See ya soon ...

Well ... it has been nice and relaxing here in Windhoek. I need to go back and pack my bags, clean my bike and then enjoy a quiet braai.

We have two tough weeks left!! And lotsa the guys are getting a bit grumpy and cranky by now ...

We are all starting to focus on Cape Town ... and our final night in Yzerfontein on Friday 11 May ... party, drinks and emotional farewells ...

We are having our official Welcome Procession, etc at the Waterfront Amphitheatre around 14h00 on Saturday 12 May ... but I presume we will arrive closer to 13h00 and get time to say Hi! to family and friends ...

... see you there!

The Trip ... so far ...

Well, we have arrived in Namibia ... more specifically Windhoek and am now travelling thru more familiar territories ... nothing majorly new for me therefore, except doing the routes by bicycle this time.

Herewith a brief summary of what I've felt, seen and experienced on the way ... these are all relative generalisations and dependent upon my personal experiences ...

Egypt

The cycling was fast ... very fast ... on tar roads, with a tail wind and while everyone was still strong and energised. Lots of desert and open space ... where there is no farming and settlements ... and quite lush and dense vegetation (plus farming) along the River Nile.

The country as a whole is probably the least memorable of all of them. The country is fairly dirty ... litter all over! And the people are in general very pushy and irritating ... constantly trying to sell stuff, get you into shops and just pester you non stop.

With regards to the Pyramids, Temples and other sights ... this country DOES surpass all others on the trip (with respect to sights and history) and has so much history and knowledge tucked away!!

Egypt was quite cold at night (especially around sunrise), cool and windy during the days, but warmer as we went south.

Sudan

One of my favourites by far - for the awesome people and the endless space! I love the open, empty deserts. The sand, sand and more sand - split thru by the Nile and the lush green vegetation where it flows. The calm and peace ... and pure nothingness! The cycling was tough in the soft sand ... and it is sad that they are building a top-notch tar road throughout ... so those heading here in three years time will loose lots of this feeling ...

The people are wonderful ... friendly and real pretty. More so in the North. Further South, to Ethiopia, one looses the sense of freedom and openness as the country becomes more developed and populated, for some reason the relaxed, open friendliness of the people also becomes more reserved and distant.

Hot, hot, hot during the day ... dry and dusty!! To begin with evenings were still cool, but later got quite warm.

Ethiopia

This place takes the cake for beauty, mountains and mixed emotions! I will definitely come back here! We covered about 1 800km in three weeks and had a total accumulated elevation of nineteen thousand meters! The mountains just keep rolling on-and-on. The countryside is also very green, tropical, lush vegetation.

The people (and there are millions of them ... 50% of the population is 18years and younger ... i.e. children everywhere) all mean well - and they are all merely greatly interested in these spandex clad, colourful people on racing machines. Unfortunately their constant screaming, monotonous questions, stone throwing and unsocial (by our standards) behaviour at times caused lots of unhappiness and heated debates amongst us.

I personally believe they are not evil and merely struggle to communicate with us as we race thru their back yards ... and I'll be back to see more for myself later.

We had some cold and damp weather, cool nights ... but mainly due to the high altitude. Days in general quite warm.

Kenya

TOUGH! Northern Kenya has a total lack of comfortable cycling roads ... and caused lots of pain and discomfort. Up North the country is very beautiful and empty ... but apparently occupied by many bandits and thus not too safe.

Further South it becomes lush and populated. The roads become better ... although quite potted throughout. We felt like we found civilisation again when we got good roads, ice-cream and cold milk in the fridges. But unfortunatelly a little dirty and neglected in many areas.

Overall it is a country with many opposites ... with respect to roads, people and the countryside. Unfortunately it didn't live up to the "sparkle" of Africa I had somehow imagined and dreamt of from films and stories of old colonial Africa and ended up merely being another country on en-route ...

Hot days, comfortable nights ... the odd shower at night ...

Tanzania

Alongside Ethiopia ... as number one for lush, green beauty and hills galore. I absolutely loved the route. We had top notch tar roads and dirt roads fit for hell. The rains caught us briefly (actually so far on our trip I have had only two days of rain in over 100 days of cycling!!) and turned everything into an interesting logistical task of getting trucks thru and finding suitable camps.

