All our Group leaders have one thing in common - they have all walked the pilgrimage trails and have a desire to share their love of the Camino and Via Francigena with 'wanna-be' pilgrims! Because we want you to have the best possible experience we emphasise the need for you to walk your pilgrimage your way, at your own pace, no racing to keep up with fast walkers or dragging your heels to keep pace with slower walkers. The group leaders will always be there to accompany you if you need them but they are not tour guides and will not tell you how to walk Your pilgrimage.
Jon Stevens and Sharon Miller - Via Francigena: May/June 2018
Jon was born and raised in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. After graduating from Rhodes University he spent the next forty years in the IT industry. The industry allowed him to travel to almost every part of the USA, crisscrossing the States from Alaska to Key West and Portland Oregon to Portland Maine. When he could he explored the area on foot although in certain areas this does bring you to the attention of local law enforcement. Walking in the Main Line area of Pennsylvania is not considered normal!
The first long distance walk he did was from the source of the Thames to Windsor in England. The weather was clear and sparkling and he loved it. Subsequent walks along the Dorset coast and in Yorkshire were also fantastic although the weather was never as good as that first time. He has also walked the E4 trail in Greece plus trails on some of the islands of the North Sporades.
In 2011 he did the Camino Frances with Jenny Rooks. They parted ways at Estella but met up again in Astorga. The Camino is like that. People that you think you will never see again suddenly reappear in an albergue 300 km further on and are greeted as old friends. He loves Spain finding the people to be friendly, the food great and the walking and weather excellent. He subsequently walked the Camino de Plata, Camino Madrid and a portion of Camino Portuguese. In September 2015 he led a group of 12 amaWalkers pilgrims from St Jean to Santiago and again with Sharon Miller in May-June 2016. He will lead a group on the Via Francigena in 2018.
In South Africa he is a member of the local Ramblers hiking club and lead hikes regularly in the surrounding areas of Durban.
For him, walking is the pace that humans are meant to travel. The journey is the experience, not the arriving.
Jon was born and raised in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. After graduating from Rhodes University he spent the next forty years in the IT industry. The industry allowed him to travel to almost every part of the USA, crisscrossing the States from Alaska to Key West and Portland Oregon to Portland Maine. When he could he explored the area on foot although in certain areas this does bring you to the attention of local law enforcement. Walking in the Main Line area of Pennsylvania is not considered normal!
The first long distance walk he did was from the source of the Thames to Windsor in England. The weather was clear and sparkling and he loved it. Subsequent walks along the Dorset coast and in Yorkshire were also fantastic although the weather was never as good as that first time. He has also walked the E4 trail in Greece plus trails on some of the islands of the North Sporades.
In 2011 he did the Camino Frances with Jenny Rooks. They parted ways at Estella but met up again in Astorga. The Camino is like that. People that you think you will never see again suddenly reappear in an albergue 300 km further on and are greeted as old friends. He loves Spain finding the people to be friendly, the food great and the walking and weather excellent. He subsequently walked the Camino de Plata, Camino Madrid and a portion of Camino Portuguese. In September 2015 he led a group of 12 amaWalkers pilgrims from St Jean to Santiago and again with Sharon Miller in May-June 2016. He will lead a group on the Via Francigena in 2018.
In South Africa he is a member of the local Ramblers hiking club and lead hikes regularly in the surrounding areas of Durban.
For him, walking is the pace that humans are meant to travel. The journey is the experience, not the arriving.
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Sharon Miller accompanied Jon as co-Group Leader on the Camino in May 2017 and loved every moment.She will be co-Leader again in May 2018 on the Via Francigena from Lucca to Rome.
Born and raised in Zambia, went to high school in SA and thereafter lived in Durban. She too is a member of Durban Ramblers and has hiked in many different parts of SA, and in Europe including various sections of the Camino de Santiago (Frances, Portuguese and Madrid routes) the Via Francigena in Italy. and on mainland Greece as well as Skiathos and Skopelos. Sharon is adventurous and loves meeting new people. |
Brigitte Kaese - 22-day Camino Frances: May/June 2018
Brigitte first walked the Camino in Sept /Oct 2000. Upon receiving her first Compostela in Santiago in 2000 she was told that she was the first Namibian to have earned the certificate.
