Maun to Ghanzi

Stellar day! We got to sleep in till 5a this morning - it was a bit soggy after light rain through night. Charles juggled the schedule so we could do the scenic flight over Okavango Delta and then see how the cycling went with a late start.

Spot the elephants

The delta is a curious thing as it dead ends into the north part of Botswana instead of dumping into the sea. The water flows down from Angola and fills a huge area seasonally - eventually it gets absorbed into the desert. It’s teeming with wildlife at high water and the lingering waterholes are teeming with thirsty wildlife at low water. It’s also a very important stop on mass migration routes…although the introduction of the buffalo fence severely affected the wildebeest migration. Right now we are on the end of the dry season so quite barren. Even so, the colours and patterns seen from the sky were mesmerizing. But first we had to go through all the formalities of an international ( 2 gate) airport. Amusing, as we were all dressed in cycling clothes, carrying only passports and cameras. No water past security, passport and cameras go into a tray thru the scanner and us through a metal detector. The very stern looking guard in aviators very thoroughly checked boarding passes and passport pics - more so than at bigger airports. Our pilot was tickled that I used the Botswanan greeting of “Dumela Ra!” We were 4 + pilot in a 6 seater plane - very comfortable with good views. I could have spent hours staring down but after just one, it was back to the bus. 

 After a short drive out to the edge of town, it was back on the bikes. The plan for the day was 30 km + 30 km + 30 km + about 15 km . Followed by a 2 hour drive to Ghanzi Camp. Ride profile was almost dead flat but there was a light head wind AND Rea switched us over to knobbly tires (for gravel and off road- in Namibia) so both of those were a drag. Yesterday’s rain kept the dust down and greened up everything - buds and leaves were popping out. We were blessed we cloud cover all day. I managed to keep up to the peleton in the first leg, was on my own in the middle for the second, was at the back with the sweep for the third and for the last leg, and on my own at the back. Frankly I prefer cycling on my own even though I sacrifice the benefit of the wind break of group riding. In the group, I spend more wheel watching than scenery watching. I can keep up with the group but can’t catch up if i drop back too far. My water bottle is awkward to access so inevitably drop back. Charles encourages everyone to go their own speed and not be pressured into keeping up with the speedy group. He’s finding our group a lot faster than expected. He was expecting to drop 30 km from today’s ride due to the late start but we all finished. The average moving speed posted with the trip description was 23 kph, this group could easily do 33+ kph average. Needless to say I can manage the former but not the latter. 

We had a little set back with a flat - it almost caught on fire - which made dinner and laundry late. For a second day had to pack a bad of wet stuff.

At lunch today we discovered that Inga and I left our tent poles behind. I plead outside interference! My tent mate is an attractive young blonde German woman so every time the tent goes up or comes down, 3 german guys come running over to “help.” It’s like watching some oddball wildlife mating ritual - the bower bird comes to mind -lots of chest puffing, pointing and general commotion. They mostly get in my way so i have taken to standing back - I assumed the guy bagging the poles was going to take them to the truck but he must set-down-and-forgot them when he ran over to help Inga carry the tent bag. My favourite thing to watch is the guy who is shorter than me unhook the tent at the peak with much stretching using the most inefficient order imaginable. Don’t get me wrong, i do appreciate assistance when needed - and the germans are quick to pitch in - but I have to say that the morning i had to take down the tent on my own I did it much faster and much neater…even taking into account having to work around a scorpion. In the end, our guide gave us his poles and found someplace else to sleep. 

Really great braii for dinner - my appetite is back! 

Accommodation: Ghanzi Trailblazers Camp 

Distance: 112.7 km

Elevation gain: 218 metres

Calories: 3780