Windy in Windhoek

The trip is winding down fast.  We will be in Cape Town in about two weeks.  We had five consecutive 100+ milers from Maun to Windhoek, including a 207km ride, strong head wind, rain, hail, and a long climb.

Stage 76 - Maun was a small tourist city in Botswana.  I took a flight over the Okavango delta, the largest in land delta, on the rest day.  The flight was the last one of the day, so we were lucky to see the sunset from the air. Today's ride was fast, assisted by a strong tailwind.  Most people made it to lunch (80kms) in under three hours.  The road continued to be long, flat and straight.

Stage 77 - This was a team trial day.  We formed the teams by country.  To represent America, Team Oil consisted of Scott, Kevin, Mike and I.  Scott is a strong racer, while Kevin and Mike are consistantly fast.  It's a 40km time trail.  We warmed up from 38kmph.  At the end we were pulling 50kmph on a flat with a slight incline road.   It was a total team effort, everyone took turns to pull.  We finished with 1 hour 1 minute, tied with Canadian Bacon (which consisted of both men and women's race leader).  The Dutch team, BeOne, won the trail with 57 minutes!

We saw an Ostritch laid an egg next to Steve's tent at the camp site.  How auspicious on Easter Sunday?  The egg was promptly transformed to an omelette.

Stage 78 - Mando days are usually the toughest days.  This was extra tough - 207 kms (125 miles).  I think most people had never cycled that distance before.  This is the end of the raining season, but for some reason, rain still persists.  The morning started with heavy fog, then a thunderstom that produced hail.  It was not fun at all.  Then, a loud pop came from my rear wheel.  I checked the tire, it was still fully inflated.  I started to ride again and noticed a severe wobble on the rear wheel.  One of the spokes had snapped off.  I took off the broken spoke and carried on.  After lunch, another storm hit us with strong head wind.   Some people didn't want to leave lunch, so I decided to ride alone.  It was a tough grinding day.  Once I reached camp, the news came that Sarge, from Trinidad, could not get a Namibian visa at the border.  So he lost his EFI status.  Alice from Scotland also forgot to take a right turn today, so she went straight towards South Africa.  We finally found her later in the day.

Stage 79 - This turned out to be a very tough day.  I changed my tires last night to a bigger size for the up coming off road.  My plan is to ride these tires all the way to Cape Town.  The morning ride was a bit slow after the long day yesterday.  A very strong head wind was with us all day.  We also had a little climbing as well.  After a Coke stop, rain started to drop as I rode out of town.  Daniel and Mike turned back towards town.  I just kept on going.  The rain was very heavy with a very strong headwind as I climbed a hill.  Then, the rain stopped on the down hill and the wind became a tail wind.  The descend was very fast at 60 kmph.  All of sudden a strong gust of wind blew me almost to the next lane and hail pelted down.  The storm was so heavy, I couldn't see anything in front and golf ball sized hail came down hard.  I got off the bike and turned my back to the direction of the storm.  After a few minutes, the storm lightened up and I kept on.  It was so cold, the temperature dropped to 60 degrees from 80+ during the storm.  The sun finally came out!  It was a memorable ride.

Stage 80 - A lot of climbing and strong headwind to Windhoek.  It seems a lot of the capital cities in Africa are over a mile above sea level.  Windhoek is no exception, at 1700+ meters.  After arriving at the camp site, I promptly devoured a big T-bone and three beers.  We had some really fun sectional riders in the lase section and today was their last ride, to celebrate their achievement, a big group of us went to Joe's beer garden.  The zebra steak I ordered was excellent.  Others tried other game meats like Springbok, Kudu, etc.

Picture Update 15 - Botswana

A "moonbow" at Victoria Falls.

An elephant on the banks of Chobe River in Botswana.

• Hippos in the Chobe River.

A family of Elephants in Chobe National Park.

Moon over the Chobe River.

Sunset on the Chobe River.

Border crossing between Zambia and Botswana.  The island on the top right belongs to Namibia.  The waters on the left belongs to Zimbabwe.

