Pancake flat, straight as an arrow

Hello Botswana. I thought that the last part of Zambia had me lacking mental stimulation but Botswana has raised that to a whole new level. We had an 80km day yesterday, taking us from Livingstone, just over the border into Botswana. We said goodbye to Moolah, Andy and Liz at breakfast; and hello to Martin, Bill, John and Jill, our new sectionals. I think that it is particularly difficult to come in as a sectional rider at this point in the tour. Mainly because we are experiencing turmoil/unrest within the group, and there is a lot of transience in the social structure...I am blaming it on 'Cabin Fever' and TDA fatigue. Just another aspect of cycling and camping your way down Africa for four months... The next section of the Tour is called 'The Elephant Highway'. Tallis gave us a rundown on how to deal with wildlife (mainly elephants) on the road. The take home message was to give them their space, if they feel threatened they will charge. Especially the big bull elephants, and the females with calves. Hopefully Botswana will essentially be a 10 day cycle safari! Dylan was awol as we pulled out of camp, met some Zambian girls two nights ago and was apparently still off galavanting! The day of a border crossing probably isn't the most sensible to not come home. Jenna, Steph and I decided to ride with Sophie, who had a free day. The chicks from van six reunited!

It was more of the same. Flat and long grass. It was nice to have a short cycle day, a cycle completed within a morning rather than two thirds of the day. We stopped at 60km for a refreshment stop, and even cycled past a giraffe 500m from the road. They are amazingly camoflauged. You think that yellow and brown would be obvious against green bush, and the long necks too. But no. You could quite easily cycle past them and not notice. We were at the border by 9.30. The border involved taking a ferry across the river to reach Botswana, which was novel! There wasn't the usual border town lead up here. There was, however, a long line of trucks waiting for the ferry. The ferry takes 15mins one way, and transports passengers and one truck at a time. Some of the trucks have to wait for 5 days before their turn arrives. 

We passed a Driver with pots and pans and a little camping stove, crouching around them on the dirt behind his truck, making food/hot drinks. There were a few shop fronts on the opposite side of the road. Just the essentials for long queues of truck drivers - food establishment (Zambian standard), 'nite' club, bottle store. A smooth process. Round the corner. Through the flooded entrance way. Check out of Zambia. On the ferry with the other passengers. 

Off the ferry. Into Botswana- no questions asked, no money exchanged...passport stamped. We also had to walk through a disinfectant for foot and mouth disease, which is apparently present in Botswana. There wasn't a great difference between Zambia and Botswana. The difference between countries as we cross a border is decreasingly we move south. The ability to speak English is increasing. We have had an impressive amount of people seeing (and being able to read!) the Cairo to Cape Town plaques on our bikes. In being able to read them, they also then ask us questions and take an active interest in the trip. Interestingly it has emphasised the impressive-mess of the trip. It is very easy to get sucked in, and lose perspective of what the trip actually is. The ferry crosses the Zambezi and is allegedly one of the only places that you can see four countries- Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia- simply by turning 360 degrees. The camp wasn't really designed for camping at the end of the wet season. A muddy quagmire. 

David and I arrived after most people as we were obtaining simcards, and there were few non muddy camp spots left. I managed to find somewhere undershelter, on concrete, next to Sohpia...so nabbed it. The shower and toilet block were good, just the campsite itself left something to be desired. The rainy season was meant to be finishing as we reached Zambia, but still it prevails. Indeed it rained this afternoon again.  A security guard kindly informed  Sophia that we weee welcome to. Amp there, but we should know there was a crococdile there last week too!

A few of us went on a Chobe river wildlife cruise. I had developed a dehydration headache, and stupidly hadn't eaten my packed lunch sandwich. We had to wait fifteen minutes to leave, while the woman rewrote the list of names because some people had decided not to come. Then we got to the boat and had to wait for another group to come. We set off and 15mins later had to wait to register entry at the national park. Finally, an hour and a half after meeting at camp we entered the park and began wildlife searching. My headache improved with the distraction of animals. We saw Impala initially. They have a black marking on their bum, like an M - Craig said it gives them the nickname of 'Lion's McDonalds'. And crocodiles- super close. 

They were lying very still. Their markings and skin are so thick, I can't imagine having a crocodile skin handbag, but seeing them up close really brought it home that people have them. Kingfishers- so pretty, with almost a snowy pattern to their feathers. Hippos. We saw them so close, I'm sure closer than we should have been approaching them. A few of them yawned. Apparently this is an indication of stress, just like in dogs.

The cruise took us up the river, around an island and then back down the other side. The endless African sky and sunset was beautiful, and really calmed the mind. 

Over in the distance was a low cloud and a lightening storm. Provided as much entertainment as the wildlife. We have spent many hours at camp sitting and watching thunderstorms on the horizon. By the time we got back to camp I was getting impatient and 'hangry'. Happily we were greeted by spaghetti bolognaise. Fed and watered I was a lot happier. April 8th 171km. Flat. Very few turns. The promise of wildlife for entertainment. Today was a coffee morning, much in need of a caffeinated motivator for the day. And a huge amount of Nutella. I was justifying the excess with the distance we were to undertake. Botswana fills me with dread in terms of the cycling, for the same reason as Zambia. I struggle with the long, flat roads, and the lack of views. Today was no exception. Jenna, Steph, David, Tom, Alistair and I unintentionally tackled the day together. We left with excited anticipation, ready for the wildlife encounters we were warned of. The first 60km passed fairly briskly. No wildlife. No potholes. A slight crosswind. Long grass on either side of the road blinkering us and limiting the view to forwards and straight. I rejoiced when the grass was cut and only a foot tall. We were able to see the horizon for a few kilometres. 75km and lunch. Still 95km left to go.

