Internet reception hasn’t been too common lately, so firstly I apologise for not updating in the last couple of weeks.
I won’t bore you with all of the details of the happenings of the last few weeks: i’ll keep it succinct.
We sadly waved goodbye to Shaun once we departed Windhoek (capital of Namibia). Shaun’s temporary addition to the team was brilliant but I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him as the stretch he road was by far the longest we’d done on this whole trip and included a marathon 5 day stretch of 820km which included a one day ride of 211km.
Arriving in Windhoek was surreal- the city is by far the most developed and affluent we’ve come across since leaving Melbourne. I commented on this to my hairdresser who replied that “Nambia is not Africa”. Out for dinner one night, I marvelled at the bank of luxury European cars lined up outside the restaurant- we haven’t seen one of these cars in almost four months and to see 7 or 8 of them lined up side by side in one hit cemented the fact that we were very much in the first world again. Out for dinner that night at quite a lavish Portuguese restaurant, we lied and said it was Gavan’s birthday and enjoyed the staff singing Gavan happy birthday as they brought out a slab of cake, with candles and a bottle of champagne, all on the house. Coincidentally, I think it’ll be another of our birthdays when we arrive in Cape Town in a couple of weeks.
Botswana, overall, was largely sparse, remote with unchanging landscape. The wildlife was quite incredible as all we seemed to do was skirt game parks and wildlife reserves. The remoteness dictated the long rides we were forced to do, and the remoteness was easily the most severe we’d come across since Sudan. BUT, Botswana’s remoteness is second only to Namibia’s.
Upon crossing into Namibia, I didn’t have an idea of what to expect with regards to landscape or culture. The first thing we noticed was the ‘clicking’ language, which still amazes me. I presumed that Nambia was 100% desert and flat. How wrong I was. Granted, the landscape is defined as desert, but not the kind of desert most people have in their mind. The land is covered with sandy soil and silverly short grass but nothing else. And it’s hot: really, really hot. We haven’t endured this kind of heat since Sudan, and like Sudan, it gets freezing cold at night. But, by far the most incredible thing about Namibia is the seemingly endless mountain ranges which dwarf anything i’ve ever seen on this trip or anything before it. Not that I’ve ever been, but the mountains resemble what I imagine Afghanistan to look like.
The route we’re taking through Namibia doesn’t really allow much site seeing though. We’ve spent the majority of our time off road and the roads have thus far been difficult and don’t permit you to look much further than 3 feet in front of your wheel as you navigate your way past corrugations, sand patches and ruts. I don’t know when it happened but i’ve become someone who can only seem to concentrate with their tongue half hanging out of their mouth. And my tongue seems to spend a lot of time out of my mouth in Namibia as we’re riding. Granted the roads are better than the other off road sections we’ve done in Kenya and Tanzania but it’s still hard to ride 100+kms each day while passing such amazing scenery and not really be able to look at it or appreciate it. The off road sections we’ve been on in Namibia have taken their toll on my bike and have suffered some quite bad, but repairable, damage to the bike, which if it continues could mean the end of the trip for me, so i’m desperately hoping that the bike holds together for another 10 days of riding, otherwise i’ll literally be walking across the finish line with 2 wheels, a seat and a set of handlebars.
We’ve today arrived in Aus, a junction town where we’ve taken a day off to head out to the coastal town of Luderitz. On the day we were riding into Aus, Shane had to race ahead to, sadly, get tested/treated for rabies after what at the time was a hilarious incident involving a very aggressive meerkat. Said meerkat approached and then later attacked us as we had a roadside break under the shade of a tree outside a farmhouse. While sitting there, we were amazed to see this meerkat approaching us. That amazement soon passed as it hissed and continually charged at us, bearing its teeth and trying to bite each of us. It was all fun and games for a few minutes as we dodged it and tried to scare it away, until it finally landed its teeth into Shane’s leg and was subsequently flung through the air as Shane tried to detach the angry little thing from his leg. Proud at having found a victim, the meerkat then ran away. We laughed, hysterically, for quite a while. Then we realised just how unorthodox this behaviour was for a cute and generally placid little creature and Shane had to race forward to Luderitz to err on the side of caution and be treated for rabies, just in case. It’s not something you mess around with really.
So, as of today, we have but 12 days left on this trip. From here we ride for about 3 days towards Fish River Canyon and have another day or two off before pushing another day to the border of South Africa and then making the final 5 day slog to the end at Cape Town. I’m a mixture of emotions with the knowledge that this trip is coming to an end. I’ve got exciting and new things ahead of me back home in Melbourne, so i’m quite looking forward to going home to get started on that. I’m ‘ready’ to finish this trip- it’s not that I haven’t enjoyed it: I have, more than i’ve ever enjoyed anything before, but I’m very eager and hungry to get across the finish line and be able to relish in the achievement of what’s been the biggest and most exciting adventure i’ve ever done in my life.
I’ll leave it at that- it’s dry, short and sweet but i’m fining it very difficult to type as I sit in the back of a car en-route to Luderitz.
