Tour d'Afrique - Cairo to Cape Town by Bike

I left off when I arrived in Lusaka and was on the brink of an extremely special experience the following day.

 

I awoke on our rest day and was packed and ready for a day's excursion by 8:00am.  CCF, a charity that a fellow rider had raised a massive amount of funds for sent a Land Cruiser to pick up the German rider, myself, another rider and our photographer and take us to the Mumba area over 100km away.  We arrived at a nearly completed youth centre that had been built with the raised funds with the interest of educating youth and supporting them to avoid a myriad of social problems, but most notably AIDS.  We met a panel of locals involved with the project and we proceeded to drill important accountability questions at them to ensure that the funds were being used appropriately and efficiently.

 

We were then taken well off the main road down a nearly impassible track to the school that had been built with the raised funds.  Immediately upon arrival we were swarmed by dancing and singing children.  Our driver carefully wove through the throng and parked our vehicle.  We later learned that the children were actually still on Easter holidays, but all came to the school voluntarily to show their appreciation for the fundraiser.  We were placed in padded chairs under a make-shift cover to shade us and were presented a multitude of speeches, songs, dances, poems, etc. all to give thanks for the school.  Of note was a ceremony of celebration that included heavy drumming and traditionally clad warriors (well, traditional over top of their best Sunday clothes that is) charging at us with sticks and metal spears.  They fell when they got to us representing our strength.  Although initially intimidating, it was an extreme honour to experience.

 

We were then taken to the home of the sponsored child of the German rider where we met her family and were treated to a local lunch.  We learned so much about her life and although she was extremely shy, we got to know her a little better.  We were then taken to the school that she was supposed to attend but was in such a state of disrepair that she was whisked away to Lusaka to attend school over 100km away.

 

We were then taken back to Lusaka after a long day of greetings, thanks and a wealth of emotions to digest.  The key lesson that I firmed up from this experience is how any aid that is given must be heavily researched to ensure that the funds are going to be used in a responsible way with the idea of sustainability ingrained into the recipients intentions.  It is a difficult process.

 

Humbled by this incredible day of interactions and experiences, we mounted our aluminum horses the following morning and covered 160km now southwest toward Livingstone, Zambia where the famous Victoria Falls is located.  Once away from the large city of Lusaka we quickly climbed into some small hills and were treated to some beautiful views of the plateau on the other side.  The tailwinds were incredible and all of the riders finished the day very close together despite the long distance.  The following day we covered 175km in once again a surprisingly quick amount of time.  Though the scenery was nice and the locals along the way extremely friendly, the long distances and repetition in the scenery motivated me to stay with the lead group through the day and we all finished leisurely together.

 

The following day we covered yet again 160km for our third century ride in three days and the incredible tail wind pushed my average speed above 37km/h.  I was going to sprint with the big guns for a road stage win, but problems with my valve gave me a couple of flats and I told them to finish without me.  I arrived in Livingstone and enjoyed a social evening with the crew since we are losing a couple of sectional riders, celebrating a couple of 50th birthday parties (on the same day too!) and we were treated to a iced layer cake; what a treat!

 

We are lucky enough to get two rest days in the adventure capital of Africa, however since the river is at its highest since the mid 1950's, the white water rafting will be closed until the end of April.  I have to admit that I was looking forward to this since before I left Canada, but managed to find some other activities to enjoy the powerful river we slumbered near.  I went to the bridge that connects Zambia and Zimbabwe and set foot into Zimbabwe which I was able to do without a $75US stamp in my passport.  I stood above where the bungee jumpers normally take flight, but was currently closed due to the incredible amount of mist coming off of the falls which would damage the cable.  Few clients seemed to argue.

 

On the bridge, I bumped into one of the Mexican riders we met in Egypt and leap-frogged with until we hit Kenya.  The other rider had an accident in Nairobi and is currently in Cape Town receiving surgery.  I hope he has a speedy recovery and can get back on his bike soon!  I also met many other inquisitive tourists about the tour.  They saw the "Cairo to Cape Town" on my race number plate and were full of questions.  I ate my lunch admiring the falls from the river bank above the thundering waters, then went back to my lodge where I was picked up for my river safari.  I boarded the jet boat with intentions of seeing many animals, but quickly learned that the priority of the other clients was to sip gin and tonics on our jet boat rather than experience African wildlife.  I still got to see some hippos, a croc from afar, a variety of birds and one stunning sunset.  The other clients were dropped off at a 5-star resort about 100m upstream of the falls, but I stayed on the boat.  The driver opened the throttle of our powerful jet boat and ducked in and out of the currents between the islands and under clouds of flying birds upstream to our jetty in the fading orange light.  Still not worth the hefty admission price, but at least I got to embark upon the Zambezi in one form.

 

Unfortunately, the romance of the presence of one of the world's natural wonders was dampened by some unfortunate occurrences.  Our medic was robbed of her valuables including her passport in broad daylight about 50m from the main road on the way to our lodge.  She was extremely luckily unharmed, but understandably shaken by the incident.  A rider was walking back to his lodge at about 11:00pm and cut across a lawn.  In the darkness he did not see the 1.5m diameter and 3m deep bricked hole that he plunged into.  A group of riders including myself managed to find him and a ladder to extricate him.  We are all extremely thankful that he didn't hit his head and was able to call for help; however, there is a possibility that he may have fractured a vertebra.  We are all extremely sad for him and wish him a speedy recovery!

 

This morning we set off to enter the national park where the falls are best viewed from.  The intricate pathway network allowed for many angles of viewing the falls.  Before this trip, I have sky dived, I have bungee jumped, I have had hockey break-aways toward the end of important hockey games and been set volleyballs at the end of important games.  With that said, I was floored by the amount of adrenaline pumping through my veins from simply standing in front of the massive chute of water!  The spray instantly soaked our bodies with the fierce wind that the falling water creates.  I am extremely happy that I had my Salomon clothing on and my waterproof camera with me.  Both myself and my camera were able to experience everything and quickly dry afterward unharmed and with memories full of pictures and videos that will last a lifetime.

 

Tomorrow we have our third time trial to the jetty where to board the ferry to Botswana.  Bring on the elephant highway!