94 days. Every day a marathon. Between 40 degrees C and –22. Gruelling terrain. The shortest distance they covered in a day was 11 kilometres and the most 57 kilometres. It took years of preparation, four months of agony and now, all of a sudden, it’s over.

“It’s funny the things you miss,” says David Grier of his four-month marathon along the Great Wall of China, “I just wanted a back rest”. He is indeed sitting back in his chair on fellow adventurer, Braam Malherbe’s lawn on Signal Hill in Cape Town.

The two of them look healthy and full of energy outside in the summer sun, clearly ecstatic at seeing the Atlantic (which is exceptionally blue today) stretch in front of them again.

They were the first people to cover the whole distance of the Great Wall of China on foot in one go. All in support of Operation Smile who’s mission is to repair cleft lips and give children their smiles back.

Following the wall through raw China

The journey along the wall took Braam and David through rural, raw China where “villages seemed like they stood still for the last hundred years.” There were no ablutions in the houses, only trenches outside which freeze over in winter.

And in the summer? “Then we’ll be here and they’ll be there,” says Braam gratefully.

They used sign language to communicate and made sure that they know basic words. The Chinese were very friendly and fascinated by body hair since they have very little body hair themselves.

David and Braam lost the wall wall sometimes and had to ask. ‘Chang chang’ as the Wall is known in Chinese was built as a barrier and therefore sometimes, “instead of building upwards, they built trenches” says Braam. The wall is made up of mud wall, trenches, rivers, rock and brick.

In Saanxi province, about 40 million Chinese live in caves, while some live inside the walls. David was extremely moved by the children here and took many pictures which he would like to compile into a photo book called ‘Children of the Wall’. He would also like to do a book about their food experiences along the way.

Anything tastes good when you’re really hungry

Although the Sports Science Institute of South Africa worked out a guide for them in terms of calorie and carbohydrate intake, they couldn’t always stick to it. From Gunsu all the way though the desert fruit, vegetables and meat was freely available. The Chinese was happy to share with these strangers from South Africa whatever they had even though they are really poor. Braam an David ate things such as pig guts and donkey which are, apparently “brilliant” when you are really hungry.

“We would eat and not ask but it always tasted good,” says David.

When they got to the more desolate areas food was not so easily available. “So we basically had a diet of fat and cabbage”. David and Braam explains how they literally ate blocks of fat with a little bit of meat on it. They carried multivitamins and probiotics with them which helped them through the nutrient scarce stages of the journey.

In the freezing temperatures, their water bottles would freeze up and even their sandwiches. But the worst thing about this journey for Braam was the “absolute disrespect for the environment. There was not one exception of a clean river. You don’t see living fish. We came across dogs being beaten with spades to make them aggressive… I’m not blaming China. It can happen anywhere. But that hurt me daily”.

Measuring the wall

China claims that their wall is 5000 km long. Yet Braam and David personally measured it’s length using GPS technology and came to a figure somewhere between 3500 and 3800.

"Chinese culture is so different. We cannot try to understand. Their compass faces South. And they invented it. They are the opposite of us,” says Braam.

The terrain was a killer, he adds. “You learn to adapt to bad experiences. It was a journey of learning and understanding”. That’s what his book will be about, he says, an inspirational journey for children to learn that anything is possible.

The highlight of the trip was finishing and the fact that they helped so many children through Operation Smile. “We forfeited rest days so we can be back before Christmas and ask people to contribute and help give children a smile this year” (click here for more).

They achieved a world first and changed lives. Now what?

“I’m going to be doing watersports,” says David, while Braam’s looking forward to doing some mountain biking and rock-climbing to help him train down: “We have to keep exercising — now’s the time you get sick because your body can finally relax”. They also hint at another adventure (with a smile, of course)…

» Click here for a gallery of the Wall