And relax...

Wed 11th April: Bush Camp to Maun Made the mistake of pitching my tent on a very hard and rocky patch of ground last night...and then was too stubborn to get my camp bed out and put it up when I realised at 12am that it was not conducive to sleep. In fact I actually persuaded myself that he giant rock under my scapula might provide an impromptu massage while I slept. It didn't. I did sleep with the doors of the fly open though, and was able to watch the stars migrate across the sky and the golden crescent of a moon rise sometime around midnight (when I put my glasses on obviously because I am as blind as a bat, the benefit of night vision). A relatively short stretch to the rest day- 134km. There was an early exodus from camp by more people than normal- I assume driven by the competition for hotel rooms and the desire for beer and a bar. The road this morning was so potholed and had been repaired with so many tar patches that it resembled a tatty old pair of khaki trousers. Bring back the smooth black silk which transported us into Zambia! It was easier to navigate on a bike than in a vehicle as we were able to weave in and out. Concentration is key, but it did add an element of mental occupation which I have been lacking of late. It's like being in a video game with obstacles rushing towards you which you have to avoid. We had this Starwars Nintendo game when we were little and it reminded me of that. Actually it was better than that, the game was pretty rubbish and abby played It more than me. I liked Super Mario 64. Lunch was at a police check point, and pretty busy. Alistair had been ahead of us cycling by himself. Unfortunately his rear wheel has gone and he has had to borrow Jordan's bike until a solution can be found. My understanding is that it is rideable, although unsafe, but I'm not too sure. A few people have had 'majors' in terms of bike issues, and the crew have been kind enough to share their bikes with the riders until a fix is found. Morris had a problem with his bottom bracket/crank. Tandemonium (Mitch and Lesa on the tandem) had an issue with their drivetrain I think, and both rose ataff bikes for a while. Alex had a tyre blowout and was using Harriet's for a few days. Considering how important everyone's bikes are too them, their sharing is appreciated. David's tyre saga continues. Well, actually it resolved after Allain finally found the offending fragment of wire in the rubber a few weeks ago. Yesterday he hit a rock at high speed and obtained a pinch flat, this morning the tube was soft. When pumping it up again the valve got stuck and so he just had to replace the tube. Record for highest no of flats goes to David. He is adamant the bike is going in the sea at Cape Town, unless this maintenance malarchy becomes less time consuming and stressful! The road from lunch into Maun has been resurfaced, no more pot hole avoidance to entertain me. I have been Kilometer counting for the last few days and it is becoming unhealthy. I am increasingly frequently looking at my watch, today I caught myself checking it every 200m...thinking I must have travelled atleast 1km! This afternoon I mixed t up and changed my screen to average speed and current speed. My aim was to keep average speed above 25km/h. I am ashamed to have joined the average speed ranks, having been so scathing all the way down Africa. Desperate times, desperate measures. As t happens David cycled with me for most of the afternoon, which motivates and distracted me from the road. We pulled into Maun - 'The gateway to the Okavango' - and into a service station. Ice creams, cold drinks and ice lollies. It was another hot day. The camp was about 7km out of town at Sedia Riverside Camp...into a headwind and down a deep sandy road to finish. Another 5 days done. David and I had booked a hotel for the two nights, one day. The Sedia Riverside is a nice place, with a pool and a bar, the rooms were more than I wanted to pay. David had found somewhere on Expedia that was allegedly close to Sedia. So begins the rest day saga! My new chain has started to rust, just superficially. The old one didn't rust at all, but the rainy season made quick work of the new one. As we were staying elsewhere I decided to sort my bike out before leaving, so I didn't have to come back before permanent bag drop at 5pm tomorrow. I have been having issues getting up on to the big ring at the front, initially it was because the shifter cable was too loose but now it feels like the shifter itself isn't lining it up. I cleaned the drive train, and put some more dry lube on- hoping to delay further rusting. Jordan has said he will look at the shifter for me tomorrow. Tent had been drying in the sun, so repacked that. We sourced a taxi and set off to the hotel. Arrived at said hotel and they know nothing about Expedia bookings, and were full. They did know somewhere down the road we could stay. Pile back into taxi with hotel lady and travel down road. The next place was essentially someone's house, with two spare rooms. Very pleasant but in the middle of nowhere. I said no because I would feel very isolated. Back into the taxi and drop the lady off, Chris (our taxi driver) was great. I had booking.com up on my phone and we selected somewhere in town than looked pleasant. We got there and they only had one room. Next place. 10mins down the road and the next place wasn't where it said it was on the map. Back in the taxi and this time Chris room is round the corner to a place called Bosotho Lodge, which isn't on booking.com. What a win! Finally, 3 hours after arriving in Maun, we had found a nice hotel room - double bed, clean, tea and coffee, wifi, Tv with channels in English and good signal, bath tub with plug and hot water, towel, walking distance to town...$35usd a night. The lost booking actually did us a favour. :) A visit to the Shoprite to replenish apples, raisins, toothbrush, and chocolate stash. David had his KFC fix and then a relaxing evening enjoying having connectivity with the rest of the world in terms of internet. It's amazing how much pleasure being able to connect and read about things on the internet brings. The colour of the bath water after my wash concerned me, ended up doing a final rinse with the shower, just in case!

