Not for the first time I woke up to an array of bird songs and did well to manage to roll over and get an extra hour sleep. I had a slow start today but seeing as I only have a week remaining I have been more inclined to savour every minute of it.
Today would be my last day cycling to the unknown. This means in the rough schedule I made before I left, today was the last "bush day" I knew I had around 300km to get to Gaborone and so my aim today would be to cycle as far as possible to find a. A good safe place to stay the night and b. Give me a nicer days ride tomorrow.
I knew a town called Mahalapye was about 75km from where I was so that would be where I would stop for lunch. After that, I would have to ask around and try and establish a plan and a destination for the day to put me in good stead for tomorrow. On more than one occasion I've been told how good Wimpy is for value for money and quality of food. I know Africa has its issues with poverty and malaria etc but it seems that the high regard the locals keep for Wimpy is growing into one of them as well! If they're classing Wimpy as the top of the pile when it comes to burgers and fast food then I fear that standards of expectation and performance are already limited to mediocre at best!
Due to this Wimpy hoohah I thought I may keep an open mind and see if they had somehow got it right in Africa so when I saw a billboard for one of their new burgers upon entering Mahalapye, I then proceeded to ask for directions to the nearest one. The first guys pointed me down the road towards the city centre. I found myself getting excited and embarrassed at the thought of asking for the nearest Wimpy. The next two guys pointed me towards a petrol station only when I arrived it wasn't a Wimpy it was something else. I finally found an African that understood and used the word "no" and she told me that Mahalapye didn't have a Wimpy! I was very sadly gutted and had to settle for chicken instead, Wimpy had managed to disappoint me without even existing!
Despite advice from Mahalapyians being 66.6% rubbish I still had to ask someone about what to expect town-wise for the next 60km or so. I was told there were a few towns but nowhere to camp within 60km but if I had the chance to cycle the 100km to Artesia then there would be a place to camp there. I disregarded that option at the time. That meant at least another 6 hours on the bike and it was already coming up to 2 o'clock. I set off towards Artesia with the notion of seeing how it goes. As time went by and progress levels fluctuated with varying head winds and my own physical second and third winds coming and going with different songs or thoughts.
I got to the 60km mark from Mahalapye and the last town before Artesia. It was a dump, and there was no real shop to get supplies for a proper wild camp so my options were either wild camp without food or push very hard as the sun sets and get to Artesia at all costs. Obviously I went for the challenge didn't I and so for the 40km I pushed and pumped my legs as hard as I have ever done to get to Artesia before it got dark. My legs were burning, they had already done 140km but if I kept above 12.5mph then I would be finished in less than 2 hours - that's what I kept telling myself.
My wrists and elbows were both aching and with every push of the pedals it felt like my knees were going to drop off but in a very sick way I liked the burn, I was addicted to it and as the wind blew louder past my ears, the quicker and harder my legs would pump. I kept looking to my right to see the beautiful sun setting, I wanted to stop and admire it but I couldn't, I had to keep focused and keep going.
The beautiful sunset didn't stop me from ripping up the miles but I did have to stop briefly to take a picture of a dead snake on the side of the road. It was basically an Anaconda and I knew I would regret it if I didn't slam my brakes on a take a picture of it. I built my momentum back up and finally got to Artesia about 10 minutes after sunset. I felt amazing upon seeing the sign for Artesia, absolutely exhausted but amazing. I still had to find the campsite but I knew I was safe and I could finally relax. I asked around where the campsite was, everybody shook their heads, "there is no campsite in Artesia" one of them said. I could t believe it, my elation turned into devastation in seconds and I had been stitched up again by some local who clearly didn't h e a clue what he was on about! I now found myself at a shop surrounded by very loud and excitable kids, very drunk locals and in almost complete darkness. My two best options in a situation like this is find the nearest Church or Police Station. One of the many members of staff stood doing nothing behind the shop counter got a guy who would show me to the Police. Thankfully it wasn't far away but the fact the guy i was following didn't speak a word of English and I could only see a few lights from random buildings as I was submerged in almost complete darkness meant my ride was far from over as far as finding myself in more crazy situations was concerned.
We walked around the back of the Police Station to find 4 guys not in uniform, sat around a campfire. There was one big dawg who seemed to be the only person to understand English and he was very kind and said I was more than welcome to camp anywhere in the fenced area. I camped underneath a security light so I could at least see what I was doing and I even managed to summon the energy from somewhere to cook some noodles. I only had half a loaf of bread remaining which I gave to the big dawg to say thank you. I felt a little bit insulting but its all I had and the four of them seemed to wolf it down pretty quick in appreciation. There was no way I had the energy to stay up and try and converse with them so I just gave them the bread and collapsed in my tent. I was safe, I was fed, I was exhausted, i was filthy and sweaty but I was happy.
What made me even happier was the fact that I had cycled just under 200kms and so I was left with a nice leisurely ride tomorrow. My legs may have been on fire and my wrists and elbows absolutely killing but hopefully I would be back to normal again tomorrow after a good night's sleep and boy was I going to sleep well!
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