The rumours are true....maybe it is old news by now on Facebook but breaking news on the blog...yesterday was the day! Yes, it was the famous TDA Naked Mile, participated in by a very good percentage of the riders, including the 2 contributors to this blog.
The morning ride was 15 km to the start of a 30 km time trial, with lunch at 45 km. This was a ridiculously short day by TDA standards but just how it worked out with camp locations and rest days. The idea was for the guys to head out as a group together after lunch, with the ladies to follow a discreet time after. However, one rider ( NOT named Wayne) just couldn't wait and did the time trial naked, with his rider number strategically placed. After that inspiring ride, how could the rest of us not join in the fun? We rode about 10 km in total, after posing for pictures, with "Tour d'Afrique 2013" spelled out on our lower backs, one letter per girl! You will have to guess which letter I am if you find the photos on Facebook, or you can wait for our own photos to come home with us! Not much traffic on this unpaved section but most vehicles going by did slow down and wee got lots of honks and waves and smiles.
Namibia is incredible! This morning we went out to the dunes about 60 km away from here, they were breathtaking in the dawn light. We climbed up , slid down, walked around on the dry lake beds and took in the gorgeousness. Now we digesting an immense lunch and working up the energy to walk back through the heat to the campground. Back on the road tomorrow for 5 more days of gravel before we hit the border.
Sent from my iPad
Monday, April 29, 2013
Thursday, April 25, 2013
German California, aka Namibia
We are in our ninth of ten countries, Namibia! We crossed the border back on the 207 km day, right at the end of the day, then rode the last kilometre into camp. We were surprised to come into a very civilized campground with lovely green grass, hot showers, and flush toilets - wow! Plus a store which still has Wayne talking about how easy it was to buy our usual stash of cookies, chocolate bars and chips ( why am I not gaining weight??), pay in Botswana currency and get change in Namibian currency! Just like that! Plus the clerk knew how to make change and figure out the different currencies with ease. It has been surprising to see how lacking in basic arithmetic skills some shopkeepers are but I guess that may be an indication of education levels affecting literacy and numeracy.
But back to German California....we feel we have left what we've come to think of as the "real" Africa behind - riding into Windhoek yesterday was weird, it is clean, orderly, hilly, green with lots of flowers and palm trees, and all the street signs and business signs are in German. European, yet tropical. Sort of African, but not at all chaotic. One thing that has not changed though is the drivers, do they ever go fast. The speed limit on the 2 lane highway with absolutely no shoulder is 120 km/hr. That was true even back on the Elephant Highway when running into one of those big boys could definitely slow you down. We have learned to keep a sharp eye on oncoming traffic and an ear tuned to what is happening behind us and are always prepared to hit the grass on the roadside if need be, and sometimes we do just to be on the safe side. Windhoek is very western and we are all noticing the difference. Last night we went out to celebrate a TDA friend's 60 th birthday at a fantastic restaurant with giant steaks, lots of red wine and excellent service. What a treat! Today we have tires to change ( actually, I have my camp valet working on that chore right now) then we will visit the good bike shop here, the first we have come to on the tour so Wayne can restock his supply of tubes. He keeps saying he wants to do a blog entry about his flat tire woes but he hasn't got around to it yet. Too busy patching tubes, I guess.
We head off into dirt road country tomorrow, into the Kalahari and lots of sand! Three days of that, then a rest day, then five more days, another rest day and a final five day push into Cape Town!
Fwd: Stunning Victoria Falls!
We have reached what is a huge TDA milestone...back in January when we started on this odyssey, Victoria Falls seemed such a distant goal yet here we are! We are somewhere around 8750 kilometres in so we are by no means near the end but we all feel like we are closing in, gradually, on the big goal of reaching Cape Town. But that is tomorrow; today we are lounging by the pool and enjoying our second rest day here.
