ADVENTUROUS RIDER

Marianne du Toit undertook an amazing solo adventure and turned it into a book, Crying with Cockroaches — Argentina to New York with Two Horses. Marianne travelled through South and North America with two horses, a journey that took more than 21 months, finishing in March 2004. While in New York she also rode one of her horses in the St. Patrick’s Day parade. The daughter of a concert pianist, she graduated from Stellenbosch University in 1992 with a BA degree in political science and psychology. Marianne worked and travelled throughout Europe for three years, including a 1995 three-month solo cycling tour that took her through six European countries. Afterwards, she settled in Dingle, County Kerry, where she first worked as a waitress at Danno's Bar. After discovering the nearby Blasket islands, she took a live-in job at the Blaskets Café, baking. A year later she moved to Dublin, working at the Royal College of Physicians for several years before joining IBEC as Human Resource Officer. Since completing her horseback journey, she has been doing wedding and portrait photography. She also campaigns for animal rights and is involved with the Pegasus Project in Sligo, and equestrian therapeutic riding.