George Lockhart’s safari trek

Feb 12 2010 by Lisa Boyle, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

MOST people would celebrate their 70th birthday with just a family gathering and a few drinks.

But George Lockhart isn’t most people.

The thrill-seeking pensioner is heading to the world’s biggest desert for a gruelling trek.

George will push himself to the limit and stomp across 100km of the Sahara desert in just six days.

But there’s method in his madness, George wants to raise hundreds of pounds for a charity close to his heart.

The Scottish Epilepsy Initiative are aiming to set up centres for young people suffering from epilepsy so that they can get together and share their experiences.

And with help from George and his fellow trekkers, the charity is on course to make the dream a reality.

Doonfoot man George has been training for months ahead of the trek at the end of February.

He said: “I’ve been building up the amount of walking I’ve been doing recently. I need to ensure I can walk up to eight hours a day.

“It’s pretty strenuous and one of the difficulties is training for the climate. During the day, temperatures will be in the mid to late twenties. But at night, it will drop to below freezing.”

George will be joined by 15 other Scots for the trek.

The gang will be guided by proud Berbers and a small caravan of camels to carry supplies.

The 100km trek will take in different landscapes, from stony flat land to perfect wind blown sand dunes and the occasional oasis.

George continued: “I’m starting to really look forward to it. The adrenaline is starting to kick in. This is something totally novel.

“I did a trek in South East Asia in 1979, but this is the first time I’ve been to the Sahara – I haven’t even been camping for years.

“The two main worries I’ll have are blisters on my feet and sunburn, so I’ll have good socks and Compeed to wrap my toes in if I get blisters and I’ll carry factor 50 sun block.

“I’ll also have to be careful not to dehydrate. I’ll probably drink about three litres of water a day.”

George concluded: “So far I’ve raised around £1200, but my target is £2400. I hope people will dig deep to support my cause.”

You can sponsor George online by logging on to www.justgiving.com/George-Lockhart