Boswana Cycle Trip - Day 8, 9 & 10

Johan and Howard's Botswana Cycle Trip - Day 8

A Saturday filled with road works and that steady NE headwind again, it just doesn't let go ... we kept ourselves entertained by watching the different teams work their different layers onto the new road ... Our afternoon tea break, normally a kettle on a small fire under a tree, was replaced by 4 bitterly cold cokes in a Pandamatega Shebeen and an interesting chat with the owner, Matthews.

This followed by another conversation next door with Elvis & Simon. Elvis a worried looking individual (also on a bike), who just couldn't get his head around our cycle ... "Ah, you are troubling yourselves, he said."

Simon a man of many years and hardly any teeth, is an ex BDF soldier, game scout and I strongly suspect a freelance poacher. However, he was also the first person to admit that the wild animals have got no problems - just people got the problem!

After completing 96km we dissappeared into the bush north of Pandamatenga to an awesome camp site under 2 huge trees, very clearly a regular elephant siesta spot!

Day 9

Day 9 started like any other, kettle on the fire and rusks in hand, followed by the obligatory boskak. Mine was cut short by 2 bull elephants that put in an unexptected appearance at possibly THE most inconvenient moment ...

Needless to say, on that session, I evacuated both my bowel and the area. Turns out a single bull ele had whispered through our campsite while we were lights out!

Another 96km later and lots of eles we trundled into Kazangula for another 4 cold cokes and the short pedal to Chobe Safari Lodge in Kasane, for our second shower and first night in a bed!

Day 10

Today we chill ... Our first rest day and it was filled with shopping and sorting kit. Have had to vacate our room for a campsite also at Chobe Safari Lodge. Tomorrow we hit the transit road through Chobe National Park and into Namibia's Caprivi Strip, which from where I am typing this looks like one vast floodplain!

Botswana Cycle Trip - Day 6 & 7

Johan and Howard's Botswana Cycle Trip - Day 6 & 7

After parasitizing the remnants of the security guard's fire to make coffee, we were offered left over eggs & bacon by our neighbours (an overland group).

This was chased by Nata Lodge's burgers & chips for lunch (best food this side of the Chobe by the way). Running out of excuses to linger any longer, we split.

Pulled in at Nata itself for some shopping (very nearly made complete fools of ourselves by both biting the tar in front of a busy shop front). Then hit the long road north towards Kasane for 56km day. This road very quickly let's you know you in wild country ... A leopard was watching us last night from an ele path next to our campsite before skirting us.

Day 7

Day 7 started with a 3km  push along sandy elephant paths in an effort to find the road again. Things got even better when an enthusiastic 15km/h headwind picked up and blew incessantly ... except of course during our lunch break, when the headwind was relieved by a 20km/h tailwind.

The monotany of the straight road and good kite flying weather was broken by a few great elephant sightings as they crossed in front of us.

The day ended on 84km in another very cool bush campsite.

 

Botswana Cycle - Day 4 & 5

Day 4 & 5 – Playing a little catch up with the blog... power’s been running low on the cell phone, legs, inspiration and the urge to sit around the fire and type ... the only thing we can hear right now are our asses!! But in a nut shell the last 2 days have been dotted with Wimpy food, road side braais, colds beers and warnings! Nearly every conversation we have with a road side local, has ended with the astonished individual saying something like, “eish! You are going to Kasane ?! ... aah ... is too far ... there are lions and elephants! ... even cheetah !!” . Be that as it may we pedal on as any two idiotic tourists would.

Derynne’s ‘biker’ uncle and his friend Pieter, caught up with us on day 5 in the village of Mosetse. After a quick hello, in true biker fashion they roared on ahead and set up a road side braai under a Mopani tree, complete with rump steak & cold beers ... after 65 km for the morning we didn’t hesitate to pull over sharply.  

I think the open road & blue sky infected Rex & Pieter like a virus, because they decided to push on another 60 km north to Nata Lodge to join us for dinner, turning their spur of the moment bike run from a brief visit maybe as far as Francistown, to a 900 km haul to Nata! Capitilizing on the moment, Johan tried to sell them a more wholistic Botswana holiday, by suggesting we swop bikes for the last 60 clicks to Nata ... unfortunately beer bellied bikers are a hard sell.

So that’s day 4 & 5 ... the distance stats are: day 4 – 75 km and day 5 – 130 km (the promise of more beer & our first hot shower, provided the petrol needed for day 5’s leg). 