More elephants than people.

Endless sunflower field.

Baobab tree - they are huge.

A rainbow on the roads of Botswana.

Elephant Highway

We are taking a rest day in Maun, Botswana.  The memory from Victoria Falls still lingers in my mind.  Victoria Falls was beautiful.  But, Victoria Falls at night with the full moon was out of this world.  Heather, Chris and I went to see "moonbow" or lunar rainbow on the last rest day.  It only happens when the spray is high and there is a full moon.  It was an unforgettable experience.  The full moon, the roaring of the falls, and a faint but highly colorful double rainbow created a surreal experience.

We crossed the Chobe River from Zambia to Botswana.  During the crossing, we actually were in four different countries: Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Namibia.  This might be the only place where four countires share a common border across a river.  It would have been much easier if they all got together and built a bridge.  But Mugabe of Zimbabwe wanted to charge a lot of money for the use of their land.  The ferry ride was rather funky, big trucks, cars, passengers and bikers all got on this platform ferry.

Botswana is flat.  The roads are straight and long, which means very long rides.  All of our rides here are over 100 miles.  I might have seen more elephants than people in the fisrt five days we are here.  The population of Botswana is only slightly over a million.  The country is very developed, all the western conveniences are available.

Marelie, Deon, Chris, Roger and I took a flight over the Okavango Delta, the world's largest in-land delta.  Unlike most rivers in the world that flows into the ocean, the Okavango River just disappears into the land, creating a massive inland delta and wetlands.  There were a lot of animals in the delta: elephants, giraffes, zebras, rhinos, etc.

This coming week will be tough, all 100 miles rides, including a 125 miler.

Stage 70 - We started a new section called the Elephant Highway.  What an appropriate way to start the day by seeing an elephant on the highway!  It was a young male elephant by the side of the road.  I think it got aggitated as we rode by.  In fact I heard some people got off their bike to take pictures and the elephant charged them.

After arriving at the camp, most of us took a Chobe river cruise to see wildlife.  There were so many elephants, kudus, impalas, and crocdiles.  We even saw a croc eat a bird out of the water.

Stage 71 - As we left the camp, I saw a buffaloe running along the banks of the Chobe river.  The sky was painted red as the sun was just about to break the horizon.  This was scheduled to be a long day at 159kms.  It got even longer when our support team told us there were lion tracks and vipers at that camp.  Botswana is long and flat.  We past huge farms of sorgham and sun flowers.  The sun flower fields were endless with millions and millions of sun flowers facing the sun.

Stage 72 - We had a little thunder storm the night before, but everything dried up in the morning.  The ride to Nata was long and straight.  There were almost no people along the road.  A few folks saw elephants on the road, but I was not lucky enough to see them.  There were a lot of wild rosemary bushes along the road.  The fragrant smell from rosemary tingled the senses.

Stage 73 - The Nata lodge we stayed in was beautiful.  It was Christine's birthday as well.  So we had a bit of fun.  Paul and Christine had a part at the bar and picked up the tab for drinks and deserts.  We had a great time.  Needless to say, some people rode the truck today.

182kms ride started with a heavy rain storm in the morning.  The rain stayed with us for the first 50kms.  I rode with Paul and Adam for a while.  They were "cruising" at 40kph.  I tagged along with Horst rest of the morning, still going at 35kph.  After lunch, we had a Coke stop at a Shell gas station.  I had some local food and a cold beer.  As I was cycling along in the afternoon, I spotted a huge elephant about 200 meters in the bush.  I stopped and saw three more elephants near by.  They are really magnificent.

Stage 74 - Another long day going into our rest day.  I stayed with Tori, the womens race leader, and Kevin. We rotated and pulled each other for over 100kms.  A fun rest day is waiting for all of us!!!

