Cape Town – A Wilderness father and daughter's wish to spend the 21-day lockdown period camping by the Silver River near the Western Cape town did not go according to plan.
A search was initiated for the 34-year-old man and his 11-year-old daughter, who had taken a dog and kitten with them before the lockdown last Thursday, at 7pm on Tuesday after their family lost cellphone contact with them.
This came after the man's sister had called the NSRI, saying they had indicated in the afternoon that they were low on rations, NSRI Wilderness station commander Garth Dominy said on Thursday.
The call was dropped, however, and she was unable to get in touch with the duo again.
The man's brother gave the search party an indication where their campsite could be. The initial search had to be called off at 11pm on Tuesday due to the dense vegetation.
"The man’s sister called the NSRI, reporting that they had gone camping in a remote area to wait out the lockdown and were only due back after the lockdown, after she had dropped them off by vehicle at the start of a hiking trail on Thursday last week," said Dominy.
"But they had called that Tuesday afternoon to say they were low on rations before the call was dropped, and no further contact could be made with them and concerns for their safety were raised.
"The man’s brother had also been alerted and he assisted to give a clearer indication of where the campsite was.
"On Wednesday morning, permission to hike through private land to reach the remote and dense bush search area was obtained from a local land owner whose farm lay between the nearest road access point and the area where the camping site was believed to be," said Dominy.
"During a search coordinated by the EMS manager, we came across the campers, who were all fine and doing well.
"They were all fine and doing well. They were surprised that a search had been activated for them and were extremely apologetic for the fuss caused and grateful for their family's concerns.
"They were found to be in the process of packing up to return home and the search party assisted in clearing the campsite. They were hiked back to the road access point without incident and the sister arrived and they went home with the man’s sister.
"All were fine, including the dog and the kitten, and once safely back home no further assistance was required."