The day we arrived, we rode a quick152 kms (compared to the previous day's 185 kms), then showered up and attended the bike donation ceremony. It was quite heart-warming to be part of, so thanks to any of you who made a donation to the Tour d'Afrique Foundation; it has all come full circle! Fifty bicycles were donated here, to local schools. The schools then make the bikes available to any students who need help covering the very long distances in order to just get to school - some have to go as far as 20 km one way. Students from one school put on a little skit about a brother and sister wanting money from their father for transport to school, he could not give it to them as food, clothing and shelter used up all his earnings. The brother had to carry his little sister to school, he ended up getting to school late and so tired he was falling asleep in class. So the school gave him the use of the bike and it all had a happy ending. One older girl spoke about the difference having the use of the school bicycle made to her, it kept her attending when she otherwise might not, and a letter from grateful parents saying much the same thing. I disagree with a lot of aid programs, for a lot of reasons, but this small-scale project really seems to be simple and successful. We also attended one in Arusha, Tanzania, where the thirty bikes donated went to health care workers, mostly of whom care for families and individuals coping with AIDS.
After the ceremony we jumped right onto the dinner cruise on the Zambezi - what a mighty river! We saw several hippos and a magnificent sunset, all while sipping gin and tonic - how very colonial!
Yesterday we went into the national park here on the Zambia side of the Zambezi River to see the falls in all their thundering splendour. Right now the water level is extremely high so there is an unbelievably immense roaring fury of water tumbling over the precipice. There is a walkway along the cliff side facing the falls, which we walked the length of, getting utterly drenched in the process - I could barely see, the spray was so relentless! Then we hung out for a while at the Bungee Cafe watching several TDAers doing the thrill-seeking thing. For some reason, natural splendour is not enough here and it has become an adventure hotspot, with micro lite flights, helicopter rides, bungee jumping, gorge swing, zip line etc being the big draws here. Anyone who did fundraising as part of their TDA trip was given an excursion voucher - I got a gorge slide, which is the same as a zip line, and Wayne got a river cruise. Well, we had already paid for our river cruises, so I gave Wayne my slide voucher and he gave his cruise one away. Sandy received a gorge swing, which after watching yesterday, I think would be more of a thrill than bungee jumping. Today, they went for their thrills, and Sandy's was definitely the most exciting! I found it exciting enough watching them all, I felt no need to hurl myself Ito the void from the middle of the bridge! Life is thrilling enough, I think! I did take the opportunity to hop on the scale where they calculate whatever they need to know for the bungee jump and am now a svelte 124.5 lbs! I may need a belt or some suspenders for my cycling shorts soon....
Today our plan was to walk over the bridge for lunch in Zimbabwe...we had planned ahead for this by buying a double entry visa when we entered Zambia several days ago. However, when we got there, the price was a ridiculous $75 per person for Canadians (what do the Zimbabweans have against us??) just to go into the country, then it would be $30 each to go into the national park on that side, so we decided plan B would be lunch next door to our campground/hotel at a swanky new hotel. So our money stayed in Zambia, sorry about that, Zimbabwe! After lunch, we were back to reality, setting up our tent in the grass as the hotel room we had been in was not available for our last night here. The camping area is very nice, but it is almost creepy how many monkeys there are...and they steal everything not nailed down. As we set up our tent we were entertained by a dozen or so of them playing around two nearby tents, they had figured out how to get into the vestibules so the whole tent was squirming when they ran around between the tent and the rain fly. Then they would launch themselves out of a tree onto a tent, bounce like it was a trampoline then scamper off. Hilarious to watch but what a nuisance. Everything is zipped up tight but apparently they have zippers figured out too...!
So, on to country number eight tomorrow, Botswana. Apparently there is a ferry to cross a river and it is where there are four countries adjoining one another. The section is called the Elephant Highway, I hope it lives up to its name! Other than that, we have heard it is notable for the monotony; a long straight road, a never-changing horizon and a tunnel of tall elephant grass to ride through. I am hoping for tailwinds as we have some very long days coming up, including the record setting 208 km day!