Picture Update 14 - Mosi Oa Tunya

Mosi Oa Tunya, the smoke that thunders, is the local name for Victoria Falls.  It's one of the seven natural wonders of the world.  We arrived in Livingston, Zambia on April 14th.  On the ride into town, the spray from Vic Falls could be seen from miles away.  When I entered Zambia, I paid for a double entry visa, with the intention to go to Zimbabwe for a day.  Christina already booked a room in Zimbabwe and I just decided to go together to spend a night in Zimbabwe. How cool is that?

As we crossed the bridge between Zimbabwe and Zambia, I saw a 360 degree double rainbow that went all the way around the bridge.  It was truly spectacular.  Zimbabwe was much less touristy and much poorer than the Zambia side.  The Kingdom Hotel that we stayed at was five stars by western standards - swimming pool, a full buffet, and air conditioned rooms.  Although the falls are few miles away, the thundering sound of the falls could be heard very clearly. There was also a Casino on the property.  The hotel was may be 25% full, with a Japanese tour group and few other tourists. Just beside our hotel is Africa's oldest hotel, the Victoria Falls Hotel.  The rooms are $500 per night there.  It's a very beautiful property.  You can see the bridge from the hotel lawn.  There is also a flag pole in the center of the viewing terrace, the base shows arrows pointing to Cairo and Cape Town.

The following day, Pierre, Christina and I went to the Victoria Falls National Park to see the falls from the Zimbabwe side.  It's the spraying season at the falls.  That means, with the peak of the rain season right now, all that water bouncing up almost covers the falls.  To stand next to the falls and see water rushing downing the cliffs is a amazing experience.  After crossing back to Zambia.  A few of us also took a helicopter ride to see the falls from the air.  It was even more spectacular to see the Zambezi River, the falls and the gorges.

To end the evening, I went to the Royal Livingston Hotel to have a drink and watched sun set.  The hotel is on the Zambezi River and about 200 meters away from the falls.

360 degree rainbow from the bridge.  You can see the shadow of the bridge in the water.

The spray from Victoria Falls.

The gorges after the falls.

Devil's Cataract, the westernmost cataract of Victoria Falls

Main falls as seen from the Zimbabwe side.

This is the spray from the falls from the Zimbabwe's Victoria Falls National Park.

Victoria Falls viewed from air.

Zambezi River and Victoria Falls.  The bridge that links Cairo and Cape Town.

Sunset on the Zambezi River.

Dusk on the Zambezi from the Royal Livingston Hotel.

Munali's Pass.

Zambia.

Zambezi river.  Victoria Falls is where the plume of water is.

Crossing from Zambia to Zimbabwe.

Victoria Falls National Park on the Zimbabwe side.

Victoria Falls Hotel, the oldest hotel in Africa.

Cairo 5165 miles, Cape Town 1647 miles.  Taken at the Victoria Falls Hotel.

The spraying from the falls.  You can see the water on the edge.

Zimbabwe.

The Zambezi Zone

Lusaka is perhaps the smallest capital city I've visited.  It's no bigger than any medium sized city in the US.  A few of us took a truck to visit Zambikes, a charity/bike builder based in Zambia.  A couple of American kids started the organization and hired local workers to build bikes.  They make specialized bikes for Africa, including ambulances (yes, a bike ambulance!) and carts.  Zambikes also builds bamboo bikes.  We toured the factory and saw the entire frame building process.  I bought a bamboo frame!

On the way to Zambikes, I saw the funniest building name in history - Get Rich or Die Trying Complex.  We'v seen many funny building signs, like Try Again Plaza.

Stage 68 - After a solid rest day with a lot of protein loading, I felt great for the 158km ride.  I had 3 t-bone steaks, a full chicken, at least 10 milk shakes, and a lot of other junk food during the break.  I might have beaten Michael Phelps on the 10,000 calorie diet.  The ride was simply spectacular today.  It was a dry and cool day, with very low humidity.  After all, it's fall here. The morning ride had some good climbs, but the afternoon ride was very flat.  Rodney and I stopped at a grocery store and loaded up on yougarts and Cokes.  Zambia is fairly westernized.  It's interesting to see the contrast between Malawi and Zambia.  All the western conveniences are available here.

