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3 Days of Rest - Victoria Falls

Zambia
Day 89-91 / Apr 11-13

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: After a short 3-day riding section, which included some long cycling distances (a total of 489km) we had a well-earned & much appreciated, three glorious Rest Days in Livingstone - glamping (glamorous camping) alongside the Zambezi River at the Zambezi Waterfront Hotel Camp Site.

As one of the Oversees Riders commented to me, "Africa continues to surprise and disappoint all the time". But I will dwell on the positive aspects of our three days in Livingstone.

Day 1: The first of our rest days was declared a NAFI Day (No ambition, Flip-all Interest) and we spent the whole day in the Waterfront Camp. I just stayed and loitered with intent in the Restaurant/Bar Area. Later in the day, a few of us Riders managed to decimate the Mosi Draught Beer supply, much to the consternation of some of the other Riders who arrived later in the evening! Thanks go out to Peter and Deborah who assisted greatly in consuming the draught beer.

Murray and Andje organised a Cheese and Wine evening at the Pool and a great time was had by a select few - which included Liz and her husband Tim, who had motored up to the Falls with two of their sons on a boy-only Road Trip to meet up with her, and to spend some quality time with Liz during our three day rest period.

Our Group visiting the Zambian side of the Victoria Falls

Day 2: Our second day in Livingstone was a bit more adventurous. A group of us caught a Shuttle Bus and went off to the Falls, and proceeded to view the Falls from the Zambian side.

We paid our $20 USD (very reasonable entry fee) and our first stop was a walk down to The Boiling Pot, a walk I had last done with my late Mother when I was 10 years old. The experience of seeing the whirlpool situated just under the Bridge was as exciting and as exhilarating as the first time I had seen it as a child! A most worthwhile climb down and out of the Boiling Pot.

Then it was off to and over Knife Edge Bridge to the Danger Point view site, in the process of which the majority of us were well and truly drenched by the spray from the Falls!

The Falls are currently experiencing a major inflow of water, and the spray is very excessive, not conducive to great viewing but still a great experience. Judith aptly called it "upside-down rain".

Our final viewing point was at the edge of the Falls on the Zambian bank, where the River plunges over the lip and down into the Gorge below. All agreed that our visit to the Falls was truly a most enjoyable experience, which I rank as one of the highlights of the whole Tour thus far.

Soon after, it was off to Zimbabwe on foot; walking over on the Bridge (we have become quite blase about changing countries) and crossing over for lunch at The Lookout Cafe, followed by High Tea at the Old Colonial Victoria Falls Hotel.

In the early evening we caught a taxi to the Zimbabwe Immigration Offices, left Zimbabwe, crossed back into Zambia, then caught another taxi back to Camp, after a most superb and productive day.

View of the Victoria Falls Bridge while walking down to the Boiling Pot

Peter down at the edge of the Boiling Pot

Judith and Deborah on the rocks at the Boiling Pot

Philip, Murray and Brad down at the Boiling Pot

Edge of the Falls where the Zambesi River plunges over the Precipice

Judith and Deborah enjoying the spray from the Falls at the Viewing Point

Rainbow as seen from the Bridge

Geological Time Scale of "Mosi Oa Tunya" (The Smoke that Thunders)

The Bungy Jump off point on Victoria Falls Bridge

Walking across the Bridge from Zambia into Zimbabwe

Welcome to Zimbabwe our unofficial 12th Country crossing

Art work at the Lookout Restaurant in Zimbabwe

View of First Gorge from the Lookout Restaurant

Brad enjoying the opportunity of sampling some of Zimbabwe's finest Zambezi Larger

Cairo 5 165 miles away and only 1 647 miles left to Cape Town

Solange enjoying the view of the Falls from the Victoria Falls Hotel

Michael, Andje, Peter and Deborah very happy to be finally at the Old Colonial Victoria Falls Hotel

Enjoying "High Tea" at the Victoria Falls Hotel

Day 3: Our third day was spent doing the last bit of washing, organizing and the packing of our Daily and Permanent Bags, catching up on administration and trying to update the Blog, another truly NAFI Day.

Onward to our next leg of the tour, soon...

Cheers,
Mike T

Cruise Boat on the Zambezi River passing Waterfront Camp

Sunset over the Zambezi River our last Zambian sunset

The five day section before our next rest day in Maun

Victoria Falls to Kasane and a crossing into Botswana

The Stanely Room at the Hotel

Pianist entertaining the Hotel Guest's

Colonial memorabilia adorns the walls in the Hotel

The Bulawayo Room - Now if only the walls could talk !!

