Two South Africans made history on Thursday when they became the first team to walk unsupported and unassisted to the South Pole.
"They did make it. It's just divine," Nadia Harris, wife of one of the pioneers, told Sapa yesterday.
Alex Harris and Sibusiso Vilane's expedition started in November last year. It saw them covering almost 1200 kilometres in temperatures ranging from 8 degree Celsius to about minus 40 degree Celsius.
Nadia Harris of Johannesburg said she received a brief phone call confirming the pair's feat.
Harris’ online journal entry from yesterday reads: “17 January 2008 day 65. the lord is faithful! at 1pm chilean time, alex harris and sibusiso vilane arrived at the south pole after 1113km.it is done! Praise the lord!”
Both men pulled sleds weighing about 130 kilograms with their supplies during the journey.
They did it all themselves with no support teams putting out food or rigging up tents and not using wind power or sled dogs to get there.
"It's the purest form of getting to the South Pole," said Harris when they set off last year.
Vilane said reaching the South Pole was his personal ambition and he wanted to fulfil his personal goal and "inspire other black Africans".
The two veterans of extreme adventures can now add another success to their list of incredible achievements. In 1996 Harris became the youngest person ever, at the age of 25, to lead an expedition to Mount Everest. Vilane’s first quest into the Himalayas made him the first black person in the world to conquer Everest when he reached the summit on the 26th of May 2003.
Nadia said the two were scheduled to return home next week.
To find out more about their remarkable journey, visit the websites of Alex Harris and Sibusiso Vilane.
Source: Sapa / SAGN
