and I cut short.
Meanwhile Nicky is in CT and she does a 28k training run. Her longest ever. Her goal is to run a 42k Marathon next year.
At Jacks picnic spot for Coffee and Hot Chocolate with sandwiches. Tom; Alex; Albert; Daniel; Adrienne; Gavin and myself.
Sunday I pick up Tom and Albert from Jikileza. These two men are traveling from CT up the coast towards Durban and the Drakensberg. They travel with small backpacks and despite being in Retirement age, they stay in backpackers and take buses taxis to move around. I pick up Adrienne who is with her brother Gavin, Daniel and her boyfriend, Alex. We do an early morning Addo. It rained through the night with substantial rain falling in the South Section of Addo. Much needed but still insufficient to make a real impact.
Our morning start well with sightings on a regular basis including a breeding herd of Elephants at Peasland and then ends just as good with a sighting of a Lion on a Hartebees kill which Kevin (Afroventures) watched from start to finish.
Barbara and Ally arrive back from CT. Ally is now completely finished with Stellenbosch having passed all her exams over the past three years earning a number of distinctions through her study years. Ally majored in English 75% and Psychology 53% in her final exams. She now has a Bachelor's degree.
Monday 16 December ... Day of Reconciliation.
Chris; Elmarie; Mike; Adrienne and Viv... Running from Hobie Beach 9km. I am able to maintain a slow jogging pace. Still have pain in my left calf.
The walking Group. With Angela; Mitch; Mike; Adrienne; Adelle and Susan.
Meeting up with a huge aggressive looking bull on the road.
An elephant right next to the vehicle. Sprays us with tummy water.
Lunch time at Jacks; Rosi; Baby; Daughter; Antonio; Jonatan and Gorgana. From Brazil.
A really hot day in Addo up to 43 degrees.
Tuesday 17th. I run with the Walkers. We go to the bottom of Mount Road. Up Dias road and then up Tucker road to Collegiate. We end on College Drive.
I pick up Jonatan; his wife Gorgana; children Antonio; ... and .... and their Nanny Rosi. From Brazil. He is a lawyer but has diversed into Construction of the infrastructure of housing estates. I pick them up at Mantis5 Brighton Drive. We have a good day in Addo. A special moment is when we are in the vehicle and an Elephant passes us by. And just as he passes the car he sprays himself with water from his tummy. And Sprays the vehicle at the same time.
Fires near to the Gouritz River Bridge on the N2.
Tennis with Nicky; Mia and Zara. My first time playing tennis in many years.
Wednesday 18th. Up at 2.30am. Leave home at 3.30am for Cape Town. One stop at Wilderness. There are huge fires near to the Gouritz Bridge. I continue to Swellendam and over to the N1 and 8.30 hours to Nicky's house. This afternoon we play a bit of Tennis. My first in Many Years!
The following day I pick up Brad and Marcia from Franschoek for a four day Garden Route Tour.
Franschoek to Oudtshoorn and Cango Caves.
Friday is Oudtshoorn to Plettenberg Bay with a Cango Ostrich Farm and Knysna Featherbed Cruise
Saturday we stay in Plett where we visit the Harkerville Market and Birds of Eden.
Sunday we leave Plett for PE. We stop at the Storms River Mouth -- Tsitsikamma Nature reserve .
Entrance to the Caves with Brad and Marcia from Omaha. Nebraska. America.
We stay over at the Oue Werf guest farm which is on the road to Cango. Marianne is our host. We have wonderful rooms and a great supper of Ostrich steak and roast veg. Malva Pudding. A perfect end to a long day.
Friday. We start our day with a lovely breakfast at Oue Werf. Marianne is our host.
Marcia and an affectionate ostrich at Cango Ostrich farm.
Returning back to the mainland on the cruiser which was surprisingly empty..
Saturday 21st.
PlettenbergBay. Harkerville Parkrun on Saturday 21st .... 648 runners. Position 2nd in my age group. Due to sore calf muscle that played up again during the run.
On the run. I tried to keep up with the man next to me but the calf muscle was just too sore.
Harkerville Saturday Market. Buzzing with people. I stood in line for over half an hour waiting for my Bundu Breakfast. Brad and Marcia enjoyed walking around.