Today (day 6) we start heading north of Nata to Kasane (315 km), which will take 3 – 4 days into lion & elephant country ... even cheetah!

Botswana Cycle Trip - Day 3

Johan and Howard's Botswana Cycle Trip - Day 3

A late addition to day 2's blog...

Vodacom SA can take a page out of Maria's book when it comes to customer service! Maria (daughter of Mabalisa) is the lady, who from her plastic table on the pavement outside a general dealer store in Selebi Phikwe, sold us a recharge voucher.

While typing last nights blog at 20h00, the phone rang, it was Maria and the conversation went something like this:

Howard: Hello
Maria: Hullo
M: Are you that guys on the bicycle?
H: Yes, is that Maria?
M: Is Maria ... Why (where) are you now?
H: Maria, we are lost ... all we see is mopane trees around us!
M: You are lost?! Hu ah ah ah ... Shame.
M: Is you phone wekking now?
H: Yes it is - thanks!
M: ah is good! You must be careful for that animals ...
H: We will, thanks Maria!
M: Ok ...

Ok, so no search & rescue party was sent out, but she did go the extra mile when it comes to after sale customer service - more than I can say for Vodacom!

Now the actual Day 3 was different to 1 and 2 ... Today was just one big headwind! To add to the fun we were having, Johan's front bearings packed in about 15km from the nearest village. Of course we didn't have any spare bearings, so we sat and ate biltong while watching traffic ... To solve the problem Arusa's hardware at Gonato had about a thousand of them in many sizes. He also pulled out a brand new axle to replace Johan's crooked one!

After a lunch of beef stew, samp and marogo, a quick visit to a shebeen-butcher for meat and OBS, we hit the road again finishing on 86km for the day!

Botswana Cycle Trip - Day 2

Johan and Howard's Botswana Cycle Trip - Day 2

Three achievements for today!

First full day under the belt (103km) + first night with really sore arses, and then we successfully navigated the maze of Botswana's world of sim cards, airtime & data bundles ... No easy task! (The cell phone that is - the 103km was a lazy sunday in comparison!).

Got to say the Motswana are the most optimistic people in Africa - we were flagged down by a certain meesta Williams who, standing next to his broken down Toyota Cressida, asked us through a mouthful of chicken whether we have a certain bolt for his prop shaft that had fallen off ... As thorougly as we searched through our panniers we sadly couldn't find one!?

Tonight we camped about 1km from the road, perfectly still, good moon - just the sound of the odd car on the road and the bell of a lost cow somewhere in the Mopane ...

Botswana Cycle Trip - Day 1

Johan and Howard's Botswana Cycle Trip - Day 1

D day arrived finally ... Enough talking, speculating, planning, guessing, hoping ... Now it's just DO!. 

Left the great metropolis of Hoedspruit at 0600 after saying our good byes to Derynne and the kids ... Stopped only in Louis Trichardt for a quick breakfast at the Spur, then blazed through to the Botswana border. 

Kitted out the bikes, did the obligatory photo shoot, said our good byes to Peter Radcliffe (who dropped us off) and pedalled across the Limpopo.

The only border post either of us have been through where the full staff compliment (all 3 of them) came out from behind those worn immigration desks to watch these 2 overloaded Mlungus wobble away on their bikes! Then it was pedal pedal pedal for 51km until we saw a cluster of koppies and Baobabs about 1km off to the right, which became camp ... Awesome spot! Climbed the one koppie for the views back across the bush. 

That's day 1 in a nutshell ... The only body parts that have something to say are the 2 arses ... funny that?!

Botswana Cycle Trip - Intro

Tying up loose ends for a month away is not really as easy as it sounds! Either way Saturday 28 July 2012 is looming for the start of sore backsides, stiff muscles & strong coffee ... the planned route is Zanzibar Border Post (on the Limpopo River) to Seronga (On the Okavango Pan Handle) (see image below).

About 1300 km odd - but flat and easy (we keep telling ourselves) ... We aim to get there by 21 Aug (give or take month) and then do a 6 day Trans Okavango boat trip through to Maun for a spot of fishing (and maybe a beer or two)...

Bikes locked & loaded (dig the Postman Pat baskets!), packing starting to happen ... Johan trying to shake a dose of the flu ... myself overdosing on oranges & all things vitamin C ... I think we set!