A trek in the desert at 60: “If my physique stops me, I repair it, and I leave again”: Femme Actuelle Le MAG

On the finish line of trek Rose Trip Senegal, which was held in the Lompoul desert, from March 30 to April 2, a woman is overcome by emotion. Between tears of joy, she exclaims: “I was told you’re going to laugh, you’re going to shit, and you’re going to cry, that’s it!” She is Anne-Marie Pola, 60 years old, and this trek was her great challenge in this passage of ten, which gives us the title of “senior”. In a few years, this hyper-active person has completed a triathlon, two half-marathons, a peak at 3,200 meters, and a parachute jump. Described as a “leader” by her daughter Julie, she confided in Femme Actuelle about this extraordinary desert adventure.

“I turned 60, and my “to do list” has never been so daring!”

“I am a pharmacy technician, and for several years, I have had a client who comes with the same prescription for travel medications. Curious, I asked her where she was going, and she told me about this trek, the Rose Trip, 100% female, in Senegal. I am an athlete, I walk a lot in the Basque Country where I live, and I like challenges. For three years, the idea floated around in my head, without me taking the plunge. There was obviously a little apprehension, it’s the unknown… But this year, I turned 60, and my “to do list” has never been so daring! To my daughter and my friend Nathalie, I said: “Are you up for this crazy move?” and we signed up.

At 60, society talks to us about stopping, retiring, slowing down… For me, it is out of the question, I continue to work, to play sports, to set myself goals. I am convinced that we still have a lot to live and accomplish. Having a goal at this time of life is even essential: it is what guides us, which gives us the strength to move forward!

So one of my goals this year was this trek. So the three of us set out, crew 42. When we arrived, we saw that there were other women my age. We found that reassuring, we said to ourselves: we’re going to do it! This orientation trek represents between 15 and 18 kilometers of walking per day, in the arid context of the Lompoul desert in Senegal. We pass through savannah landscapes, we climb dunes, we also walk along the ocean, and in baobab forests… The temperatures can be very high, the terrain is sandy, which modifies the walk.

“The doctor gave me an infiltration. “You’re crazy” he told me.”

As the days go by, each of us deals with our bodies in these types of conditions, and mine is no longer 20 years old.… I had a herniated disc, operated on several years ago, which continues to hurt when I use too much force. Before leaving, I had to see the rheumatologist. My knees are tired, I had a ruptured patellar tendon, I no longer have cartilage, I have osteoarthritis, the left is on the edge of the prosthesis… A bag of water was there installed, so the doctor gave me an infiltration. “You’re crazy” he told me, but he agreed to give me a cortisone shot so I could start. Last night he called me to see how I was doing. And I must admit that the knee was pulling, I felt like a point piercing me from back to front. But I continued moving forward to finish the day’s trek.

I held on thanks to a woman I met some time ago in the Pyrenees, on a peak at 3200 meters above sea level.. She was 78 years old. I asked her what her secret was to being here, she simply replied: “Never stop, my little one”. This motto left an impression on me. So of course, I don’t have my daughter’s body, tomorrow I will have more aches. Sometimes, when my knees are too painful, I even go around a dune on the course to take a less steep path. But we always end up going beyond that, the mental surpasses the physical. And I finished these three days of walking, with my daughter and my friend!

Sixty years is not the end. Of course, we have problems behind us, moral and physical. My body never fails to remind me of my age. But I have this drive for life. I tell myself that if the physical aspect stops me, I’ll repair it and start again. I consider myself lucky, my health problems have always been superficial, I do not suffer from the vagaries of menopause, I do not have hot flashes. And whatever happens, I think we can continue to do everything, perhaps to a lesser extent than at 25… The oldest of the Rose Trip trek is 72 years old, I’m taking the bet to be there In 10 years, me too!”