In 2011 she walked the Central Caminho Portuguese; in 2015 the Tunnel Route from Irun to Santo Domingo de Calzada and the Camino Ingles from A Coruna to Santiago. In 2016 she did the Coastal Portuguese Camino from Porto to Santiago and included the Spiritual Route from Pontevedra via the coast to Padron.
In South Africa she walked the Otter Trail 1982 and the Whale Trail 1999 and whilst living abroad she spent her weekends walking the Alps to Rocciamelone, Sella and a few others as well as the San Maria Gorge in Crete.
Brigitte is a retired Swedish Massage Therapist and has a holistic outlook on life. She has also worked in the fast world of advertising as a Media Planner. These days she walks with groups in the Western Cape to keep fit.
This year Brigitte will be walking the Via Francigena from Siena to Rome. Brigitte qualified as a HOSVOL (Hospitaleros Voluntarios) volunteer in February and aims to serve in Spain or Portugal in 2018.
She is looking forward to sharing her passion for the outdoors, hiking and for the Camino with her group.
Brigitte first walked the Camino in Sept /Oct 2000. Upon receiving her first Compostela in Santiago in 2000 she was told that she was the first Namibian to have earned the certificate.
In 2011 she walked the Central Caminho Portuguese; in 2015 the Tunnel Route from Irun to Santo Domingo de Calzada and the Camino Ingles from A Coruna to Santiago. In 2016 she did the Coastal Portuguese Camino from Porto to Santiago and included the Spiritual Route from Pontevedra via the coast to Padron.
In South Africa she walked the Otter Trail 1982 and the Whale Trail 1999 and whilst living abroad she spent her weekends walking the Alps to Rocciamelone, Sella and a few others as well as the San Maria Gorge in Crete.
Brigitte is a retired Swedish Massage Therapist and has a holistic outlook on life. She has also worked in the fast world of advertising as a Media Planner. These days she walks with groups in the Western Cape to keep fit.
This year Brigitte will be walking the Via Francigena from Siena to Rome. Brigitte qualified as a HOSVOL (Hospitaleros Voluntarios) volunteer in February and aims to serve in Spain or Portugal in 2018.
She is looking forward to sharing her passion for the outdoors, hiking and for the Camino with her group.
Jennifer Rooks - Director: Lourdes to Pamplona - Group One (May/June 2018)
South African born Jenny Rooks (a Director of amaWalkers Camino) is an ardent hiker and walker who says she is ‘totally addicted to the Camino’. She is also passionate about sharing her love of the Camino with all prospective pilgrims and helping them to achieve their goal.
Her addiction to the Camino began after attending one of Sylvia’s annual workshops on the Camino. She walked her first Camino in 2011 from St Jean Pied de Port to Santiago. In February 2012 she completed a Hospitaleros Voluntarios training course run by Sylvia and served as a Hospitalera at the parochial pilgrim shelter in Grañon She also walked the Camino Aragones and Camino Frances again in September and October 2012.
In 2013 she lead the May/June amaWalkers Camino group on the Camino Frances and in 2014 a September group on the same route. In May 2015 she led a group of amaWalker pilgrims on the 'Complete Your Camino" from Logrono to Finisterre and In 2016 she led a group on the Via Francigena to Rome.
Jenny is a highly experienced hiker and is actively involved in her local club, Durban Ramblers and Hiking Club, where she organises the hiking programme and is a hike leader. She lived in London for almost a decade until 2005 and during that period, she walked all over England, and hiked in Spain and Sicily.
Leading groups of people is not new as Jenny gained experience with taking groups on holidays during her career in public relations. While she was at the University of Natal, she organised and led 3 tours to Madagascar for graduates of the university, as well as an annual bus tour for 44 alumni exploring all the Anglo-Boer War battlefields.
Jenny feels very privileged to be able to help pilgrims along their journey to Santiago or to Rome.