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
B is for Botswana and...
(We are actually in Namibia now but it has been a few days so here's a quick summary of our time in Botswana!)
...so does Boring, and Boils and Beans. Yes, after the initial excitement of the Elephant Highway, and seeing those magnificent elephants, the thrill factor went waaaay down and the riding became boring. In order to get us through this land of endless straight flat roads somewhat quickly, we were riding very long distances, on top of many other very long days in Zambia and Malawi. This led to boils. Stop reading right here if you are at all squeamish! I won't go into too much gruesome detail, and I probably don't have to tell you where exactly the boils are located, but I will say it involves the part of the anatomy which comes into regular contact with the bicycle seat. Big ouch. A big ouch that lasts and lasts, especially if you keep getting in contact with that bicycle seat. So although Wayne has been touching it out, I have been wimping it out and cut back a bit on the distances. So in the last 5 days I rode an easy 100 kms for each of 2 days, then we did the EPIC 207 km day, then the last two days I have ridden to camp from the lunch truck, both about 80 km days. I don't know if that is enough...but we have a rest day tomorrow so maybe I'll be ready for the 8 days of offroad riding coming up in the Kalahari Desert. We were all pretty excited to finish the 207 km day, that is the farthest I have ever ridden in a day!
Oh yes, beans. I just threw that in there because it starts with B and that was our dinner the night before the long day. Interestingly, everyone who set off hoping to finish the 207 km day did finish - maybe the beans should get some credit?
Sent from my iPad
...so does Boring, and Boils and Beans. Yes, after the initial excitement of the Elephant Highway, and seeing those magnificent elephants, the thrill factor went waaaay down and the riding became boring. In order to get us through this land of endless straight flat roads somewhat quickly, we were riding very long distances, on top of many other very long days in Zambia and Malawi. This led to boils. Stop reading right here if you are at all squeamish! I won't go into too much gruesome detail, and I probably don't have to tell you where exactly the boils are located, but I will say it involves the part of the anatomy which comes into regular contact with the bicycle seat. Big ouch. A big ouch that lasts and lasts, especially if you keep getting in contact with that bicycle seat. So although Wayne has been touching it out, I have been wimping it out and cut back a bit on the distances. So in the last 5 days I rode an easy 100 kms for each of 2 days, then we did the EPIC 207 km day, then the last two days I have ridden to camp from the lunch truck, both about 80 km days. I don't know if that is enough...but we have a rest day tomorrow so maybe I'll be ready for the 8 days of offroad riding coming up in the Kalahari Desert. We were all pretty excited to finish the 207 km day, that is the farthest I have ever ridden in a day!
Oh yes, beans. I just threw that in there because it starts with B and that was our dinner the night before the long day. Interestingly, everyone who set off hoping to finish the 207 km day did finish - maybe the beans should get some credit?
Sent from my iPad
Friday, April 19, 2013
Fwd: Stunning Victoria Falls!
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Patricia Gaudet
Date: Friday, April 19, 2013
Subject: Stunning Victoria Falls!
To: "pagaudet.gaol" <pagaudet.gaol@blogger.com>
We have reached what is a huge TDA milestone...back in January when we started on this odyssey, Victoria Falls seemed such a distant goal yet here we are! We are somewhere around 8750 kilometres in so we are by no means near the end but we all feel like we are closing in, gradually, on the big goal of reaching Cape Town. But that is tomorrow; today we are lounging by the pool and enjoying our second rest day here.