Stage 69 - Last night's sky was spectacular, again.  The Milky Way galaxy streaked acrossed the sky.  I wish I could photograph it.  Parts of the galaxy looked like clouds in the sky.  Venus, the brightest star in the sky, came out in the early morning.

This was a long ride, 182kms!  I've done two centuries prior to this trip.  This was the longest ever, with more climbs than descends.  I started the morning by myself, but quickly the racers caught up.  I stayed with them for 10+ kms, then dropped.  After lunch, I went a bit faster.  There was a little town about 40km before camp.  Some of us stopped there to get a second lunch.  I felt great after the break and was flying for the rest of the ride.

Stage 70 - Today was long ride into Livingston, 150+kms.  Terry from Australia went for a stage win today.   He is raising money for his charity, a stage win will generate for donations.  I rode with the main peloton group most of the morning and decided to break away about 10kms from lunch.  I sprinted out in front and pedled hard to lunch.  Lunch was a treat - water melons and french toast.  The ride into Livingston was beautiful.  Miles away from the city, you could see a huge plumme of cloud arising from the ground - Victoria Falls is within sight.  Terry won the stage with the race leader hot on his heel.

Picture Update 13 - Zambia

Kim and I getting our hair cut in Lilongwe.

Not McDonalds!

Luke, Heather, and Peter looking sharp on the green in Lilongwe.

Sunset in Zambia.

A typical village in Zambia.

Sunrise in Zambia.

A field of sun flowers.

Luangwa River.

Check out the wheel on this cart.  It's like the Flintstones!

Early morning in Zambia.

Smooth Bumpy Road

Greetings from Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia.  We had some long rides on rolling hill since Lilongwe.  Zambia and Malawi are beautiful.  People are very friendly in both countries.  Although, Zambia seemed to be far more developed than Malawi.   Ever since Kenya, you can see that different religious organizations have penetrated Africa, even in remote villages.  In Malawi, there were a good number of Rastafarian, however.  I even ate at a Rasta restaurant.  The Jehovah's Witness people seemed to have taken a strong hold in Zambia.

We booked a tee time at the Lilongwe Golf Club to celebrate Luke's birthday on our rest day.  Luke showed up in a pair of $300 True Religion jeans.  The club manager would not let him play.  Luke asked for an exemption, but the manager would not relent.  It was the same day that the Malawian national team planned to practice and they would take offense.   Rules of golf are applied everywhere!  Speaking of golf, the Malawians "mow" their grass by hand.  People use a bent metal blade that looks like a golf club and swing at the grass.  We passed a lot of people along the road whacking the grass.  There were even "Men at Work" signs to warn the motorists.

Malawi was very poor, compared with its neighbors Tanzania and Zambia.  Lilongwe was a tiny and dirty capital city.  One of the strangest things I've seen was the long lines at the ATM machines.  No matter the bank or time of day, there seemed to be always a queue at any given ATM.

Stage 63 - After a nice rest in Lilongwe, we set off in the early morning for a long ride to the Zambia border.  Kids screamed extra loud today.  When we give a them a hello or a wave back, they giggled and cheered even more.  After lunch, I rode to the border.  With some extra Malawian Kwachas (currency of Malawi) left, I wanted to exchange for Zambian Kwachas.  When we entered from Tanzania to Malawi, the money changer scammed Dennis.  Instead of giving him 500 Kwacha bills, Dennis got 50 Kwacha bills.  We were extra cautious with the money changers this time.  There were black market money changers, official bank exchanges, and official "unofficial" black market money changers.  After getting the Zambian visa, I went to an "customs and border control" officer's office.  The officer called someone and within minutes a money changer appeared.  Hardy and I changed our Kwachas and quickly left.  We got an OK rate.

Stage 64 - This was the longest day on tour so far 177kms of rolling hills.  The kids in Zambia only yell "how are you?" when we pass them.  We heard that all day from kids of all ages.  I was recovering from a hard push from yesterday.  The afternoon tail wind helped a lot.