The people are really great, plentiful snacks and drinks along the way and some real tough cycling.

The best part was the way up to Mbeya and then over the range and down to Malawi ... simply breathtaking beauty!!

Warm and a little humid ... but not bad. Some night showers and some major rains on one or two days ... should have been much more - but we were real lucky!!

Malawi

Correctly labelled The Heart of Africa ... nowhere will you find more friendly locals ...! They were extremely friendly, well spoken and interested in what we were doing. Also very clean ... hardly any litter anywhere.

The Lake was amazing ... it has been a dream for a very long time to come swim in Lake Malawi ... and definitely worth the wait for the water and the views. Chitimba Beach, close to Livingstonia, is an amazing place!!

The roads were definite "rolling hills" ... and got quite tiring ... which continued into Zambia.

The days were quite hot ... intense, burning heat ... but also quite humid. We had our worst night on the trip - pissing all night and hot and humid at the same time ... aagghh!

Zambia

Zambia is a real nice place ... not brilliant, but not bad at all. The route is continually "rolling hills" ... tough and tiring!! And the route becomes quite boring and monotonous ... tall grasses along the sides, few people and hill, after hill, after hill ... it was the first time I started feeling a little bored and the legs started hurting ... !!

We were lucky we had a fair amount of cloud cover ... as it could have been a lot hotter. We had our second day of pissing rain. The roads are totally potted with potholes for about 100km inwards from both border crossings.

Botswana

Lekker Land of Elephants!! I really like this place ... and will come back real soon. I'm actually a little disappointed in myself that I haven't been here sooner ... and I live so close ...

The roads were real tedious though ... kilometers and kilometers of endless flat roads ... actually: Flat, No Bends and Turns, No People, No Coke Stops, Little Vegetation Changes and Lotsa Wind! I also found the place to be real clean and tidy all round.

The elephants along the national road are amazing ... the (stupid) racers ploughed along day after day and even passed one herd of roughly 25 elephants without seeing any!! We took our time and saw plenty ... at one stage I was lost in my own world and suddenly had one mock charge me from the right at only 5m away ... "heel boy!"

The heat was quite intense ... and the nights were still very comfortable, with the odd chilly morning just before sunrise.

Namibia

This country is real great ... I have loved all my trips here so far! The experience so far though is different ... long, slightly undulating roads, little spectacular views and very few people along the road.

Now I know what Namibia has to offer, cause I've been here before ... and it has a lot of amazing places and sights! It gets me thinking of our current trip thru Africa ... where we obviously see very little and definitely miss out on so much more ... the little we experience and see along the way is minuscule compared to what every country has to offer on a whole!

The nights have become very cold all of a sudden! The days are still hot and intense ... but bound to cool off even more as we head south ... I actually just went shopping to get warmer trousers and a decent fleece top.

South Africa

Well ... I'm excited to see how I feel riding thru the country ... it is home and I do know it quite well. I would have loved our trip to go thru the Southern cape or Wild Coast, even Natal or Mpumalanga ... as these have such amazing views and sites to experience. But traffic would have been hell thru here and the extra time would have been a bit tedious ... we all seem to be getting to the end of our endurance abilities ...

And the weather ... well Cape Town and the Westcoast is currently real cold, pissing with rain and snow on the Swartberg Mountains ... aagghh!!

Danke Familie Rust

Thanks a lot for dinner and the night's accomodation ... it was nice to get an evening of peace and quiet, a good German meal and a nice comfortable bed ... obviously also great to see and catch up with you.

Hope you enjoy/ed your holiday!

Ciao

Congratulations Bernard and Paula!!

Howdee Bart and Paula ... congratulations on the birth of your little one ... Julia.

Hope all is still well. I'm real happy for you guys and hope you are still getting some sleep now and then. Not sure if you trust me ... but I can take her for a cycle some time and you guys can rest and recover ... ;-)

Cheers and see you soon!

Sorry no pics

Sorry everyone ... no pics being added here ... I'm in a nice, decent internet cafe ... but they don't have USB connections to connect my camera for picture downloads ...