The day we arrived, we rode a quick152 kms (compared to the previous day's 185 kms), then showered up and attended the bike donation ceremony. It was quite heart-warming to be part of, so thanks to any of you who made a donation to the Tour d'Afrique Foundation; it has all come full circle! Fifty bicycles were donated here, to local schools. The schools then make the bikes available to any students who need help covering the very long distances in order to just get to school - some have to go as far as 20 km one way. Students from one school put on a little skit about a brother and sister wanting money from their father for transport to school, he could not give it to them as food, clothing and shelter used up all his earnings. The brother had to carry his little sister to school, he ended up getting to school late and so tired he was falling asleep in class. So the school gave him the use of the bike and it all had a happy ending. One older girl spoke about the difference having the use of the school bicycle made to her, it kept her attending when she otherwise might not, and a letter from grateful parents saying much the same thing. I disagree with a lot of aid programs, for a lot of reasons, but this small-scale project really seems to be simple and successful. We also attended one in Arusha, Tanzania, where the thirty bikes donated went to health care workers, mostly of whom care for families and individuals coping with AIDS.
After the ceremony we jumped right onto the dinner cruise on the Zambezi - what a mighty river! We saw several hippos and a magnificent sunset, all while sipping gin and tonic - how very colonial!
Yesterday we went into the national park here on the Zambia side of the Zambezi River to see the falls in all their thundering splendour. Right now the water level is extremely high so there is an unbelievably immense roaring fury of water tumbling over the precipice. There is a walkway along the cliff side facing the falls, which we walked the length of, getting utterly drenched in the process - I could barely see, the spray was so relentless! Then we hung out for a while at the Bungee Cafe watching several TDAers doing the thrill-seeking thing. For some reason, natural splendour is not enough here and it has become an adventure hotspot, with micro lite flights, helicopter rides, bungee jumping, gorge swing, zip line etc being the big draws here. Anyone who did fundraising as part of their TDA trip was given an excursion voucher - I got a gorge slide, which is the same as a zip line, and Wayne got a river cruise. Well, we had already paid for our river cruises, so I gave Wayne my slide voucher and he gave his cruise one away. Sandy received a gorge swing, which after watching yesterday, I think would be more of a thrill than bungee jumping. Today, they went for their thrills, and Sandy's was definitely the most exciting! I found it exciting enough watching them all, I felt no need to hurl myself Ito the void from the middle of the bridge! Life is thrilling enough, I think! I did take the opportunity to hop on the scale where they calculate whatever they need to know for the bungee jump and am now a svelte 124.5 lbs! I may need a belt or some suspenders for my cycling shorts soon....
Today our plan was to walk over the bridge for lunch in Zimbabwe...we had planned ahead for this by buying a double entry visa when we entered Zambia several days ago. However, when we got there, the price was a ridiculous $75 per person for Canadians (what do the Zimbabweans have against us??) just to go into the country, then it would be $30 each to go into the national park on that side, so we decided plan B would be lunch next door to our campground/hotel at a swanky new hotel. So our money stayed in Zambia, sorry about that, Zimbabwe! After lunch, we were back to reality, setting up our tent in the grass as the hotel room we had been in was not available for our last night here. The camping area is very nice, but it is almost creepy how many monkeys there are...and they steal everything not nailed down. As we set up our tent we were entertained by a dozen or so of them playing around two nearby tents, they had figured out how to get into the vestibules so the whole tent was squirming when they ran around between the tent and the rain fly. Then they would launch themselves out of a tree onto a tent, bounce like it was a trampoline then scamper off. Hilarious to watch but what a nuisance. Everything is zipped up tight but apparently they have zippers figured out too...!
So, on to country number eight tomorrow, Botswana. Apparently there is a ferry to cross a river and it is where there are four countries adjoining one another. The section is called the Elephant Highway, I hope it lives up to its name! Other than that, we have heard it is notable for the monotony; a long straight road, a never-changing horizon and a tunnel of tall elephant grass to ride through. I am hoping for tailwinds as we have some very long days coming up, including the record setting 208 km day!
Safe in Botswana, happy not to be in Boston
What a bizarre turn of events in Boston, how tragic and incomprehensible. Our first real brush with TV news in months at the nice lodge/campground we stayed at on Tuesday and that was what we saw as a developing story. Thanks to you who took time to let us know that no one we know was caught up in the attack directly.