Much of the same after lunch. A crosswind developed. We would go up a hill, I would look forward to a bend in the road, the road continued straight. We made a turn and began on a stretch of over 130km of road with no turns...none...not until Nata...which we don't get to until tomorrow. We entered an agricultural region. I was blown away by the expanse of cropped areas. As far as the eye can see.

I have never seen such endless crops. Sorghum and another crop which I didn't recognise. The tracks up and down the fields suggested mechanisation. The appearance of arable farming surprised me as, from what Wikipedia has told me, only 5% of agriculture in the country is Sustained by rainfall (due to drought), the other 95% of the country relies of livestock for rural income. I had therefore been expecting to see livestock (if anything) and certainly not expansive arable land. Another revelation from Wikipedia is that the mineral industry provides 40% of all government income (of which diamond mining is a heavy contributor). Botswana is home to the worlds largest mine in terms of Value and quantity of carats produced annually. However, there is concern that this will be depleted within the next 20 years, and therefore the government has been attempting to shift their economic dependence from diamonds. One such method has been a heavy investment in education. Free state education was guaranteed for the first 10 years of schooling, secondary education is not free or compulsory. Approx 20% of the government's revenue is spent on the education system. This compares to the U.K.s 10%. Back to the day... We cycled in pairs because the road was so quiet. There was little conversation by this point in the day though. In fact after the town at 106km (read town as petrol station, shop with biggest ice cream selection witnessed in months, factory and army base) 

Jenna and I plugged ourselves into our music. This was the only area of population we passed through in the whole 171km. Botswana has population of just over 2 million, and a population density of one person/3.7km2 i.e. Few and far between. Tonight we are camped in the bush beside the road. A camp called Elephant Camp...and luckily for us it is true to its name. Having cycled 150km we saw threw giraffe, including one baby. This was cool, although they were too far from the road o appreciate fully. Another 10km down the road and there were giant gazelle type things (I can't remember their name, we saw them in Ngorongoro crater). Finally, at 169km, 2km before camp I spotted a giant grey silhouette. I just sat up and pointed! Elephant I said. I couldn't believe my eyes, and our luck. I honestly had written it off for the day. Maybe tomorrow. It was within 300m of he road, with big tusks and looking right at us. We pulled to a stop and reached for our cameras. It was flapping its ears around and we took that as a sign of distress so cycled past before trying to obtain photographic evidence. 

I hadn't realised how much I had wanted to see an elephant up close. Beats cycling past roaming dogs in Ruatoki, and dairy cows in Awakeri. Even more exciting than cycling past the wild pig and some deer on the farm for the first time. I'm not sure if it made cycling 165km on straight, flat, intermittently pot holed, brain numbing tarmac justified. Although at the time it certainly made the effort worth it. Timing impeccable as I had spent the last 5km pulling the group at the front, with Jenna, on the verge of tearful tiredness. Urging myself to continue at the front, do my shift, not give up with only 10km left to go. But fighting the fatigue, closing my eyes, head down. Disengaging my head from my legs so that my legs were just spinning me forward. The elephant and the rest 2km from the end cured the fatigue. Camp is in the bush/scrubland. Lion prints by the truck, and elephant dung throughout. Selecting a tent spot had the added challenge of dodging the ubiquitous ant nests. I settled somewhere with just one under my tent. No bucket showers, I settled with filling my water bottles and using them to jet water over myself and scrubbing with some soap...behind a semi secluded bush. It was a long day and I was pretty tired. We rolled in at about 2.45. Later than our usual 1.30-2. Luckily he sun was shining and there was the opportunity to dry out everything damp. The ground is hard and dry, looks like it hasn't rained for a while. Taking no chances most of us pegged out our tents, and put the flysheets on. Shortly after dinner (incidentally salad and BBQ chicken in the Botswana bush, having just had a herd of 15 elephants walk within 500m camp) the sky began to darken and clouds started to gather on the horizon.

Very familiar with the signs the sky is giving us there was a movement to secure our tents more firmly, pack away valuables and make last minute bush visits in preparation for the onslaught. Some of the new riders, naive to the weather patterns had their tents take off while they were still trying to secure them. Much in the same way we had on our last night in Ethiopia. We had about 30mins to prepare. Lightening on the horizon growing ever closer. Thunder getting louder. Then the wind came from no where. By this point we were in our tents, I had he door open to watch the rapidly approaching front. Heavy drops plummeted from the sky. Time to close the door. 6.30 pm and we are all lying in our respective tents. Surrounded by darkness. The tent rocking in the wind. Rain lashing the sides. For the first time I had pegged out all four guy ropes, in an attempt to keep the wind from pushing the wet fly against the inner tent. Lightening intermittently illuminated the tents before plunging us back into darkness. The eye of the storm passed over in about 15mins, and the wind died down. The rain has eased off but the gentle patter is going to be serenading us all to sleep. I am hopeful that it stops by the morning. It is no longer the rainy season, after all. Only 140km tomorrow, continuing south on the horizon reaching road. Turns out Aedo and Catherine love the long, flat and straight riding. They find it meditation-ary, and enjoy not having to concentrate of the riding. Clearly I lack the ability to entertain myself with my own thoughts for 6.5 hours. I crave the mental stimulation of some turns, some Changes in elevation...maybe even a view of something other than grass as tall as me! 

We also found a lion print in camp before the rain.  I was particularly vigilant on mymtoilet forays during the night- any eyelike glints close to the ground were dangerous/carmviourous, any shoulder height and above were probably more scared of us than we were them!