Staying at Kacholola Hotel, Kacholola
Distance 113 + 7363 = 7476
Average 16.4
Time 6 h 52 m
Total from Amsterdam 12876
Location S14.7621, E30.596458
Departed at 07h18 on another chilly morning and cycled down the dusty road with Imelda from the Canary’s Guest Houses giving us a two hand wave. With barely 19 km on our bike computers, two 600 cc Yamaha motor cycles whizzed by waving. We then saw in the distance that they had stopped for a chat. Frank and George, both about 52 are from Dusseldorf and are at the end of a six week ride after picking up their bikes in Livingstone where a friend stores them. This is their second or third set of wheels; their first ride in Africa was in 1996 from Nairobi to Cape Town and since then have clocked up over 100 000 km on their current bikes in Africa. They plan to sell them in Livingstone in a week’s time. The end of an era, time to move on to another type of adventure.
At 34 km we needed to spend a penny, so made the most of the stop and snacked on nuts the SA High Commissioner gave us in Lilongwe. We have a handful left for tomorrow. We saw more mice skewers today but with 110 km to ride I didn’t stop to take a photo, poor little fellas. We saw manLy small grass fires today and Peter asked a guy riding with us about the fires. His reply was that it was illegal to set fires but people did this deliberately to catch the mice … not sure if they’re already barbecued or alive, so I’ll add mice to my ‘feel sorry for animals’ long list.
Bought some fresh bread and at 65 km/12h30 we found a shady spot under a tree well off the road and munched on chicken mayo, and peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Never EVER will I believe a local again when he says the road is flat. We’ve been suckered twice, from what I remember, but am sure were on the receiving end of incorrect information on more than two occasions. He might have been thinking the road was smooth but our interpretation of flat is that there are few to no hills. We must have ridden over 20 hills today, some long and gentle, others the exact opposite.
At 85 km we were both knackered and I dug out a packet of jelly beans which pretty much gives us instant energy. Only problem was that it didn’t really help and we arrived at our destination at 16h30 to find the hotel was fully booked (contract workers) so we’re camping. Supper was rice and smoor tomatoes and onions with a bit of Ina Paarman herbs. There’s a bathroom but the only water comes from the hand basin and its cold. We both washed only essential areas and at 19h15 were snug as bugs in our tent. We’ve shared a Mars bar as a treat so I’m off to enjoy mine. Peter’s reading his kindle but I can hear he’s already asleep (20h15). He took a bit of strain today and we would have stayed an extra day here but conditions aren’t great so tomorrow we’ll ride about 60 km and hope that our next stop will be more pleasant enabling us to stay a second night. Night all, thanks for following!
PS Apologies fro me when Google decides to mix up the pictures I attach ??
– Frank and George nearing the end of their six week ‘final’ ride in Africa, wonder what’s next ?
– These children were amused at the four mzungus, two on fast wheels, the other two going somewhere slowly ??
– This young girl already helping with family chores
– Boys having fun in a wrecked car
– I just love the way these huts were built with extra poles for stabilization