Botswana has been a land of contrasts; we went from the excitement of riding along the Elephant Highway to despairing over the loooong distances over flat and, well, boring terrain into a relentless headwind. But back to those elephants! Day one on the highway had me on high alert scanning the undergrowth for patches of grey.....there we're none that were elephants, but I did see one rhino! Day two I was determined to find me an elephant, but it took until after lunch, when Sandy and I saw a magnificent bull cross the highway about 300 metres ahead of us. Not long after, I saw 2 more, then a few minutes later, a group of 3. They are really big when you ride by them on your bike! Although all but the first were eating, I have no doubt they were very aware of my presence so I just slowed down to admire them. We now are getting into a dry area so that might be it for elephants. However, a few days ago the camp we stayed at offered river cruises so we decided to give it a try....did we ever see elephants! There are between 160,000 to 180,000 elephants in Botswana, and they do like their water fresh and clean so the cruise on the river gave us the opportunity to see literally hundreds of them, along with loads of hippos! The guide was excellent and took the pontoon boat up close to the various groups so we had great viewing opportunities.
Next task is to redo the blog post from Victoria Falls which got lost in cyberspace somewhere.....
Sent from my iPad
Botswana has been a land of contrasts; we went from the excitement of riding along the Elephant Highway to despairing over the loooong distances over flat and, well, boring terrain into a relentless headwind. But back to those elephants! Day one on the highway had me on high alert scanning the undergrowth for patches of grey.....there we're none that were elephants, but I did see one rhino! Day two I was determined to find me an elephant, but it took until after lunch, when Sandy and I saw a magnificent bull cross the highway about 300 metres ahead of us. Not long after, I saw 2 more, then a few minutes later, a group of 3. They are really big when you ride by them on your bike! Although all but the first were eating, I have no doubt they were very aware of my presence so I just slowed down to admire them. We now are getting into a dry area so that might be it for elephants. However, a few days ago the camp we stayed at offered river cruises so we decided to give it a try....did we ever see elephants! There are between 160,000 to 180,000 elephants in Botswana, and they do like their water fresh and clean so the cruise on the river gave us the opportunity to see literally hundreds of them, along with loads of hippos! The guide was excellent and took the pontoon boat up close to the various groups so we had great viewing opportunities.
Next task is to redo the blog post from Victoria Falls which got lost in cyberspace somewhere.....
Sent from my iPad
Friday, April 12, 2013
Here's those photos.....
The "riot" photo is kind of pinkish because our camera was in its death throes, and coming up with weird colours and exposure effects. I also included a photo of a typical bike, with a typical load of bags of charcoal, each bag weighs 50 kg! No more whining about the weight of an extra water bottle....
Monday, April 8, 2013
Zambezi Zone
We are in Zambia! After passing through a reasonably fast border crossing, we rode down a fabulous long hill into a biggish town about 30 km away where we stopped for the usual new currency at an ATM and found a great grocery store next door with a very nice cafe attached. So after using the ATM which actually worked the first time, meaning we did not have to try 4 other banks for a machine our cards would work in, we went for a real cappuccino. Plus we did a little shopping so I had half a can of Pringles and a ginger beer. The store had a sign welcoming the TDA to town - a nice touch and many of the riders ended up stopping there.