Thursday 12th April - Leisurely Lounging Woke up at 9am this morning! I had no idea how tired I was, I did have a late night (1.30 thanks to internet usage). My saddle sores, knees, shiny splints and calf pain have improved hugely over the last few weeks. Thank god. Jordan was right about point my toe down a bit more when cycling to prevent the proximal calf and shin splint problem. That seemed to fix it. This morning, and during the night, by right quad and glutes decided to take it in turns to cramp. It is so weird! I think I have mentioned it before. The muscle band contracts and it's like a wave moves down the muscle belly. I had wheatabix, raisins, Botswana chocolate and a sausage for dinner- I wonder how much of the cramps are related to not having a proper dinner. I haven't msucle cramp for a while, and the distances have been longer- although flatter. Very leisurely day. Need more wet wipes, spf lip balm...The pharmacy didn't provide either of these- but I could buy bottles of sea water and kidney/bladder and heart/nerve tonics. If only it was that easy! I am also in search of a flask so I can have coffee at lunch. Although actually this may be redundant when we leave Botswana. In Botswana the population is so sparse that there is no where to buy coffee en route. Discovered another great cafe - Tshilli Cafe. It is very twee, and also bizarrely full of expats. I have been sitting here on the sofa for two hours.

Maun in general is a bit of a bizarre town. It is a hub for tourists to fly in and out of the Okavango delta. Botswana is known for 'sustainable luxury safaris' and as such is noted as one of the most expensive Safari destinations. The town has no real centre, it is small enough to be walked through in 30-45mins. There are numerous supermarkets, a few fast food chains (nandos and KFC), a hub of cafes around the airport and a lot of furniture stores! I would say the ratio of Caucasians to Africans is 40:60. Sitting in the cafe there are a group of women having a coffee meeting- they remind me of the 'Cambridge crowd'- discussing where they are going away next, asking the children about their gymnastics, running. Swimming and 'game reserve cadet' course! A little pretentious. 2 hours until we have to stop our permenant bags off at the truck. David and I will get a taxi there i think, we put our laundry in to a laundrette (yes, a laundrette!, first one so far) yesterday so will need to pick this up. It was extortionately prices- 25usd for both out stiff, although david did put his sleeping bag in. Another 5 day stretch to Windhoek. Our longest day of the tour is coming 208km. Struggling with motivation, hopefully i can get a group to cycle with that day. Last year they had low temps, rain and a headwind. Just keep pedalling. Only 19 cycle days left. Am working on a strategy to keep motivated for the final stretch. Any tips would be appreciated. :)