Also not too sure when next we will have internet access ... but will try sooner than later to put some stuff on the blog.

The sleepy town of Windhoek

Hello everyone!

We have arrived in the sleepy, slow, mellow town of Windhoek. We have had several tough, long days on our bikes and therefore need and treasure our two days off here ... where there is not much more to do than relax, shop, go to the movies and do nothing ... obviously eat and drink in huge amounts ... ;-)

Windhoek is by far the mellowest (if that is a word?) capital city on our whole route. As they say here: If there are two cars in front of yours at the traffic light ... it is rush hour! The school holidays started yesterday, so we do have endless little brats running around the shopping mall and energising the internet cafe with us.

Thank God we have a bit of a cold front here too ... although obviously nothing like Cape Town and the West Coast at the moment ... the temperatures are in the low twenties, but expected to chill way more at night as we travel south over the next two weeks ...

... Now (exactly - 13h30), in two weeks, we should be at the Waterfront. Apparently the official welcome/arrival is at 14h00 ... but i recon we should be in about 13h00/30 on Saturday morning.

Rushing thru Gobabis

We've made it too Namibia!!

We had a killer 208km trek yesterday ... long, tough and windy ... and ended just over the border in Namibia. Had a good night's sleep and today enduring a real tough 165km trip to Witvlei ... real bad wind and long , flat boring roads.

Well - sorry we have nothing new and exciting - also no photos of note ... maybe I'll photograph my right foot or rear tyre to give you all something new.

All the best ...

Patrick

Bonus Pics

Here are a few random photos for your viewing pleasure. :-)

One of my new friends

Sundowners with my folks at the Zambezi, just before the waters fall

Breaking wind just before the (time) trial

At the Zambezi ferry (Zambia to Botswana)

The little town of Ghanzi

Howzit everyone ... just pulled into the little town ... god-forsaken outpost ... of Ghanzi, in Botswana.

Yes ... i'm here real early ... got a little bug ... just like half the cyclists on tour at the moment. Sore throat, snotty, headache, etc ... but need the rest before tomorrows marathon stage of 208km!!! The longest on the trip!!

Otherwise we are all well. Boredom has set in with many people. Less than three weeks to go ... yeehaa or aagghh?!

the roads are still flat, flat, flat. As Al pointed out in the comments ... a fair amount of donkeys - and horses - along the road ... seemingly wild? But nothing like further north in Africa. Only sighted one local cyclist on the road for the whole of Botswana.

Oh well, that is all for now. I'll update later re our arrival in Cape Town ... time that is ... but am expecting around 12h30 on Saturday 12 May 2007 ...

lotsa love
Patrick

p.s.

we went over the 9000km mark yesterday ... so less than 3000km to go!!!

chat again in Namibia and see you all soon in Cape Town ... 12 May 2007

I'm going to get sick ...

Hi there again.

We just went on a real awesome flight over the Okavango Delta ... in a little six seater Cessna plane ... and saw loads of animals (and water obviously) ... elephants, giraffe, gnu, zebra, hippo, snakes, ants, termites and lots more.

Thank God we went at eight o'clock already ... the ground is not that hot yet, so we had little turbulence. And still I felt like absolute shit ... I don't think I have sweated so much on my trip yet ... I came out literally green and sopping wet and a major twitch in my hand from continually thinking I may need my barf-bag.

Well, I've done my shopping, internet and the flight ... so I'm going back to the hotel to relax and lie at the pool for the whole day ... ;-) What a life ...

cheers

The week that was ...

Hi there all ... arrived in Maun, Botswana just now. Came straight thru to the internet cafe ... getting it done today so that we can enjoy our off-day tomorrow!

