Lilongwe, Malawi.
We cross into Zambia tommorow, in my mind were still only halfway down the continent however actually looking at a map of the grand scheme of things tells a different story, we have 1/3 left to go timewise and still around 5000km's. The days are about to get longer with a 210 km day coming up and a week of over 160kms every day. The struggle becomes trying to get enough food in you to sustain that length of riding and obviously we are in the tropics still so you have to force feed yourself liquids all day long.
I have heard that Namibia is going to be one of the highlights of the entire tour. we will spend alot of time back in the desert again which im looking forward to. There is something very simple about the riding in the deserts. You hardly see any other people, those that you do just stand and stare in some form of disbelief. Digging your toilet is generally very simple though you sometimes have to take a hike to do so. Bottle showers are simple and you dry before you have time to pick up your towel. There are no mosquitoes - a big bonus. Your tent is bone dry in the morning and all you stuff doesnt have the damp smell it has developed in Tanzania and Malawi. And most of all when you do come across a shop that sellls cold drinks, they are the best drink you have ever had in your life.
Back to whats been going on, in all honesty its been a little lifeless in the last week or so. No big incidents to gossip except finally one of the guys got laid! He shall remain nameless but the smile on his face the next morning was priceless. He met the lucky lady at the camp on Chitimba beach and she was dumb enough to get talked into joining us riding for a day - 135km's with alot of climbing. i watched her roll into camp pretty much as the sun was going down after having left at 6am, 13 hours on the bike, she could hardly climb off let alone walk herself to a seat. A few of us where laughing thinking he had no chance that night, if she didint fall asleep, 13 hours on a bike saddle should do enough damage to put her off the idea for a few days, but when he appeared in the morning the grin gave everything away.
Lilongwe is an easy going town for a rest day, we have gained a day as the rains have brought down a bridge so we took a different route through the mountains rather than along the lake - go figure. No complaints though, I got my work all done on the day we arrived into Lilongwe and have had some time off and a couple of swims in the pool that is sitting about 6 metres infront of the thatched A frame hut I can hardly pull myself out of.
We cross into Zambia tommorow, in my mind were still only halfway down the continent however actually looking at a map of the grand scheme of things tells a different story, we have 1/3 left to go timewise and still around 5000km's. The days are about to get longer with a 210 km day coming up and a week of over 160kms every day. The struggle becomes trying to get enough food in you to sustain that length of riding and obviously we are in the tropics still so you have to force feed yourself liquids all day long.
I have heard that Namibia is going to be one of the highlights of the entire tour. we will spend alot of time back in the desert again which im looking forward to. There is something very simple about the riding in the deserts. You hardly see any other people, those that you do just stand and stare in some form of disbelief. Digging your toilet is generally very simple though you sometimes have to take a hike to do so. Bottle showers are simple and you dry before you have time to pick up your towel. There are no mosquitoes - a big bonus. Your tent is bone dry in the morning and all you stuff doesnt have the damp smell it has developed in Tanzania and Malawi. And most of all when you do come across a shop that sellls cold drinks, they are the best drink you have ever had in your life.
Back to whats been going on, in all honesty its been a little lifeless in the last week or so. No big incidents to gossip except finally one of the guys got laid! He shall remain nameless but the smile on his face the next morning was priceless. He met the lucky lady at the camp on Chitimba beach and she was dumb enough to get talked into joining us riding for a day - 135km's with alot of climbing. i watched her roll into camp pretty much as the sun was going down after having left at 6am, 13 hours on the bike, she could hardly climb off let alone walk herself to a seat. A few of us where laughing thinking he had no chance that night, if she didint fall asleep, 13 hours on a bike saddle should do enough damage to put her off the idea for a few days, but when he appeared in the morning the grin gave everything away.
Lilongwe is an easy going town for a rest day, we have gained a day as the rains have brought down a bridge so we took a different route through the mountains rather than along the lake - go figure. No complaints though, I got my work all done on the day we arrived into Lilongwe and have had some time off and a couple of swims in the pool that is sitting about 6 metres infront of the thatched A frame hut I can hardly pull myself out of.
posted by Markos at
4:03 a.m.
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