Stage 65 - Another beautiful day in Zambia.  We are in the mountainous region of the country, so the rolling hills were tough.   In the afternoon, we rode through a thunderstorm.  It was very refreshing!   I was going about 25mph, and the rain drops hurt at that speed. When I hit camp, there was a well available to take a bucket shower.  The water was just the right temperature.  It was the best shower ever.

Stage 66 - This was a mando day.  It rained most of the night, last night.  It was so hot and humid all night, inside of my tent was 90F + and 100% humidity. Clouds hanged over head threatened to rain all day.  I planned to go at my own pace, as usual.  Because there weren't many Coke stops alonged the way, I decided to push myself.  We had a 2000 meter climb and 1000 meter descend of rolling hills.  In the early morning, I tried to keep up with the race leaders Jorg and Adam.  But they were pushing too hard and too early for me.  After lunch, I felt great and started to push harder.  The road condition deteriorated, the smooth paved road became bumpy pebble sealed road.  Riding through the mountains by myself was very serene.  After arriving at the camp, we had access to another well shower!

Stage 67 - A short ride into Lusaka.  I woke in the middle of the night and saw the wonderful stars again.  The milky way was crystal clear.  I even saw three different satellites passing.  Warner from Germany is very knowledgeable about the constellations and stars.  He showed me the Southern Cross. 

I was very tired from yesterday.  The rolling hills became some what flat going into the city.  I rode hard with the racers for 10km.  They were pushing hard today.  I've been riding with the racers to get in shape.  Lusaka seemed to be a nice city.  I'm in a mall typing this update!

Moni! Moni!

It's rather serendipitous that "morning," "money," and "moni," the word for hello in the local language all sounded the same.  We finally figured out that if people say "moni," they are not really asking for money.  But some kids do shout "give me money."  People in Malawi are very friendly.

We are taking two days off in Lilongwe.  A welcome break from our everyday routines.  On riding days, I usually wake up at 4:30am, pack the tent and get the water bottles filled.  Breakfast is usually at 5:30.  I try to leave camp by 6:30.  Most days, I get to lunch around 10am.  But recently, I've been to lunch as early as 8am!!!  After arriving at camp site, the first thing I do is get out of the cycling gear.  With the recent rain, drying the tent and set up the tent is very important to stay dry.  Rider meeting is usually at 5pm.  Then I go to sleep at 7pm.  Even on rest days, I try to keep the same schedule.

Stage 60 - This is a mando day, second most climbs in one day.  It rained heavily last night.  My laundy was still wet in the morning.  As we left camp, dense fog covered the town of Mzuzu.  The ride was beautiful.  Steep rolling hills all morning.  We were riding in a heavy mist, just like the cloud.  We couldn't go fast on the down hills as we couldn't see very far.  A few kilometers before lunch, the sky started to clear.  We saw some gigantic round rock mountains by the road.  The afternoon ride was less hilly.  I got into camp just a little after 1pm.  Two more days until Lilongwi!

Stage 61 - This turned out to be an easy day, mostly descending from 1500 meters to 1000 meters.  I started early in the morning and rode with the racers until lunch.  I got into camp at 11am!  This almost felt like a rest day.  After taking a shower, I went to town and wondered around.  There are 30 ethnic Chinese living in Kasungu.  I met a shop owner from North East China.  We had a nice chat about my trip and life in Malawi.

Stage 62 - This was a relatively flat day with rolling hills.  Horst went past me and I drafted behind him.  We averaged about 25mph.  Horst is a strong rider.  He qualified for the Race Across America.  After lunch, it was a slow down hill to Lilongwe.  The 134km went by fast!  The sky was also clear all night last night.  It was mostly clear with some high clouds today.  Hopefully this is a harbinger for things to come.

Picture Update 12 - Malawi (2)

Early morning fog out of Mzuzu.

A rock mountain in the clouds.

Open road in Malawi.

Kids playing soccer.

Locals playing a game with marbles.

Early morning produce market in a tiny village.

The Bua River.

Lilongwe street scene.