Livingstone - Divundu 507k 4 Days

Livingstone, Kasane, Kalima, Kongola, Divundu

I spent a few days in Livingstone working out where to go next. The two options were either South though Botswana and then West to Windhoek or cross briefly into Botswana and then into Namibia and go along the Caprivi Strip into Northern Namibia.
After talking with people who had been through Namibia I decided on the Caprivi Strip.

The last of the hills in Zambia.

Camping in Botswana

It was a short trip to the border, a night camping in a lodge in Botswana then I made my way to the the Chobe National Park. 

I had expected to say Hi to the guards at the gate and carry on the for next 60k to Namibia but it didn't turn out that way. I wasn't allowed to bike through the park as it was "too dangerous". The staff were worried about Elephants and Buffalo attacking me.

I wasn't really that happy but what can you do. The funny thing was about 300m up the road and outside the park there was an Elephant standing on the side of the road eating grass. I had biked past it earlier and it had ignored me and carried on eating. I hadn't even seen it until was 5m away from it. For such a large animal they are really well camouflaged. In the photo its on the right. The other things are cars parked up to look at the elephant.

After waiting for an hour I hitched a ride on the back of a Ute across the park. I didn't see any wildlife along the way but the driver said he saw some Elephants. Its difficult to see anything when your on the back of a Ute and its doing 100k.

Just after crossing a bridge and entering into Namibia I got to see something that I hoped for but what I never thought would happen. A large group of wild elephants going about their business around 400m from me. I sat on the side of the road and watched them for half an hour until they moved into the shade. Ive seen some amazing things in Africa but this was something else. It made me think of all the people who made the journey possible (F) and the people who had helped and supported me along the way. I thought of the friends I had made and all the other people who I wanted to be there with me just to look in amazement like I was. When this journey began I would say that I was going to Africa to see Elephants. Its always been about much more than that but it was the Elephants that were the inspiration.

As expected Namibia was hot. Not crazy like Sudan but much warmer than Zambia. I can't tell what the temperature is anymore it just felt warmer than usual and really it doesn't matter how hot it is I still need to get on the bike anyway. I had two days to adjust before I reached the town of Kongola and what I knew could be a very long ride across Bwabwata National Park

I started the day a little earlier than usual and I got to the park gates at 8am. I had hoped that I could stay the night in Chetto which was 90km into the park. I arrived there around 12.30 and found that there wasn't much there.

The Shop/Bar in Chetto

The postcards of NZ are always popular

I had made pretty good time to get to there with the help of a tailwind and I needed to decide what to do next. I could camp the night somewhere or push on another 110km to Divundu. I cooked some noodles and then made the decision to push on.

I would need food and water so I finished the noodles drank 2 cans of Coke and bought 2 others for the journey. I drank the last of the 5 litres of water I had left and then got the bottles filled up again from the 20L drum in the shop. Then I got a packet of biscuits and took two re hydration sachets that I hoped would help prevent cramp. As I was leaving the shop I saw a digital clock on the wall that had the temperature. It was 38 degrees in the shade. I asked if the clock was correct and the lady said yes it was. I did fell quite warm.

For the entire 200km the view was the same

I worked out it would take me about 5 hours of bike time to get to Divundu so I split the ride into sections of a 2 hour ride and 2 x 1.5 hour rides. The first two hours was the most important because it was the hottest and the longest. If I got this part of it wrong then I knew that I would end up on the of the road with cramp just like what happened in Sudan. I really didn't want a repeat of that in a National Park with Elephants and Buffalo so I took it easy, tried not to sweat too much and get through the 2L of water that I had for this section.

150k done and it was all fine

The second section was only 1.5 hours so around 30km. I know I can do 30km so I was just focusing on that, drinking water and not pushing too hard. It had cooled down a bit as it was getting near 4pm which also helped.

The long straight roads continued and the mind wanders off. When its like this I don't look far in front of me and I don't look at the time. I try not to look into the distance because the road is all you can see so I look 10-15m in front of me. Each time I get off the bike seat I will sit up and have a look around and then get back to looking at the road. I will think what is the time now but then force myself not to look - constantly looking at the time doesn't help. I can pretty accurately guess the time now so when I do look its a game of how close my guess is to actual time.

I talked with a man in Zambia who when I told him I was riding a bike across Africa asked me if I mediated. I said no and then I said well sort of. I haven't practised meditation but riding the bike for a long time I think is somewhat like that. I think about things and then forget what I am doing. Its not always easy but the longer the ride get the easier it is to just wander off and mentally be somewhere else.

In the final section I came across some more Elephants and this time I saw then before I biked past. You would think a massive animal is easy to see in the bush but unless you are really looking you can go right past them without even knowing. At the entrance to the park I rode past a huge Elephant and only saw it when I was 5m away from it. There are two elephants in this photo.

The Elephant on the move.

I arrived at Divundu at 6.15pm. It was 9 hours of biking and 207km for the day. I was pretty happy as its the longest ride I have ever done and I wanted to do a 200km ride in Africa. So a good day all round.
It went much better than I thought it would. My legs were a little sore and the ball's of my feet bruised and I was a bit dehydrated but I had beer and steak for dinner and it made me feel a whole lot better.

And I was a little late arriving so I did get to put the tent up in the dark.