Divundu - Swakopmound 12 Days 1100km

Divundu, Ndonga, Rundu, Grootfontein, Otavi, Otjawarango, Omaruru, Osakos. Swakopmound

I left Divundu after a day of rest. I needed a break after the long ride to get there. The scenery and conditions were much the same until I got to Ndonga - long straight roads and very hot.

The Ovakango river

I spent the evening at a farm stay right on the Ovakango river. The people were incredibly friendly and I had Eland stew with them for dinner. We discussed my planned route through Namibia. They suggested the direct route Swakopmund because Namibia is in the middle of the worst drought since the 70's and there would be no water along the way. I took their advice but I knew it was going to be a long hot journey with not a lot to see. Still it was better than running out of water in the middle of nowhere.

Things are getting pretty desperate when you take cow photos but they were good looking cows.

I did get to have a bike race with the locals. They rode up and I asked them what they wanted and they said it was a challenge. I was 90k into the day and a bit tired so I said no. However when they went past I couldn't help myself so it was game on. Once again the superior technology on my bike gave me the win.

It was just more of the same day after day and town after town. Both my MP3 players broke so I couldn't sing as I bike (this is very important)  and all I have to do is think. People I want to have conversations with, the past, the present, the future. Its a mixture of dehydration, fatigue, boredom, a little bit of madness and quite a lot of pain. I had accumulated around 12 open sores on the right side of my ass (I had to take a photo to see and its very small at the end of this if you really want to see) so the biking was a little difficult. It started with a  blister, then a mosquito bite and finally a hair follicle that was rubbed by my bike shorts/seat so often that it wanted to leave. Eventually it did leave but it left a gaping hold where it used to be. Then because I was changing how I sat on the seat the other sores appeared as they weren't used to being sat on. I got to the Pharmacy in Rundu for a fix but it took until Swakop for it to come good again. In Rundu I accumulated 20 new mosquito bites, 3 of which would become infected and finally another blister that too became infected. All of this is an occupational hazard and I guess I was a little lucky that it happened in Namibia and not anywhere sooner.

The 12000k mark near Otavi


There was another 200k day from Rundu to a campsite near Grootfontein. It seemed much easier than the previous 200k day but it still took 10 hours. I even biked 60k the next day to Grootfontein but it was very slowly and quite difficult. I setup camp there and was bitten by something on the leg. It was some unknown African insect but my leg swelled from above my knee to my ankle so I wasn't going anywhere.

One of these legs is not like the other

So it was 3 days of rest and relaxation. I got to see the NZ v Aus cricket, Super Rugby and the 6 Nations so it wasn't all bad.

The sign promised Warthogs

There were Warthogs south of Otjawarango

There are some monkey in there somewhere

One of the joys of Namibia is that they have rest stop points every 10k to 20k. These have been a luxury as usually I park the bike somewhere under a tree and rest there. 

Sometimes the local also take the roof off the rest stop so its a little warm.

I would like to say this part of the journey was great but it wasn't. It was just long hot days looking at the same scenery and the occasional animal. I would bike along and say out loud how bored I was. It was just the same stuff day after day. Even the towns I stopped in were dull. Instead of the Africa I was used to everything was totally organised. There were banks, supermarkets, fast food places, pharmacy's and shopping malls. In Lusaka I had people talking to me about Namibia being called "Africa Lite" and it really was. I was in Africa but it was a strange mix of German, Afrikaans, Africans and a very strange sense of order.

 Its better than Cow photos

After biking 100k to Osakso I grabbed a beer from the store next to the supermarket. I asked the nice woman behind the counter to open the bottle and she asked me where I was going to drink it. This was all totally foreign. I told her it would be outside, there were people drinking outside and she told me it wasn't OK. I said give me the bottle and I will drink outside the shop because there are other people drinking out there. So I sat outside the shop, sat down and casually drank my beer next to the shop. After 5 minutes a man came up and introduced himself. I knew he wanted something and after he sat down he said he wanted some money to buy bread for his family. 

I looked at him in his Addidas sneakers, Bafana Bafana shirt and work trouser and listened to him change his story from I need bread to I loaned money to a friend who brought a car and then too I need money. I wasn't really that bothered by his presence, it gave me time to work on my African bullshit skills and it had been a few weeks since I had the chance.

The African bullshit skills are what you use when you want to avoid anyone anyone ever knowing who you are, where you are from and most importantly where you are staying. You don't want anyone to know any of this because if you give this information  up then you will see that same person over and over again. I spent nearly a month in Addis Ababa being called Steve from Australia. I often walked away from a shop hearing people stay Australians are always like that and cracking up with laughter. I have been Albanian, American, Canadian, English, Swedish and Tongan. I have also been to the Olympics (Winter and Summer) and am very famous in my home country, wherever that may be.

In this case a nice man called Francois who owned the grocery shop came down from the balcony where he had been watching the whole thing and told him to "please leave" (fuck off)  in Afrikaans. Then Francois gave me a free beer from his supermarket so it all ended well.

