Mercia, 65, and her husband Johan, 67, both from East London, embarked on a gentle walk at around 08h00 on Sunday morning 20 November armed with a liter of water, a 500ml cool drink and 3 bananas on the Umtiza hiking trail (known as the Dassie Trail) about 15 kilometers inland of East London.
Mercia told the NSRI, after being rescued late this afternoon, that almost immediately into their walk the trail they were on seemed to disappear and they tried desperately, in vain, to find any resemblance of a hiking trail or foot path.
They fought their way through dense bush but, according to the couple, they were eventually surrounded, trapped and pinned in by thick dense bush almost unable to move and with no idea where they were in relation to where their walk had begun.
Fortunately they had a cellphone signal and they phoned a family member in Brakpan at around 14h00 who raised the alarm.
Metro EMS, a Metro EMS rescue squad, a Metro EMS rescue helicopter, a Police Search and Rescue K-9 unit, SA National Parks rangers and the NSRI East London volunteer duty crew were activated.
“Knowing how thick that bush is we needed a lot of manpower to cover the terrain before dark” said Geoff McGregor, NSRI East London station commander.
It was ascertained that the couple had embarked on their hike at what is normally the ending point of the trail and the rescue teams arrived on-scene and fanned out to begin a search (at around 15h30).
The couple, anxious because Johan suffers from a heart medical condition had, according to Geoff, made the right decision, once they had realized they needed help, to stay put and not move any further.
The search became more intense after rescuers realized that in the thick bush, guarded and shaded by a thick canopy of trees overhead, light was fading fast as the afternoon drew on and at approximately 16h45 the couple were spotted by the helicopter rescue team who guided rescuers (who were on foot) to their location not too far from where they had begun their walk but quite a distance from any of the foot trails. “Their relief at being found was obvious” said Geoff.
It then took rescuers about another hour and a half to gently walk the couple out of their predicament, cutting their way through barely accessible thick dense bush, and eventually back to civilization.
The couple have sincerely thanked their rescuers.