Sunday 22nd. We leave from Plett and stop at the Blaaukrans to watch the Bungy jumpers before visiting Tsitsikamma Nature Reserve for a walk to the Suspension Bridges.
Storms River Mouth. Low tide and an Easterly making the sea quite choppy.
Braai at our house with Chris and John on Fire Duty. Bobby chats to Brad; Elmarie, Barbara and Sasha in the background
A perfect evening for Braaiing. Di and John also joined us this evening. Chatting to Marcia.
Bobby and Brad spent the evening chatting politics I think.
Tuesday 23rd morning I drop Brad and Marcia at the PE Airport for their flight onwards to Jhb and America.
I have a huge pile of stuff to do including Dole Work.
Finally we board for Jhb and Israel. We spend the next ten days in Israel with Jacqui.
Perhaps this is Paulo and Isabelle.
Zara sends up pics of her artistic creations.
This could almost be a self portrait
Chickens in the coup.
Margaret and Jordi write the following Christmas Letter.
Queridos primos,
Year End Parkrun newsletter from Paul Stinton Hewitt. Founder of parkrun.
In South Africa we have over 200 venues and over 700 000 registered runners.
The weekend of the 12th and 13th January 2019 saw a new global participation record with 371,184 parkrunners walking, jogging, running and volunteering across the world.
This year the parkrun practice initiative in the UK has grown considerably. More than 1,500 GP practices are now partnered with their local parkrun, signposting patients and staff to their nearest event.
We have lunch at the Old Cash Store and then a brief visit to the Kragga Kamma park.
Wednesday 4th. I leave home at 5.30am to fetch Uli and Josie from Ikwanitsha near to Patterson.
We have a slow start to the day but finally we see huge numbers of Elephants including babies and the one baby which has a Gammy rear right leg. And females with a purple patch on the back where they have been darted with contraceptive we think.
Thursday 5th. A wonderful romantic afternoon with Gerd and Nicole at Addo today.
Saturday 7th. Mike joins me for an Experiential as he is training to be an Addo Guide. Also on the Addo Safari Tour is Matthias and Johanna. I pick them up at Manor 38 at 7am in an attempt to beat the heat of the day.
Sunday 8th. to Tuesday 10th.
Three day Karoo and Wildlife Adventure. We start our day at 7am in PE; Drive to Cradock where we visit the Cradock Four memorial. Then the Mountain Zebra Park ending our day at Ganora where we stay for two nights. Second day begins with a Rock Art walk and then in Nieu Bethesda and the Owl House. We visit the Valley of Desolation and back to Nieu Bethesda and a tour of the Fossil Research Center. Day Three . Tuesday we drive from Ganora to Addo where we spend the afternoon.
This Art Gallery was established MCM = 1900. L = 50 and V = 5. So we have 1955.
Wednesday 11th December 2019
I meet my hiking group at the Bridge Street Brewery for a bit of an educational walk. We start up the Baakens Valley and up to the Settlers Park parking area. Up to How avenue and into St Georges Park.
Our first stop is at the Conservatory which is presently in excellent condition. We continue to the War Memorial and the swings park area.
We pass the Cricket Stadium and the Duck Pond to the Art Galleries.
We walk up Bird Street and past the various Lawyer Offices down to the Little Theater in the Atheneum. Here we find the Mosaic which is a real point of interest as well as visiting the Art Gallery.
Our next port of call is the Donkin Reserve where a new set of lights has been erected and the park is busy planting trees on the borders. Unfortunately there remains a huge section where there is litter and a mess just below where the flag is supposed to be flying. Presently there is a situation with the motor of the pulley to raise the flag. So for a number of months we have not seen the flag flying.
We continue our walk to the Donkin Avenue and past the fountain / mosaic and down past the newly restored area where we find the Metal Bulls and the 100 year old wagon.
We walk along Chapel street, past SARS and below the Opera Theater to John Kani street which used to be Whites Road. Down to the Market square. Here we seem to become split up as some people are taking quite a while to get going.
I am walking with Ian and David and we continue over the New Bridge over the Baakens at the Tramways building and along Valley Road back to our cars.
