Charles Witlox, also known as Charlie and founder of Charlie’s Travels from Oisterwijk, died in a kitesurfing accident in South Africa. Witlox, 33, had lived in Africa for several years and traveled all over the country to discover new places.
South African news website news24.com reports that a gust of wind caught him while kitesurfing and swept him hundreds of meters out to sea. He was seriously injured as a result. Witlox was taken to hospital in critical condition. There he eventually succumbed to his injuries.
Two days before the tragic accident, the South African weather service had warned of strong to almost stormy winds between fifty and seventy kilometers per hour and waves between 3.5 and 4.5 meters high.
“Charles was an example to us, an icon.”
On the website of Charlie’s Travels is an In Memoriam to read. “Many know him as the adventurer who crossed Africa on his motorcycle to discover new places for all his future clients. In search of the off the beaten track adventure, making a real connection with the locals so that they, the customers, could once see the real Africa, the Africa as he knew it. Not the way the media presented it every day. Charles was an example to us, an icon.”