World recognised kayaker Freya Hoffmeister departed Guyana’s shores last Thursday morning to continue her circumnavigation of South America.
Only moments before her departure, the German business owner and athlete expressed excitement at the beginning of this leg of her journey.
“This is the last leg of my circumnavigation of South America and I am going to start over after two months break at home over Christmas. I am ready to go and I am heading to Suriname, it will take six days to get to the border and then keep on going to French Guiana, Brazil, Uruguay and then to Buenos Aires,” she explained.
With the tide in her favour, Hoffmeister made last minute preparations to her kayak and with the help of the Coast Guard officers, readied herself for the arduous journey ahead.
As to her expectations, she was optimistic about what lay ahead and exuded the confidence befitting a career athlete.
“My muscles are a bit stiff but it should be alright. I faced a lot of dangerous situations and I survived, thankfully I am still in one piece for the next leg of the journey.”
Thanks
During her short stint in Georgetown, Hoffmeister was treated to a city tour, compliments of the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA); she also thanked everyone including Cara Lodge for their assistance in providing accommodation and Germany Honorary Consul to Guyana Ben Ter Welle, for his unwavering support.
Circumnavigating open-water crossings and hundreds of miles of sheer cliffs without any landing zones for several days sometimes, Hoffmeister has mastered the art of dealing with tropical heat, cyclones and the challenges of obtaining drinking water and food – not to mention the physical toll of averaging upwards of 60 km per day.
Having completed the second leg of her journey which she begun in Buenos Aires, Argentina, two years ago, she arrived in Guyana in November, where she was warmly welcomed by a team of Tourism Ministry officials, as well as Welle.
The 49-year-old business owner from Husum, North Germany is scheduled to set another world record.
Hoffmeister was born on May 10, 1964 and is a German business owner and athlete, who holds several sea-kayaking endurance records. She started her journey in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This was done in stages, commencing in Valparaiso, the main harbour just off Santiago de Chile eight months later. She then returned home for four months. She resumed her adventure in September 2012, paddling north past Venezuela, before ending the second 8000km leg in Georgetown, Guyana. She then took a break to return in January 2014.
First woman
In 2009, she completed a solo circumnavigation of Australia unassisted, becoming the first woman and only the second person to do so. On August 30, 2011, she began her attempt to become the first person to solo circumnavigate the continent of South America, intending to complete the trip before her 50thbirthday.
In 2007, she and Greg Stamer completed the fastest-ever sea kayak circumnavigation of Iceland. They did so in 33 days.
Hoffmeister has made distinguishing marks in other sporting careers, given that she participated in 10 years of competitive gymnastics, five years of competitive body building and 10 years of skydiving with 1500 jumps.
She was the first German female tandem pilot with 500 passenger jumps, and part of many huge record formations. Her most exotic place to skydive was over the North Pole, getting washed out of a Russian jet plane with 300 km, with a racing bike passenger strapped to her chest.
The Tourism Ministry and the GTA said they are proud to have accommodated, facilitated and hosted this acclaimed athlete as she prepared for another record-breaking journey.