The next day was "interesting", to say the least! I arrived at lunch to find a big crowd of riders hanging out in the grass. Everyone had to hold up there as in the next town there was some unrest. The information we had involved a witch doctor, a ritualistic murder a couple of weeks ago which the police were not handling to the satisfaction of some of the citizenry and there you have it, it's a riot! Eventually, things had settled down enough, the looting had stopped, the mob was dispersed and we were good to go. Ciaran decided we would ride in a convoy through the town, so away we went. We were met by a police vehicle which led us through the actual town, until they stopped and up ahead we could see a big crowd and lots of black smoke on the road ahead. So maybe the riot had not been totally calmed down....we waited for a bit behind the police truck, eying the ragtag group aboard, they looked like civilians who had been invited on, wearing this and that, but they all seemed to have a big riot helmet on. It was a little alarming when the shooting started but it was warning shots fired into the air. That is how we proceeded down the road, behind the truck, the warning shots continuing and any locals near the road wasted no time fleeing into the adjacent fields as the truck approached. The army was out in full force, standing at intervals along the roadside, looking intimidating with full uniforms and nasty looking guns complete with bayonets. We passed the burning tires, source of all the black smoke and beside them on the edge of the road were 4 or 5 guys who must have been suspects. I didn't see, but some of them tried to escape as our convoy passed, perhaps thinking the police would not dare fire at them if they were among all us mzungu. Eventually, we rode out of what was perceived to be the trouble area, the truck pulled over and we all pedalled past, back into the ordinary type of riding we are used to.
We camped at a lovely spot by a river with a great view across to Mozambique - we don't go there but it looks gorgeously green, just like Zambia! The riding has been so nice but wow, are the days ever long! In the last 5 days we've done 172 kms, 176 kms and 160 km, with slightly shorter distances the other days. The legs are fine pedalling that much but my rear end is happy about today being a rest day. I think there a a lot of others feeling the same kind of pain!
Wayne just went to the ATM here at the mall....this is a typical Africa experience..at the first ATM he wanted 2000 kwachas, but the transaction was denied. He tried the machine beside it, and pushed the button for the largest withdrawal possible which on this machine was 4000, and the machine processed the transaction with no problem!
Last night we were treated royally...Alan, a friend on the tour with us has a friend living here in Lusaka who invited Alan and his brother to stay with them for the rest day, and said bring along about 10 of your friends for a BBQ. Luckily, we were included in that elite group and did we ever get taken care of! They picked us up, drove us to their home where we sat in the lovely garden by the pool and soaked up a bunch of beer, wine and homemade lemonade. Then our hosts started cooking, warning us they had bought lots of meat and we were expected to do some serious eating! I am almost embarrassed by how much food we went through, but this guy had done a section of the TDA in a past year so he totally understood the type of appetites he would be up against. We did not disappoint them.
Today we are meeting a friend of Selena's who is here in Zambia for several weeks looking after a group of student nurses from UBC. It will be interesting to hear about her Zambia experiences, this is her third year he so I think she likes it here!
First photo: Sandy and Wayne using the ATMs in Zambia that really worked!
Second photo: we weren't supposed to take any pictures so I will only say this "might" be what the unrest looked like...
Third photo: the sign in the grocery store
The next day was "interesting", to say the least! I arrived at lunch to find a big crowd of riders hanging out in the grass. Everyone had to hold up there as in the next town there was some unrest. The information we had involved a witch doctor, a ritualistic murder a couple of weeks ago which the police were not handling to the satisfaction of some of the citizenry and there you have it, it's a riot! Eventually, things had settled down enough, the looting had stopped, the mob was dispersed and we were good to go. Ciaran decided we would ride in a convoy through the town, so away we went. We were met by a police vehicle which led us through the actual town, until they stopped and up ahead we could see a big crowd and lots of black smoke on the road ahead. So maybe the riot had not been totally calmed down....we waited for a bit behind the police truck, eying the ragtag group aboard, they looked like civilians who had been invited on, wearing this and that, but they all seemed to have a big riot helmet on. It was a little alarming when the shooting started but it was warning shots fired into the air. That is how we proceeded down the road, behind the truck, the warning shots continuing and any locals near the road wasted no time fleeing into the adjacent fields as the truck approached. The army was out in full force, standing at intervals along the roadside, looking intimidating with full uniforms and nasty looking guns complete with bayonets. We passed the burning tires, source of all the black smoke and beside them on the edge of the road were 4 or 5 guys who must have been suspects. I didn't see, but some of them tried to escape as our convoy passed, perhaps thinking the police would not dare fire at them if they were among all us mzungu. Eventually, we rode out of what was perceived to be the trouble area, the truck pulled over and we all pedalled past, back into the ordinary type of riding we are used to.