Its clear to say that Namibia is "Africa Lite" and although its easy I miss the challenge that was the other African nations. It makes little sense because when going through Africa all I wanted was a little normal and now that its here I find it very dull. It makes me think of what life for me will be like in NZ and I know its going to be very hard to adjust to the "normal" life again. I always knew that this journey would change me but although I look forward to the end in Cape Town it scares me at the same time.

The ass photo is further down if you are interested.

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.

Chankhanga - Livingstone 1175km 15 Days

Chankhanga, Katete, Petauke, Nyimba, Rio Luangwa, Chimusanya, Chongwe, Lusaka, Katue, Monze, Pemba, Kalomo, Livingston

I arrived in Zambia anxious to push on and get to Cape Town and as I already talked about it didn't work out well. The break in Katete was exactly what I needed and I was looking forward to getting back on the road.   

I moved onto Petauke where I ran in to the WHO doing HIV testing and had one of the most moving experiences of my time in Africa. I was an emotionally intense few days but it all helped to put things into perspective.

The Luangwa river bridge in the rain


I have talked to a few people who are on long journeys through Africa about what happened over those days and everyone experiences pretty much the same thing. There is a point where it all falls apart and you just need a break. Cyclists, people on motorbikes, people driving cars and volunteer's in these countries all say the same thing. Every so often need a little timeout from Africa to re-set the mind and then go back to what they were doing happy again. Living the dream isn't easy and having it all fall apart is just something that comes along with it. 

Sometimes (most of the time) the places I stay in are a little rough. This is mostly because they are cheap but often its because there is no where else. In Katete it was no different. The room was fine but there was a large gap under the door so I had a bit of a rodent issue. It wasn't the first time I had seen rats but it was the first time I was woken up by one crawling over me. I often sleep in my clothes in the less desireable places so it wasn't a big deal. I did have a search of the room afterwards and found two in different corners of the room. Rats are quite fast so there wasn't much I could do to get them out but they didn't wake me again.

There were a lot of hills on the way to Lusaka - nothing over an hour climb but it was a constant up and down. It hot/humid and raining too so it was a good challenge. I also got stung by a something on my left arm just above the elbow. I am a little allergic so there were a couple of days where I couldn't fell where my elbow was.

There was a lot of large trucks on the road that come up from South Africa. Almost all of them gave me lots of room on the road - Its mostly the cars that get too close. This guy crashed about an hour before I arrived. The windscreen was broken where the driver had hit his head but he was fine.

One of the strangest things about Zambia was this. People cutting grass on the side of the road. These were busy everywhere cutting down metre high grass on the roadsides. They use a machete that has been bent so its similar to a golf club. It looked to be incredibly tough work.
 

I arrived in Luaska felling pretty good but a little tired. I had a great time at the backpackers there with people from all over the world. There were Pilots, Doctors, Park Rangers and people from South Africa who do business in Zambia. Everyone was there for a propose not just on holiday so it was really good to hear their stories and experiences of Zambia and Africa.

The 11000k mark in Pemba. This time I celebrated with a few cold Mosi's. 
Not long after I chased a man out of the bar with a pool cue for drinking my beer. Over time you develop a 5 second memory about these things. You have an argument with someone or chase them with a weapon and and when its done you just forget that it happened.

There was some hot days on the way South. African's often use umbrellas to keep out of the sun

The ride South from Lusaka to Livingstone was pretty uneventful. There is lots of farmland, corn and some long flat sections. I had the wind behind me for a lot of the way so it was a good 5 days ride and I was pretty excited about getting to Livingstone and seeing Victoria falls and it did not disappoint.

Double Rainbow!

The size and noise of the falls is incredible and it is the rainy season so the water level is quite high. The spray that comes means it raining heavily on you most of the time which creates the rainbows. Its an amazing place.

To finish off the visit to the falls I went on a river cruise on the Zambezi with 4 Zambian ladies who live in the Copper Belt. They had some interesting stories about what being a White Zambian was like. They couldn't get passports even though they were born in Zambia and we talked about what goes on in the mining district of the Copper belt. The stories included forced labour camps and people being sent in shipping containers from China to Zambia to work in the mines. What really happens in Africa is often very surprising.

Hippos lounging around
 

Gin and Tonic

Sunset on the Zambeizi


So after a rough start Zambia turned out pretty well. I have been shocked, laughed, cried and meet some incredible people along the way. I also meet another Kiwi for the first time in  Africa! Its rained a lot,had been hot, and I had some challenging rides but its was a really good time. The scenery was good, Victoria Falls amazing and the locals have been very friendly.

Zambia had a little bit of everything that Africa has to offer and although its a bit expensive (for Africa) it's been great.

The Caprivi Strip and Namibia is up next. It will be hot, spectacular and there should be wild Elephants along the way. Can't wait!