Her addiction to the Camino began after attending one of Sylvia’s annual workshops on the Camino. She walked her first Camino in 2011 from St Jean Pied de Port to Santiago. In February 2012 she completed a Hospitaleros Voluntarios training course run by Sylvia and served as a Hospitalera at the parochial pilgrim shelter in Grañon She also walked the Camino Aragones and Camino Frances again in September and October 2012.
In 2013 she lead the May/June amaWalkers Camino group on the Camino Frances and in 2014 a September group on the same route. In May 2015 she led a group of amaWalker pilgrims on the 'Complete Your Camino" from Logrono to Finisterre and In 2016 she led a group on the Via Francigena to Rome.
Jenny is a highly experienced hiker and is actively involved in her local club, Durban Ramblers and Hiking Club, where she organises the hiking programme and is a hike leader. She lived in London for almost a decade until 2005 and during that period, she walked all over England, and hiked in Spain and Sicily.
Leading groups of people is not new as Jenny gained experience with taking groups on holidays during her career in public relations. While she was at the University of Natal, she organised and led 3 tours to Madagascar for graduates of the university, as well as an annual bus tour for 44 alumni exploring all the Anglo-Boer War battlefields.
Jenny feels very privileged to be able to help pilgrims along their journey to Santiago or to Rome.
Jeremy Grest and Judith Shier-Grest : Camino Aragones - Group Two May/June 2018
Jeremy Grest is a retired Political Scientist who now volunteers with an NPO that teaches English to refugees, and manages a social science journal. He has been a keen walker and hiker most of his adult life. In his younger days he would take off with heavy backpack and scale the heights of the Natal Drakensberg Mountains, sleeping in caves on the way, or in shepherds’ huts vacated in the winter by the herd boys in the highlands of Lesotho. Camping holidays in the mountains and day walks with children followed.
When he first heard about the Camino de Santiago, several years ago, it immediately struck a deep inner chord, and he determined to walk it to help find his compass when he retired. He and Judith walked the Camino Frances together in 2013. They stayed in albergues and covered about half its length, starting in St. Jean, taking the bus across la meseta and ending in Santiago. The experience was profound in so many ways, and the generosity of hospitaleros encountered along the way motivated both pilgrims to attend the workshop run by Sylvia and Jenny to qualify as Voluntarios Hospitaleros in order to be able to return to other pilgrims something of what they had received by serving in Alpriate, an albergue on the Caminho Portuguese in 2016.
Judith Sheir-Grest grew up in a family of ‘walkers’ but it was only as an adult that she began to really enjoy walking and hiking. It's magic had seeped in by then, and it is something she continued to do over the years, raising a family, and working as an ‘information specialist’. She has had the good fortune to have both a consistent and regular walking friend, and her husband, Jeremy, with whom to share her love of walking.
Walking the Camino Frances in 2013 reminded her that this is what humans are meant to do. Being out there, under the sky and in the flow of the practice of walking, day after day, brought a new understanding of the value of such a walk, and the love of the Camino was ignited. She found both Spain, and many of the people she encountered on the Camino delightful. Judith completed a Hospitaleros voluntarios course with Sylvia and Jenny in 2015 and served with Jeremy in Portugal in 2016.
She has hiked with Jeremy in the Drakensburg and Western Cape, in the UK, including the walks on the South Downs and the Scottish borders. In 2014 they completed a section of the North Downs Way which forms part of the Pilgrim’s Way to Canterbury.
Judith has a deep interest in ‘well-being’ and now works as a cranio-sacral therapist and HeartMath coach.
Jeremy Grest is a retired Political Scientist who now volunteers with an NPO that teaches English to refugees, and manages a social science journal. He has been a keen walker and hiker most of his adult life. In his younger days he would take off with heavy backpack and scale the heights of the Natal Drakensberg Mountains, sleeping in caves on the way, or in shepherds’ huts vacated in the winter by the herd boys in the highlands of Lesotho. Camping holidays in the mountains and day walks with children followed.
