Cape to Cairo: SA's team 'Kortpad' rides for Joost

Cape Town - Four experienced riders will embark on a trip from Cape Agulhas, South Africa to Cairo, Egypt on their motorcycles.

The trip will start on September 1 from Cape Agulhas and the group, known as team Kortpad (shortcut) hopes to reach Cairo by November 2015. 

Their journey comprises both on and off-road routes, and the team will be exploring some of the less travelled areas in Africa, says Kortpad's spokesperson Retha Odendaal.

TAKING THE LONG WAY

Africa Uncut - Retha Odendaal and Rene Botha - is the team's expedition manager and will be helping team Kortpad to plan and co-ordinate the trip.

Odendaal said: "Everyone knows that the usual tested roads are normally the best to get you to your destination but the Kortpad team believes that the 'other route' is way more interesting and exciting. That’s also how the name 'Kortpad' came to be.

D -4, @africauncut busy to load the #kortpadnoord #gsadventure on the trailer which #millys will take down to #stellenbosch #southafrica for us in order to collect this weekend before our start at #agulhas

A photo posted by Kortpad Noord (@kortpad) on Aug 27, 2015 at 8:33am PDT

"Edrique Botha, one of the riders, always convinces his group that he knows a 'Kortpad', but that road always takes double the time to reach the destination. So, Kortpad is a way to say that we are probably not going to ride the shortest route, but surely the most exciting."

According to the team, their motto is "It's about the journey, not the destination".

RAISING AWARENESS

The main objective of this expedition is to create awareness and to raise funds for the J9 Foundation, created by former rugby legend Joost Van der Westhuizen, who is suffering from Motor Neuron Disease (MND).

Africa Uncut says: "The J9 Foundation’s core objective is to raise awareness, both locally and internationally for MND. 

"One of the main challenges the foundation faces is a lack of knowledge of MND. This lack of knowledge isn’t only experienced by public but is also a common among medical practitioners and nursing staff."

To donate R30 to the J9 Foundation sms “kortpad” to 42305. Read more about team Kortpad on their Facebook page and follow the team on Twitter: @Kortpadnoord.

HITTING THE LONG ROAD: Meet team Kortpad from left to right - Charl Meyer, Bruce Myburgh, Heiner Meyer and Edrique Botha who will travel from Cape to Cairo from September 1 to the end of November. Image: Supplied