I receive a call for a City Tour where I meet Surprise and her daughter Lily and two grandchildren; Kagiso -- 17 going into Matric and 5 year old cutie pie Kalalela I think her name is. We start off at the University and then Bayworld where we visit the Museum and Snake park. There is a live presentation at 12.00 each day. Unfortunately we miss that.
We do a city tour passing some of the placed I had walked earlier and then I drop them off at a shopping mall until I fetch them and return them to their hotel.
Something I learned today about the Sacramento Cannon.
The Cannon were Bronze. Weighing up to 3500kg. Cast in Macao in 1640. 40 cannon were salvaged in 1977 from the wreck of the Portuguese Galleon -- Sacramento.
The Sacramento and the Nossa Senhora da Atalaya sailed from Goa in India in 1647, carrying cargo of cannon intended as a Coronation Gift for King John IV of Portugal. Both were wrecked along this coast.
The Coat of Arms is that of the City of Macao in China and the Lion Crest that of the Telles de Menezes Family. The inscription reads: "Antonio Telles de Menezes Governor of India, ordered this made in the year 1640 by Manoal Tavares Bocarro"
Thursday 12th.
I have two for Daniel Cheetah and Addo from Conifer -- Philip and Lucas. Overall a good day despite driving rain in the early morning; sunshine during our tour and finishing with strong easterly winds.
Friday. Barbara flies to Cape Town and I have a list of Chores including some Dole Work.
Saturday. I meet Adrienne who is now back from working as a Carer in England; Susan and Mike at the beach front for a 5k. I am still not able to run and am losing my fitness rapidly. Susan tells me she has been battling with a cold so she and I cut short.
Meanwhile Nicky is in CT and she does a 28k training run. Her longest ever. Her goal is to run a 42k Marathon next year.
Sunday I pick up Tom and Albert from Jikileza. These two men are traveling from CT up the coast towards Durban and the Drakensberg. They travel with small backpacks and despite being in Retirement age, they stay in backpackers and take buses taxis to move around. I pick up Adrienne who is with her brother Gavin, Daniel and her boyfriend, Alex. We do an early morning Addo. It rained through the night with substantial rain falling in the South Section of Addo. Much needed but still insufficient to make a real impact.
Our morning start well with sightings on a regular basis including a breeding herd of Elephants at Peasland and then ends just as good with a sighting of a Lion on a Hartebees kill which Kevin (Afroventures) watched from start to finish.
Barbara and Ally arrive back from CT. Ally is now completely finished with Stellenbosch having passed all her exams over the past three years earning a number of distinctions through her study years. Ally majored in English 75% and Psychology 53% in her final exams. She now has a Bachelor's degree.
Monday 16 December ... Day of Reconciliation.
Chris; Elmarie; Mike; Adrienne and Viv... Running from Hobie Beach 9km. I am able to maintain a slow jogging pace. Still have pain in my left calf.
Tuesday 17th. I run with the Walkers. We go to the bottom of Mount Road. Up Dias road and then up Tucker road to Collegiate. We end on College Drive.
I pick up Jonatan; his wife Gorgana; children Antonio; ... and .... and their Nanny Rosi. From Brazil. He is a lawyer but has diversed into Construction of the infrastructure of housing estates. I pick them up at Mantis5 Brighton Drive. We have a good day in Addo. A special moment is when we are in the vehicle and an Elephant passes us by. And just as he passes the car he sprays himself with water from his tummy. And Sprays the vehicle at the same time.
Wednesday 18th. Up at 2.30am. Leave home at 3.30am for Cape Town. One stop at Wilderness. There are huge fires near to the Gouritz Bridge. I continue to Swellendam and over to the N1 and 8.30 hours to Nicky's house. This afternoon we play a bit of Tennis. My first in Many Years!
The following day I pick up Brad and Marcia from Franschoek for a four day Garden Route Tour.
Franschoek to Oudtshoorn and Cango Caves.
Friday is Oudtshoorn to Plettenberg Bay with a Cango Ostrich Farm and Knysna Featherbed Cruise
Saturday we stay in Plett where we visit the Harkerville Market and Birds of Eden.
