A long day of 186 km ahead of us. We had already decided to go to the Wimpy for breakfast – however when we woke it was pouring with rain – and people kept changing their minds as to what to do – Yes, Wimpy – No, Wimpy!! I too was undecided – maybe have breakfast at the hotel if it was included in the price – it wasn’t and so I decided on the Wimpy! I had already told Steve anyway! So Dennis and I rode to the Wimpy together – but then he carried on. The Wimpy was packed – so many riders there! I stood in one line for coffee – but they ran out so I had to join the other one to order breakfast as well. Finally Kari and I managed to order. The trucks were also there – quite a few riders had decided to ride the trucks today because of the rain and the distance involved – and finally the place began to empty. Then Bastiaan and Liam turned up – they had overslept!! Anyway – they too ordered breakfast. It was such a mad mess in there – our receipts had some how got lost – someone had cleared them away – and so we had no proof we had even ordered – and had to argue that! Finally we got our order and some coffee and Bastiaan and Liam eventually got their’s too. By the time we had eaten the 4 of us were nearly three hours behind the riders with 175 km or so ahead of us!! Even the sweep was in front of us! But the 4 of us rode really well together and I was really beginning to feel a lot better. At about 50 km we stopped and had some juices in a cool little village. It was very flat – and the scenery would alternate between trees and barren areas with long grass. We were constantly looking out for animals but not seeing anything. Finally at 85 km we made I tto lunch. They were really nice to us but trying to pack away so we were as quick as possible and soon continued on. Elvis is the afternoon sweep so he rode with us – he has some great stories to tell!! The 5 of us were going pretty good. We had been told about a really nice place to stop at 106 km – with swimming pool and snacks. So we pulled over and hung out there for a while – we ordered chicken sandwiches and milk shakes – Bastiaan and Kari went for a swim in the pool. Another 2 km detour for our longest day on the road – but all good fun! As we finally set off again I calculated that we had still had 80 km to go and it would be dark in about 3 hours. We needed to pick up the pace! Of course the wind picked up as well – a headwind now and really blowing! We are actually riding pretty well though – trying to get the miles done – trying not to hurt Kari too much – she is riding really well but doesn’t like to go quite as fast as Bastiaan and Liam – neither do I at the moment! Elvis as the sweep is happy to sit behind! Then suddenly Elvis shouts “Elephants” – and finally we see some elephants! 3 big males – off down a dirt road – so not too close! Then we carry on and one of the trucks drives back to tell us to hurry up and at the next rest stop – 30 km out of camp – they shout “Come on – you’re late!!” So we didn’t stop – just rode straight through! Elvis got on the truck here and so the truck followed us instead as the sweep!! Then the truck was in front slowing us down – as there was another big group of elephants on the right hand side – again safely quite far away! However another 10 km down the road and the truck stops us and sits itself in the middle of the road. There is a big bull elephant – just off to the side of the road in the trees – we were less than 50 m away from him! Really cool!! The truck drove past very slowly and sheltered us as we ride alongside. Very exciting!!
Just to round it all off a little further along we saw some warthogs and were then treated to an amazing sunset as we rode into camp at 5 minutes to 6 (official sun set was at 5 minutes past – so we only just made it!!) What an incredible day!!!
Here is Kari's version of events:
Kari's blog
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