• We started off from Livingstone with an individual 40km time-trial ... I did real well and enjoyed it tremendously. Everything just seems to have worked out well on the morning.
• Thanks to Andy Paton for the use of his tri-bars ... the time-trial and riding in Botswana is so much easier/fun.
• We went on an amazing, relaxed boat cruise on our first day in Botswana ... on the Chobe River ... beautiful environment and great animals ... especially the Fish Eagle and the family of elephants.
• The roads thru Botswana are real tiring and tedious ... actually boring at times!! They are all straight (for many, many tens of kilometers at a time!), flat and continually the same. No shops, Coke Stops, children, people, minimal cars and little else.
• Awesome though are the ELEPHANTS! They are all over the place ... I had some very close, scary experiences where I was not watching out (cruising along on my tri-bars) and suddenly there was an elephant five meters from me - ears out and not too impressed. This is definitely one of the major the highlights of the trip.
• Our distances have been continually around 160/170km. And our pace has been quite high too ... so we are all a little bushed and tired ... and ready to enjoy the day off tomorrow.
• Hoping to go on a flight over the Okavango Delta tomorrow ...
• Thanks to my fossils for their visit to the Falls ... it was great to see you!
• Congrats to my boet - Andre - on the purchase of his new house!
• The temperatures have also been quite high ... but more importantly, the sun just somehow seems to burn so much more intensely out here.

Well that is all for now. This country is really great and I'll be coming back here soon ... so if anyone is planning a holiday and wants to come with me ... see you soon.

cheers

patty

And more thru Botswana

And who said there are no Tigers in Africa (my new squeaky bell ... the Croc lost his voice)
Chasing down Remy on the LONG, STRAIGHT roads of Botswana
The African Tigers ... Team Time Trial

Windie (Ethiopia), Dave (Stellenbosch), Patty, Josh and Douglas (Kenya)

More Botswana

More monsters right next to the National Road thru Botswana
Ex-Fatty Patty cruising thru Botswana

Botswana pics ...

Big monsters on the Chobe River
The sun setting on the Chobe River

Livingstone Police Station

Some of these offences are real funny ...

Images of Zambia

At the school supported by Markus' charity (Christain Children's Fund)

Markus and Rachel ... his sponsored child

Zambezi Sun, Livingstone ... luxury towards the end of a trip

Well, lets open this bag on the truck, at the border crossing, and lighten the load ...

But they say you get wet at the falls

Livingstone Update

Off to Botswana

So tomorrow we are off into another new country! We will have a timetrial out of Livingstone and off to the Botswana border. Hopefully we will get a TV and cricket coverage ... and hopefully the Proteas will not wilt one more time ... :-(

We then have several long days on very flat, very straight (up to 140km without a bend!!) roads between lots of elephants and other wildlife ... this is what I've waited for ... for a long time now!

Well, cheers to all ... and a special Hi to all those people I hear are regularly checking this blog ... Linda, Leon, Janeen, the Thomas family, Phil and Tara, Trina, Joke, John, J. Zuma and D. Tutu, Nix and everyone else ... I know there are many more, but these few stick out somehow from comments and messages via my fossils and brother ...

cheers for now



Hi there all ... from the Smoke that Thunders

It has been an interesting, exciting and restful last few days!!

We left Lusaka a few days ago ... straight into the same tedious, monotonous rolling hills and tall grass along the same tar roads heading for Livingstone. At some stage between causing shit with Phil and racing up some little hill I realised I was a little bored. Phil felt much the same ... and we plotted our plan to head of for Livingstone a little earlier.

Basically we felt we were a little bored of the same faces, same people, same routine, same roads and wanted to go and chill a few days. The second day out of Lusaka George (who felt the same), Phil and myself headed off for Livingstone ... two days before everyone else. It was a real good idea .. as we have had a real good break from the people and off the bike ... including the two planned rest days in Livingstone.

The day turned a little stressful yesterday ... firstly I played probably my worst round of golf ever (luckily Phil and Andy Paton were not much better) ... then Nurse Elaine got mugged/robbed (she is perfectly fine and uninjured, but has to trek off back to Lusaka to get a new passport ... aagghh) and in the evening poor George took a nasty tumble down a three meter deep well and injured his back a little - well not so little ... vasbyt ouman ... wishing you all the best and a quick recovery onto your bike again.