We camped at a lovely spot by a river with a great view across to Mozambique - we don't go there but it looks gorgeously green, just like Zambia! The riding has been so nice but wow, are the days ever long! In the last 5 days we've done 172 kms, 176 kms and 160 km, with slightly shorter distances the other days. The legs are fine pedalling that much but my rear end is happy about today being a rest day. I think there a a lot of others feeling the same kind of pain!
Wayne just went to the ATM here at the mall....this is a typical Africa experience..at the first ATM he wanted 2000 kwachas, but the transaction was denied. He tried the machine beside it, and pushed the button for the largest withdrawal possible which on this machine was 4000, and the machine processed the transaction with no problem!
Last night we were treated royally...Alan, a friend on the tour with us has a friend living here in Lusaka who invited Alan and his brother to stay with them for the rest day, and said bring along about 10 of your friends for a BBQ. Luckily, we were included in that elite group and did we ever get taken care of! They picked us up, drove us to their home where we sat in the lovely garden by the pool and soaked up a bunch of beer, wine and homemade lemonade. Then our hosts started cooking, warning us they had bought lots of meat and we were expected to do some serious eating! I am almost embarrassed by how much food we went through, but this guy had done a section of the TDA in a past year so he totally understood the type of appetites he would be up against. We did not disappoint them.
Today we are meeting a friend of Selena's who is here in Zambia for several weeks looking after a group of student nurses from UBC. It will be interesting to hear about her Zambia experiences, this is her third year he so I think she likes it here!
First photo: Sandy and Wayne using the ATMs in Zambia that really worked!
Second photo: we weren't supposed to take any pictures so I will only say this "might" be what the unrest looked like...
Third photo: the sign in the grocery store
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Photos and more from Malawi
Photo 2: beautiful Lake Malawi in the early morning drizzly mist we rode through,
Photo 3: a local giving Wayne's bike a try with the much-loved lunch truck in the background. The two most welcome sights on any riding day are the lunch truck with Noah's delicious buffet of ingredients awaiting us, and the orange finish line flag marking the day's camping spot and the end of the ride.
Photo 4: bicycle taxis in Malawi, complete with registration plates and passenger seats. We even saw one advertising "airport service" to the nearby airport...can you imagine getting off a plane, asking for a taxi and realizing you'd be getting on a bicycle with a guy somehow managing to also pack your luggage on, probably on his head or something then he'd ride with one hand on the handlebars and the other holding his cell phone to his ear!
Photo 5: our friend Ali trying out a hand-cranked wheelchair kind of bike...we've seen a few of these around!
This is our last day in Malawi, tomorrow we are back on our bikes to head west into Zambia, would it be too much to hope for a tailwind? We've had crosswinds from the east which swirled into headwinds, so just maybe we will get a nice push from behind! There seems to be a post-mid-trip malaise going around...lots of riders taking a bit of a break from the tour for a few days and rejoining later. Injuries have taken a bit of a toll as well, I hope we continue to be fortunate with our health.
Wayne and I went to a wildlife sanctuary/rescue area today. It was so beautiful to walk through the shady forest ; now we know what we've been riding beside looks like on the inside. We had a guide who showed us all the animals (except for the elusive leopard! ) then we struck off on our own down the trails (walk at your own risk and watch out for the nesting crocodiles!) eventually the trail we chose turned into a big metal sewer pipe then a catwalk over top of it which we had to walk over because Wayne saw monkeys at the far end....then we decided to turn back and get back to civilization.
It is noticeably more Western here, which on one hand is convenient for rest days but it doesn't feel quite like the "real" Africa we have been experiencing for the last 3 months. On to Zambia!
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