Today has been our longest cycling day on the entire tour—208km. Of course, this was yet another mando day. “We start at 6.45”, Max had advised at dinner. “Can’t we start earlier?” I complained. “I’ll need half an hour to get back out” that bloody 3km sand road that I had walked coming into camp,...
Day 99: There will always be doubters and naysayers—just ignore them
We’ve had a team time trial today. Max assigned us into random teams of five, each with a mix of faster and slower riders. The time trial went for 40km before lunch. It was not a race for time, but accuracy. Each team estimated beforehand how much time it would need to complete the...
Day 98: Beware when mailing things to Africa—common sense does not apply
I mentioned in Lilongwe that my bank cards had expired unexpectedly. Since then, I’ve had to use my credit cards and incur ridiculous cash advancements fees in order to draw cash. According to the Swiss Post international mail delivery time schedule, it would take up to 10 days for mail to get delivered in...
Day 97: Once again flying HIGH, this time above the Okavango Delta
I’ve had a very relaxing rest day in Maun, the tourist capital in northern Botswana. Maun is a desert town mostly used as a base for exploring the Okavango Delta, one of Africa’s greatest wildlife habitats. Together with Cath, Erin, Mike and Peter, we went on a one-hour flight early morning to get an appreciation...
Day 96: Disgusting giant bugs are a real plague, not only in horror movies
Today has been rather eventless—an easy 135km ride on flat tar roads into Maun, where we’re having a rest day tomorrow. For a stretch of about 10-20km, massive disgusting-looking bugs (the size of a palm with long legs) kept crossing the road. Half of them were squashed by traffic, some were busy eating each other,...
Day 95: It’s more fun to ride a bike than sit in a vehicle—exceptions proving the rule
Botswana is a relatively dry country, covered by a mixture of desert and dry bush land. On today’s ride, we were supposed to see the legendary Makgadikgadi Pan, one of the world’s largest salt flats. Instead, we saw what most people around here had never seen before—the plains flooded with water. At one point,...
Day 94: It only takes one elephant in the room to spoil the party
The morning was rather eventless. Like yesterday, we’ve cycled on almost perfectly straight roads cutting through dry bush land. After lunch, I saw our fastest riders gathered to the side of the road, waiting. Reason for their delay—a big elephant right to the side of the road, just some 50 meters ahead. While we...
Day 93: Wild animals are more afraid of us than we are of them
Today and tomorrow are exciting days that we’ve all been looking forward to—in awe or with keen aspiration. We’re cycling through the northern reaches of the Kalahari basin, territory of wild animals. Elephants, lions, leopards, hyenas and wild dogs have all been seen on this stretch. Finally, it’s been time for Tallis to brief...
Day 92: There’s no point getting upset about things outside of our control
Today promised to be an almost perfect day. We only had to cycle some 80km overall, on good roads and with pleasant temperatures—piece of cake! After crossing the border into Botswana, we all arrived at camp before noon and had plenty of time to get cash, a local SIM as well as food in...