Livingstone

The falls are brilliant ... unbelievable water ... unfortunately too much for rafting, and one gets TOTALLY soaked when going down to the falls!! The Zambezi Sun (where my folks are currently staying) is a real great hotel, good food and right next to the falls. I'm staying at a small lodge - the Bushfront - also very decent, extremely friendly and nice. I missed the booze cruise last night - for Marc's 50th and for general unwinding - as I was helping Elaine at the cop-shop ... an experience on its own - very friendly, but slow, tedious and tough with different languages and cultural experiences. ;-)

We've done a lot of relaxing, some drinking and just general chilling. This Internet availability story though gets no better ... actually a slight pain in the arse if I may say so. It is so tough to get a good connection anywhere!

I missed the canoeing this morning ... after looking after George a little and heading back to where I was staying it was 01h00 ... and I was not keen to get up at 07h00 ... at least not on a rest day! So I enjoyed an awesome breakfast with my folks.


Cheers Howard

Well, we lost another person from the trip ... cheers Howard, it was good to meet you and I wish you all the best for the rest of your trip. I believe you will not mind too much - and actually agree - if I do point out that this trip was not the best thing for you ... you want your space and freedom thru Africa and I really hope you find that thru the last part of your trip ;-)

Cheers to the last member of the Grumpy Old Men ;-)


Dear Leigh-Anne

As most of you know, Leigh-Anne left us a while ago. I must say upfront that I have decided not to gossip thru my blog, or point fingers and critisize people on the tour ... but herewith I do wish to point out one or two things that you have indicated on your blog.

You seem to indicate that the Tour organisors/staff were not helpful, supportive and that they "neglected" you when you came down with Malaria. You seem to lay a fair amount of blame on the nurse not doing what you felt was her responsibility, and your expectations for certain care or attention which you believe you were supposed to get.

Leigh-Anne ... please remember that you had left the tour a week earlier - but this never excluded that the Tour was still accomodating to you and your needs. You approached the nurse very shortly before our departure, wanting her to go North up the country to fetch a friend (slightly impossible I'd say), then to maybe find your friends number ... which you didn't even have or make easily available. You were obviously not well and the Tour did offer to take you to the hospital and eventually they were the ones that informed and spoke to the camp's owners to help and organise your travel and appropriate care at a clinic or hospital,

Please don't get me wrong Leigh-Anne ... I'm not unsupportive of your dreams and ways of travelling thru Africa. I'm glad to have met you and wish you all the best for the future ... but I do believe you have given a very false perception and review of the Tour organisors, their conduct and help they offered to you in this case.


My new motto in life ...

I wish a long life to my ENEMIES
So they may see all my SUCCESS

(poster in a shop somewhere in Zambia)

Lusaka

Well I'm bushed ... tired and sore head. Gotta go pack and hit the sack ... aagghh ... and 160km tomorrow.

We had a good dinner at the Deputy German Ambassador yesterday ... really nice to hear some other news, information and ideas about a country on the trip. Good German food is also always welcome!!

Tausend Dank fuer die Einladung.

Today's trip out to Markus' sponsored child and the school/community development programmes was also real interesting. We were treated like semi-royalty and really enjoyed the dancing, food and children. It is an eye-opener to see first hand how little so many people really have. And nearly comical to listen to the over-zealous politicians hijacking the proceedings to contribute their little bit of propaganda ... ;-)

For now - good night ... I gotta rush and really need a good night's sleep.

Cheers

Zambia

And this against a decent head-wind ...

Welcome to Zambia ...

"Guys ... I hope you all closed your tents!!!"

Typical tall grass verges throughout Zambia

More pics

I'm in the middle of town ... no need to tell me ...

The powder enables the man to make the woman much happier ... ??

Pictures in Africa

As opposed to "used condoms"?

This should have been in Ethiopia

Hello from Lusaka

Hi there all.

well we made it too Lusaka ... that was one tough section!!! Hills, hills and more hills ... endless rolling hills. Not as steep as Ethiopia, but tough, endless stuff. The distances have also been much longer ... and very noticeable in the legs. Somewhat monotonous at times ... continuous tarred hill roads with tall grasses on the sides. Much fewer people, minimal Coke stops, few (but fast, self-centred, dangerous) cars and buses and vegetation all round.

It is the first time on the tour that I actually questioned myself why I was doing this ... during a brief tired, strained, aching moment ... which flashed by as soon as it appeared!!