Day 29 - Bus Ride Rest Day (from Border to Khartoum)

Waiting for the bus, that's us! -

Friday: Sudan/Ethiopia Border to Khartoum (8 hr bus ride)

06:00 - Up early, packed up the tent and our holiday bags (no cycling for the next 8 days). Had a cup of coffee and a breakfast, all this while it was still relatively dark. Then walked with our bikes to the bus waiting for us, at the main road. If the bus won't come to us, then we don't have much option, but to walk to the bus with our bikes.

Loaded bags onto bus, then of course not a major surprise, but there was no space for our bikes, so we left them on the side of the road, with Leo the Bike Mechanic in charge.

Bus Company supposed to be sending another Bus/Truck to fetch and transport them to Khartoum for us? I suppose time will tell if they get there before dark.

Took a luxury bus back to Khartoum, very spacey and ultra modern, even got to watch the movie - Fast and Furious 5 nogal - on the on-board tv screen. First time I have sat in front of a T.V screen in nearly 4 weeks.

The bikes can't fit into the bus...

All ready to go back to Khartoum!

Happiness is a luxury bus load of cyclists :)

Arrived at the Grand Hotel Villa, found ourselves a pleasant camp spot on the lawn and pitched the tent. Decided to camp instead of hotel-ing like we did last time. We need only sleep over for one night, and we found the hotel very over-priced the last time we were here. We also have 6 days in Nairobi coming up, and need to conserve our funds.

Took a proper shower for the first time in 7-days (going to miss those donkey washes for a while). A most pleasant experience, having the luxury of hot and cold water at your beckoning.

In the evening, 12 of us went off and walked to the Mall, then had dinner at Layali Al Waha Restaurant just located outside the Mall. It was a most pleasant dinning experience, and all agreed the food had been great.

Then into the Mall, for some of their famous ice cream (Judith had 3 and I had 5 scoops). We followed this up with a very casual cappuccino, lounging around in the Coffee Shop.

Group of us then took a taxi back to the Hotel, to find our bikes waiting patiently for us on the grass camping area. A most pleasant night out in Khartoum.

Cheers,
Mike T

Thirst-Quenching Lemon and Mint drink

One of Khartoum's many statues

A group of us out having dinner at the Mall

Day 22 - Rest Day - Breakfast Buffet's, Ice-Cream & Photobombing

"And then, Michael had finally and suddenly arrived in Soda Heaven..."

Friday: Rest Day in Khartoum

Surprise surprise, we both managed to sleep relatively late this morning, did the necessary, then went to the Hotel Restaurant for a mother of a breakfast buffet.

There is a Barber shop in the Hotel, so I decided to have a Number 0 haircut (shaved my head) as I am tired of trying to keep the sand out from my flowing locks. Yussaf the Barber took his time, and as a result I got my money's worth.

We walked to the Mall with Hanne, met some of the other riders and proceeded to have milk shakes and Ice-cream, and did some shopping for essentials at the Supermarket. Then tea/coffee at a Coffee Shop, followed by more ice-cream to eat while we walked back to Camp/Hotel.

On the way back to the Hotel, we were stopped by a local gentleman who insisted we joined him at his shop for some watermelon. So we sat down and had a pleasant time discussing current affairs with him. His English was good, since he had spent some time working for an American Company. It's the small things like this, that make this trip an eye-opener.

After traveling through Egypt & Sudan, the things we take for granted back in SA (such as visiting the Mall) suddenly take on an Alice in Wonderland experience. Suddenly there is ice-cream, milk shakes and cappuccino's in Khartoum! It feels like I am a child and I just walked into a toy shop!!

Bernd Beigl has rejoined us again, he crashed on one of the early stages, was hospitalized and underwent surgery to his face in Egypt, before flying back to Germany for reconstructive dental work. He flew back to Khartoum, and it is great to have him back with us.

At 5.30 pm we all met up and went off in taxis to the private house of Ed, who is at the Canadian Consulate in Khartoum, where he and a bunch of his selected guests, hosted the full TDA Team (Riders & Management) for dinner.

It was a grand affair, we were entertained by good music and dancing by a group of local Sudanese musicians and dancers. While dinner (starters, main course, and pudding) was out of this world, and appreciated by all concerned.

Back to the Hotel to pack our permanent & daily bags, we also took out our MTB tires from our permanent bags, we will be exchanging our slick tires for knobbly tires sometime during this coming leg (will be riding on dirt/gravel roads soon).

It's been a great rest day for the both of us.

Cheers,

Mike T