When he first heard about the Camino de Santiago, several years ago, it immediately struck a deep inner chord, and he determined to walk it to help find his compass when he retired. He and Judith walked the Camino Frances together in 2013. They stayed in albergues and covered about half its length, starting in St. Jean, taking the bus across la meseta and ending in Santiago. The experience was profound in so many ways, and the generosity of hospitaleros encountered along the way motivated both pilgrims to attend the workshop run by Sylvia and Jenny to qualify as Voluntarios Hospitaleros in order to be able to return to other pilgrims something of what they had received by serving in Alpriate, an albergue on the Caminho Portuguese in 2016.
Judith Sheir-Grest grew up in a family of ‘walkers’ but it was only as an adult that she began to really enjoy walking and hiking. It's magic had seeped in by then, and it is something she continued to do over the years, raising a family, and working as an ‘information specialist’. She has had the good fortune to have both a consistent and regular walking friend, and her husband, Jeremy, with whom to share her love of walking.
Walking the Camino Frances in 2013 reminded her that this is what humans are meant to do. Being out there, under the sky and in the flow of the practice of walking, day after day, brought a new understanding of the value of such a walk, and the love of the Camino was ignited. She found both Spain, and many of the people she encountered on the Camino delightful. Judith completed a Hospitaleros voluntarios course with Sylvia and Jenny in 2015 and served with Jeremy in Portugal in 2016.
She has hiked with Jeremy in the Drakensburg and Western Cape, in the UK, including the walks on the South Downs and the Scottish borders. In 2014 they completed a section of the North Downs Way which forms part of the Pilgrim’s Way to Canterbury.
Judith has a deep interest in ‘well-being’ and now works as a cranio-sacral therapist and HeartMath coach.
Lorraine Comrie - 22-day Camino Frances: September 2018
Lorraine is a retired Registered Nurse from Durban, South Africa. Being a farmer’s daughter she learned the pleasure of walking from a very early age and discovered how it improves her state of mind. She started doing longer walks when training for her first Camino with amaWalkers in 2013.
On returning from her first Camino she found that walking the Camino had improved her day to day life in many unexpected ways. In 2015 she walked her second amaWalkers pilgrimage from Logroño to Finisterre with Jenny Rooks as her group Leader. This deepened the beneficial experiences which arose from the first Camino.
She is passionate about walking and keeping fit, and organises and coordinates a group of walkers in the Giba Gorge, Durban South Africa, on a weekly basis. She recently did a five day hike in and near the Swartberg Mountains and will be doing one of the Wild Coast Hikes in March 2017.
In February 2017 she completed the Hospitaleros Voluntarios Course with Sylvia and Jenny, and hopes to be able to serve in one of the Albergues in the future.
Lorraine is looking forward to sharing your Camino with you in September 2018, with its many lessons on the way.
Lorraine is a retired Registered Nurse from Durban, South Africa. Being a farmer’s daughter she learned the pleasure of walking from a very early age and discovered how it improves her state of mind. She started doing longer walks when training for her first Camino with amaWalkers in 2013.
On returning from her first Camino she found that walking the Camino had improved her day to day life in many unexpected ways. In 2015 she walked her second amaWalkers pilgrimage from Logroño to Finisterre with Jenny Rooks as her group Leader. This deepened the beneficial experiences which arose from the first Camino.
She is passionate about walking and keeping fit, and organises and coordinates a group of walkers in the Giba Gorge, Durban South Africa, on a weekly basis. She recently did a five day hike in and near the Swartberg Mountains and will be doing one of the Wild Coast Hikes in March 2017.
In February 2017 she completed the Hospitaleros Voluntarios Course with Sylvia and Jenny, and hopes to be able to serve in one of the Albergues in the future.
Lorraine is looking forward to sharing your Camino with you in September 2018, with its many lessons on the way.
Sylvia Nilsen - Director
Sylvia, one of the founders of amaWalkers Camino, is a peripatetic traveller and self confessed pilgrimage addict who is passionate about the Camino and about encouraging others to walk 'The Way'.