It is actually quite interesting how tired and run down some people are ... actually to see how different people are suffering at different times. Some - including myself - took strain a while ago and now are racing along and enjoying every second; whereas others are only now going thru a definite slump.

Talking about slumps and taking strain ... we lost another cyclist in Lilongwe. Tom V. decided to pack up and leave. Sorry to loose you, but I fully understand your decision. There goes one of the stalwarts of the Grump Old Men ;-)

We have now unfortunately lost four cyclists in total ... Tom B., Leigh-Anne, Eric and Tom V. Nice to have met all of you and wishing all of you lots of fun and adventures for the future. There are several more who are taking a lot of strain ... and a few close to cracking totally ...

Well that is more or less all for now. I've got to rush off to the hairdresser ... to get rid of the stupid three stripes on my kop - I've got a dinner appointment and can't go like this. Then off to the hotel to replace the cassette on my bike and relax a little. Tomorrow is our off day - but I'm off with Marcus to see some charity projects and another angle to Zambia and their people.

I've got loads of lekker pictures on my camera ... no promises ... but I'll try to get them onto a USB drive and come back to this Internet Cafe tomorrow evening ... lets see how tired I am.

Some extra info:

• We've crossed the 7880km mark ... so less than 4000km left.
• My fossils are joining me at Victoria Falls in four days ... yeeha!
• We've got more long distances coming up ... Thursday, Friday, Saturday all around 170km!!
• Siggie ... you are still crazy! ;-)
• Termites DO eat tents!
• The sun is hot out here
• If you wish to loose weight ... do the Tour d'Afrique

Ciao

What lies ahead ...

Howdee and good night ...

I'm off for one more drink ... maybe two or three ... but then a good night's sleep and a well deserved rest tomorrow. The section from Iringa to Lilongwe has been quite tough and tiring ... and the route to follow is no easier.

I'm simply off to do some banking tomorrow ... get my Zambian Kwacha here in Lilongwe - apparently the changers at the border are notoriously criminal ...

• We leave on Good Friday with five tough days ... 150km, 195km (aagghh), 154km, 125km, 104km
• One rest day in Lusaka ... but real busy ... joining Marcus on a charity event and dinner at the "deputy" German Ambassador
• Then three quick days to Vic Falls ... and a visit from my Fossils ... Yeeha!!! Also two off days ... to drink, raft, sleep and drink ...

Well for now, keep well and have fun .. I definitely am!!

Thoughts of the trip

Me and my Boet ... in Malawi ... enjoying a much needed breather climbing from Chitimba to Mzuzu

Some more ideas, facts and thoughts:

• I've lost lotsa weight ... not sure what my current measurements are ... but my arm warmers are totally useless (can't stay up on my arm) and my casual trousers are way to big ... looking for a decent clothes shop in Lilongwe tomorrow.
• Cheers again to Donna, Ruth and Trina ... from BC, Canada ... it was fun to have you here. Trina ... I hope you have apologised to Donna for causing such a major cycling accident ... tut, tut, tut ... at least you made it up with those nice M&Ms!! ;-)
• "Rolling Hills" is really becoming a terrible term on our trip ... especially cause we constantly have them at the moment ... and the same term is being used for rolling mountains and rolling hills ... so we never know what to expect.
• We have been VERY lucky with the rain!!! I've only had one day with a ten minute light shower and ten minute torrential down pour ... on the whole trip. A couple of nights with severe or slight rain ... and some major morning dew which leaves the tents sopping wet. Overall - absolutely nothing. Last year they had three weeks of rain every day during Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi!!!
• Ethiopia still stands out as the most memorable and beautiful country on the trip. Sudan as the most impressive ... just the vast open nothingness and freedom of the open sand. Malawi is the friendliest, and Tanzania the lushest and greenest of them all.
• My Nile Crocodile ... plastic horn on my bike ... lost his voice and had to be removed. I actually seem faster and more mobile with less wind resistance!
  

More images in Malawi

A very hairy caterpillar ... and no relation to Splat, Squish or Squash

The Royal Wave after a hard day in the saddle ... and Remy trying to hide ... sorry mate, the wheel is see-through

On the road - in Malawi

Along the road

Siggy ... we normally wear our bib shorts under our t-shirts ...? You are a funny, crazy guy Siggy ... and I'm glad you're staying on till Vic Falls!