I’ve uploaded some photos to the Botswana page as well as having added a new Nambia page.
I won’t bore you with all of the details of the happenings of the last few weeks: i’ll keep it succinct.
We sadly waved goodbye to Shaun once we departed Windhoek (capital of Namibia). Shaun’s temporary addition to the team was brilliant but I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him as the stretch he road was by far the longest we’d done on this whole trip and included a marathon 5 day stretch of 820km which included a one day ride of 211km.
Arriving in Windhoek was surreal- the city is by far the most developed and affluent we’ve come across since leaving Melbourne. I commented on this to my hairdresser who replied that “Nambia is not Africa”. Out for dinner one night, I marvelled at the bank of luxury European cars lined up outside the restaurant- we haven’t seen one of these cars in almost four months and to see 7 or 8 of them lined up side by side in one hit cemented the fact that we were very much in the first world again. Out for dinner that night at quite a lavish Portuguese restaurant, we lied and said it was Gavan’s birthday and enjoyed the staff singing Gavan happy birthday as they brought out a slab of cake, with candles and a bottle of champagne, all on the house. Coincidentally, I think it’ll be another of our birthdays when we arrive in Cape Town in a couple of weeks.
Botswana, overall, was largely sparse, remote with unchanging landscape. The wildlife was quite incredible as all we seemed to do was skirt game parks and wildlife reserves. The remoteness dictated the long rides we were forced to do, and the remoteness was easily the most severe we’d come across since Sudan. BUT, Botswana’s remoteness is second only to Namibia’s.
Upon crossing into Namibia, I didn’t have an idea of what to expect with regards to landscape or culture. The first thing we noticed was the ‘clicking’ language, which still amazes me. I presumed that Nambia was 100% desert and flat. How wrong I was. Granted, the landscape is defined as desert, but not the kind of desert most people have in their mind. The land is covered with sandy soil and silverly short grass but nothing else. And it’s hot: really, really hot. We haven’t endured this kind of heat since Sudan, and like Sudan, it gets freezing cold at night. But, by far the most incredible thing about Namibia is the seemingly endless mountain ranges which dwarf anything i’ve ever seen on this trip or anything before it. Not that I’ve ever been, but the mountains resemble what I imagine Afghanistan to look like.
The route we’re taking through Namibia doesn’t really allow much site seeing though. We’ve spent the majority of our time off road and the roads have thus far been difficult and don’t permit you to look much further than 3 feet in front of your wheel as you navigate your way past corrugations, sand patches and ruts. I don’t know when it happened but i’ve become someone who can only seem to concentrate with their tongue half hanging out of their mouth. And my tongue seems to spend a lot of time out of my mouth in Namibia as we’re riding. Granted the roads are better than the other off road sections we’ve done in Kenya and Tanzania but it’s still hard to ride 100+kms each day while passing such amazing scenery and not really be able to look at it or appreciate it. The off road sections we’ve been on in Namibia have taken their toll on my bike and have suffered some quite bad, but repairable, damage to the bike, which if it continues could mean the end of the trip for me, so i’m desperately hoping that the bike holds together for another 10 days of riding, otherwise i’ll literally be walking across the finish line with 2 wheels, a seat and a set of handlebars.
We’ve today arrived in Aus, a junction town where we’ve taken a day off to head out to the coastal town of Luderitz. On the day we were riding into Aus, Shane had to race ahead to, sadly, get tested/treated for rabies after what at the time was a hilarious incident involving a very aggressive meerkat. Said meerkat approached and then later attacked us as we had a roadside break under the shade of a tree outside a farmhouse. While sitting there, we were amazed to see this meerkat approaching us. That amazement soon passed as it hissed and continually charged at us, bearing its teeth and trying to bite each of us. It was all fun and games for a few minutes as we dodged it and tried to scare it away, until it finally landed its teeth into Shane’s leg and was subsequently flung through the air as Shane tried to detach the angry little thing from his leg. Proud at having found a victim, the meerkat then ran away. We laughed, hysterically, for quite a while. Then we realised just how unorthodox this behaviour was for a cute and generally placid little creature and Shane had to race forward to Luderitz to err on the side of caution and be treated for rabies, just in case. It’s not something you mess around with really.
So, as of today, we have but 12 days left on this trip. From here we ride for about 3 days towards Fish River Canyon and have another day or two off before pushing another day to the border of South Africa and then making the final 5 day slog to the end at Cape Town. I’m a mixture of emotions with the knowledge that this trip is coming to an end. I’ve got exciting and new things ahead of me back home in Melbourne, so i’m quite looking forward to going home to get started on that. I’m ‘ready’ to finish this trip- it’s not that I haven’t enjoyed it: I have, more than i’ve ever enjoyed anything before, but I’m very eager and hungry to get across the finish line and be able to relish in the achievement of what’s been the biggest and most exciting adventure i’ve ever done in my life.
I’ll leave it at that- it’s dry, short and sweet but i’m fining it very difficult to type as I sit in the back of a car en-route to Luderitz.
I’ve uploaded some photos to the Botswana page as well as having added a new Nambia page.
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