In 2001 she organised a walk across England for 10 people. She organised her first Camino walk in 2002 on a 750km trek from Roncesvalles to Santiago. When she returned, she joined the newly formed Confraternity of St James of South Africa and was the Regional Co-ordinator in her Region for 7 years. She conducts annual Practical Pilgrim workshops for new pilgrims and St James Feast Days in July of each year.
In 2004 she walked over 1 200km on the Via Turonensis from Paris to Spain and earned her second Compostela, walking the same year from Sarria to Santiago. In 2006 she led pilgrims on a 700km walk from Lake Lausanne in Switzerland to Rome on sections of the Via Francigena pilgrimage trail.
In 2007 she returned to Spain, co-ordinating a walk on the Camino Frances and in 2009 she led a walk from Lourdes in the South of France, crossing the Pyrenees at the Somport Pass onto the Camino Aragones to Pamplona in Navarre.
She has also walked the Camino Ingles to Santiago twice and from Santiago to Finisterre. She has led amaWalkers groups on the 22-day amaWalkers Camino since 2011 and in 2013 and 2014 she assisted groups of not-so-able people on the last 100 km of the Camino Frances and Camino Ingles to Santiago.
Sylvia is an accredited HOSVOL (Hospitaleros Voluntarios) trainer in South Africa and has trained over 100 new volunteer hospitaleros so far. She served for two weeks as hospitalero at the San Roque albergue in Corcubion after training in the albergue in Finisterre and for 2 weeks in the San Anton albergue on the meseta in 2015.
She is the author of a number of Camino books including the pilgrim planning guide “Your Camino, on foot, bicycle and horseback in France and Spain", a historical novel "Pilgrim Footprints on the Sands of Time", co-author of "La via Francigena: Five Pilgrims to Rome" of "Camino Lingo - English/Spanish Words and Phrases for Pilgrims on el Camino de Santiago." Her latest book is 'Slackpacking the Camino Frances' for people who do not want to stay in dormitories or carry their packs every day.
In May 2017 she walked a Slow Camino from Sarria to Santiago in memory of Donna Felisa Medel from Logroño whose 84 year-old daughter, Maria, still offers Felisa's famous sello offering 'Higos, Agua y Amor' (Figs, Water and Love) to passing pilgrims.
Sylvia, one of the founders of amaWalkers Camino, is a peripatetic traveller and self confessed pilgrimage addict who is passionate about the Camino and about encouraging others to walk 'The Way'.
In 2001 she organised a walk across England for 10 people. She organised her first Camino walk in 2002 on a 750km trek from Roncesvalles to Santiago. When she returned, she joined the newly formed Confraternity of St James of South Africa and was the Regional Co-ordinator in her Region for 7 years. She conducts annual Practical Pilgrim workshops for new pilgrims and St James Feast Days in July of each year.
In 2004 she walked over 1 200km on the Via Turonensis from Paris to Spain and earned her second Compostela, walking the same year from Sarria to Santiago. In 2006 she led pilgrims on a 700km walk from Lake Lausanne in Switzerland to Rome on sections of the Via Francigena pilgrimage trail.
In 2007 she returned to Spain, co-ordinating a walk on the Camino Frances and in 2009 she led a walk from Lourdes in the South of France, crossing the Pyrenees at the Somport Pass onto the Camino Aragones to Pamplona in Navarre.
She has also walked the Camino Ingles to Santiago twice and from Santiago to Finisterre. She has led amaWalkers groups on the 22-day amaWalkers Camino since 2011 and in 2013 and 2014 she assisted groups of not-so-able people on the last 100 km of the Camino Frances and Camino Ingles to Santiago.
Sylvia is an accredited HOSVOL (Hospitaleros Voluntarios) trainer in South Africa and has trained over 100 new volunteer hospitaleros so far. She served for two weeks as hospitalero at the San Roque albergue in Corcubion after training in the albergue in Finisterre and for 2 weeks in the San Anton albergue on the meseta in 2015.