Sunday we leave Plett for PE. We stop at the Storms River Mouth -- Tsitsikamma Nature reserve .
Saturday 21st.
| Harkerville parkrun results for event #85. Your time was 00:32:58. |
| Congratulations on completing your 82nd parkrun and your 1st at Harkerville parkrun today. You finished in 205th place and were the 178th male out of a field of 648 parkrunners and you came 2nd in your age category VM65-69. |
Sunday 22nd. We leave from Plett and stop at the Blaaukrans to watch the Bungy jumpers before visiting Tsitsikamma Nature Reserve for a walk to the Suspension Bridges.
Tuesday 23rd morning I drop Brad and Marcia at the PE Airport for their flight onwards to Jhb and America.
I have a huge pile of stuff to do including Dole Work.
Finally we board for Jhb and Israel. We spend the next ten days in Israel with Jacqui.
Zara sends up pics of her artistic creations.
Margaret and Jordi write the following Christmas Letter.
Queridos primos,
We have been lately attending concerts in which Núria played the piano and Jordi beat the drum. I know Margaret sent you pics about it. Today, we are almost thru with the presents , we only need to search for a microscope . We expect Jordi´s family to come over for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve we will probably go to the cathedral for the midnight mass ( La Missa del Gall) after dinner. Margaret is already very busy in the kitchen . On boxing day, Margaret and I are going to Ardevol. We will participate in the nativity representation (pessebre). We gather around 200 actors who are distributed between the main characteristics of the pessebre ( Jesus, stable, Herodes, shepherds, angels, three wise men,...) and representations of skills such as: blacksmith, carpenter, wood chopper and others. Our pessebre also incorporates a wedding in which we participate as invitees dressed up for the occasion with old well preserved costumes, such as shirts with no collar, jackets with big brass buttons, wide belts, etc. We will be there for 4 days, From Ardèvol, we will be heading for Cerler until Jan 4 returning to Tarragona. On Jan 6, Jordi´s family coming home for lunch and collect what the three wise men brought for them.
Changing gears, we hope a new government of coalition between the socialists and Podemos will be formed soon in Spain and the Brexit is finally going to go.
Qué paséis unas Felices Fiestas y feliz Año Nuevo acompañados por Tom. Recuerdos para Julia y Laura. Recuerdos también para la familia de Peter.
Besos y Abrazos
Jordi i Margaret
Year End Parkrun newsletter from Paul Stinton Hewitt. Founder of parkrun.
In South Africa we have over 200 venues and over 700 000 registered runners.
The weekend of the 12th and 13th January 2019 saw a new global participation record with 371,184 parkrunners walking, jogging, running and volunteering across the world.
As 2019 draws to a close, it’s a pleasure to be able to reflect on what has been another huge twelve months for our movement.
It’s been a year of significant milestones. We welcomed 374 new parkrun events to the family, bringing the total number of parkrun events around the world to 2,078, and in July we saw the six millionth person register. If you discovered parkrun for the first time this year, the warmest of welcomes.
In April, Japan joined the parkrun family with the launch of Futakotamagawa parkrun in Tokyo. It’s been incredible to see how local Japanese people have embraced parkrun so quickly, and we now have 12 events across the country with several more due to launch before the first anniversary.
This year the parkrun practice initiative in the UK has grown considerably. More than 1,500 GP practices are now partnered with their local parkrun, signposting patients and staff to their nearest event.
This reflects over 20% of all GP practices in the UK and I’m delighted to see so many healthcare staff and patients participating in parkrun as a way of improving their mental and physical health.
It was November 2017 when the first prison-based parkrun was established. Two years on, we now have 30 events in prisons, young offenders institutes and correctional facilities around the world.
In the UK, more than 4,000 people have completed a parkrun on the custodial estate.
This year, the first parkrun on the women’s estate was launched at the Wandoo Rehabilitation Prison in Australia. The UK soon followed, with the launch of Downview parkrun at HMP & YOI Downview on parkrun’s 15th anniversary in October.
Our last day of 2019 is spent in Tel Aviv. We leave Jacquis flat at 4.30am and spend the day in Yorums flat and Jaffa.