Allan ... at 71 years old ... my hat (helmet) goes off to you!! Welcome and enjoy ... both the rest and the cycling.

Andrew's chain broke 5km from the end ... and poor Patrick and Remy had to push him all the way ;-) ... Actually Andy really didn't want the help ... forget it mate, we gonna help if you want it or not.

Party Time

Adidas Boy ... aka Patrick
The winner ... The Snows of Kilimanjaro (aka Marcus)
Remy, Patrick and Crazy Siggy after a couple ...

Hi there all from Lilongwe - Malawi. Staying at a real nice Camp/Overland Hostel ... we're all real buggered - tired, sore and stiff from the cycling.

The pics above are from our Mustache Party in Chitimba Bay ... therefore the stupid goatee I have been carrying around for a while ... and more than happy to have gotten rid of again!!!

Patrick has been admitted ...

We are sorry to announce we cannot guarantee when the next update will be posted by Patrick Thomas.

He was last seen in public behaving well beyond the realm of any mentally healthy human being ... from the picture provided we believe most of you will agree he was not in major pain - he simply seems to have lost his mind somewhere in Africa ...

Rest in Peace ... Splat

Dear Splat

It was real nice to get to know you with my mates from Canada and England. It was a brief encounter and I hope we were a decent passing view before you left us for the chameleon heavens above.

You were one of the cutest little creatures ... eyeballing us and dancing across the road in your slow, animated and unique way. Unfortunately our language barrier (such a common thing in Africa) hindered your progress in life as you failed to listen to our cries of encouragement to reach the other side of the road ... but you did do well to dodge the first few vehicles - better than I could ever have done!

Lastly also apologies for our laughter afterwards ... maybe it was just our way of coping with the loss ... but you must admit in the greater picture of things around it was a sweet, traumatic, but also a real funny encounter.

RIP and we'll remember you for a long time!

Malawi ... "The Warm Heart of Africa"

My cottage on Chitimba Beach
Lake Malawi ... at Chitimba Beach

Howdee all!

I'm still well and really enjoying Malawi ... Malawi is real beautiful, unbelievably friendly and very hilly. It is not as lush and green as Tanzania, but still awesome views and landscape structures. Malawi is correctly classified as "The Warm Heart of Africa" ... the people are unbelievable friendly and polite. Lotsa children - who also beg and scream a little when you pass, but really not too much.

It is actually quite funny ... they always exclaim: "Give me my money" and "What is my name?" ... the odd thing is that they say these incorrect sentences thru out the country and not just in one area.

We spent a rest day on Lake Malawi ... absolutely beautiful and all I ever imagined it to be. I have wanted to come here for such a long time already ... and it was worth the wait. For anyone coming up to Malawi ... I can definitely recommend the camp we stayed at ... Chitimba Beach. Andre (my brother) joined us there on our rest day ... bringing lots of goodies and bike spares.

Thanks a lot boet ... much appreciated. Thanks to my fossils also for the chocolates, Richard for the Lindt Chocs and Lise and the gang for dropping Andre off.

It was real nice to see him again ... and he did well to cycle the next morning with us. Andre borrowed Dean's bike (thanks mate) ... and climbed the morning with us ... and was it a climb!!! For someone who has not cycled for a good year it was a real tough route. At least we had awesome views of the lake and surroundings while climbing, climbing and climbing some more.

The weather has been a lot cooler and threatening with rain continually ... yesterday went thru the real dark clouds and missed the rain by very little ... other riders got more than totally drenched!!! The nights are a little cooler as well and lotsa dew drenches anything left out at night.

We are off to Lilongwe tomorrow ... sitting in Kasungu today, 138km North of the capital. We have a rest day in Lilongwe ... before we attack the real long killer days in Zambia over the week that follows.

The traffic hear is quite minimal ... even along the well tarred national roads ... but the people do race along at high speeds and don't care much about the locals, kids, cattle and obstructions on the roads. We do seem to get some respect ... but the speed of the vehicles is still real scary!

Tanzania

After one of the longest and best downhill stretches ever!

Lotsa tea in Tanzania