She is the author of a number of Camino books including the pilgrim planning guide “Your Camino, on foot, bicycle and horseback in France and Spain", a historical novel "Pilgrim Footprints on the Sands of Time", co-author of "La via Francigena: Five Pilgrims to Rome" of "Camino Lingo - English/Spanish Words and Phrases for Pilgrims on el Camino de Santiago." Her latest book is 'Slackpacking the Camino Frances' for people who do not want to stay in dormitories or carry their packs every day.
In May 2017 she walked a Slow Camino from Sarria to Santiago in memory of Donna Felisa Medel from Logroño whose 84 year-old daughter, Maria, still offers Felisa's famous sello offering 'Higos, Agua y Amor' (Figs, Water and Love) to passing pilgrims.
Dojema Theron - 22-day Camino Frances: 9 September - 30 September 2017
Dojema Theron is a South African, born and raised in the Little Karoo. She lived in Namibia for five years and settled in Stellenbosch nineteen years ago.
She is passionate about hiking, nature, animals and travelling. She has hiked the Inca Trail in Peru and an Amazon Expedition. In Africa she has done mountain gorilla Trekking in Uganda, hiked the Fish River Canyon in Namibia, the Otter Trail, Whale Trail, Postberg, Outeniqua and the Hoerikwagga trails in South Africa. She regularly does walks in the mountains and nature reserves of the Western, Southern and Eastern Cape.
In 2008 she discovered the Camino and embarked on her first Camino in 2009 walking the Camino Frances from St Jean Pied de Port to Santiago Compostela. She was captivated by the unique experience of walking the Camino and knew that she would walk again. On her return she encouraged others to walk it, assisting them with their planning.
In 2012 she returned to Europe, walking the Camino Portuguese from Lisbon via Fatima to Santiago. After reaching Santiago she continued on the Camino Ingles from El Ferrol to Santiago and then continued walking to Finisterre and Muxia.
The generosity, goodwill and kindness of people on the Camino motivated her to attend the Hospitaleros Voluntarios course presented by Sylvia in March 2016. She served for two weeks as hospitalero in the Albergue San Anton on the Meseta in June 2016. A week later she joined Sylvia’s group and walked the Via Francigena to Rome.
She has gained valuable experience organising, co-ordinating and leading groups on hikes, tours and adventure training. She works in the Wedding and Events industry and is fortunate to have the freedom to plan her work around walking and serving on the Camino.
Dojema is looking forward to sharing the mesmerising 'Way' with you in September 2017.
Dojema Theron is a South African, born and raised in the Little Karoo. She lived in Namibia for five years and settled in Stellenbosch nineteen years ago.
She is passionate about hiking, nature, animals and travelling. She has hiked the Inca Trail in Peru and an Amazon Expedition. In Africa she has done mountain gorilla Trekking in Uganda, hiked the Fish River Canyon in Namibia, the Otter Trail, Whale Trail, Postberg, Outeniqua and the Hoerikwagga trails in South Africa. She regularly does walks in the mountains and nature reserves of the Western, Southern and Eastern Cape.
In 2008 she discovered the Camino and embarked on her first Camino in 2009 walking the Camino Frances from St Jean Pied de Port to Santiago Compostela. She was captivated by the unique experience of walking the Camino and knew that she would walk again. On her return she encouraged others to walk it, assisting them with their planning.
In 2012 she returned to Europe, walking the Camino Portuguese from Lisbon via Fatima to Santiago. After reaching Santiago she continued on the Camino Ingles from El Ferrol to Santiago and then continued walking to Finisterre and Muxia.
The generosity, goodwill and kindness of people on the Camino motivated her to attend the Hospitaleros Voluntarios course presented by Sylvia in March 2016. She served for two weeks as hospitalero in the Albergue San Anton on the Meseta in June 2016. A week later she joined Sylvia’s group and walked the Via Francigena to Rome.
She has gained valuable experience organising, co-ordinating and leading groups on hikes, tours and adventure training. She works in the Wedding and Events industry and is fortunate to have the freedom to plan her work around walking and serving on the Camino.
Dojema is looking forward to sharing the mesmerising 'Way' with you in September 2017.