I didn't have much choice for breakfast so had to make do with a couple of pies. Pastry is something that I have been without for months which has been good for my belly but hard to handle seeing as in the past I've been sad enough to collect tokens and send them away for a "Ginsters" t-shirt. It seems that the appearance of pies and sausage rolls has been synonymous with the appearance of white people so I'm pretty happy about both.
The road from the start was a dream to roll on. Time absolutely flew by and before I knew it I could see huge clouds of smoke kicking up from the ground. It wasn't smoke, it was the spray coming up from Victoria falls and I knew way before I got there, that the falls were going to be something special to behold.
Cycling into Livingstone I immediately felt an America air about the whole town. Wide roads, take away cafes and restaurants and lots of tourist signs for lodges and excursions. I was initially looking for the Guesthouse where Team Norway #2 were staying but I could t find it so I decided to go to another Backpackers that had been recommended by Andrew from Lusaka. I found "Jollyboys" straight away as its renowned as being the first and best in town and it was just off the main road.
All the dorms were taken but they had a little grassy area for camping which I didn't mind at all. Compared to Lusaka backpackers, Jollyboy's didn't feel as friendly at first but it was certainly clear why it was the best in Livingstone. Jollyboy's was alot busier and there seemed alot less individual travellers and more groups so meeting different people was harder to do than in Lusaka.
Despite this fact, It didn't take long for me to be involved in a few groups of people and have myself double booked for the evenings festivities. I was awaiting a call from the Norwegians as I knew they wanted to do something but they hadn't contacted me and in the meantime, Jo and Jenny had invited me out for dinner to celebrate Jenny's birthday. I don't like plans and for the past 7 months i haven't needed to worry about plans as I've been completely alone and gone with the flow. Having tonight's predicament was just a small reminder that I was nearing the civilised world where plans are made and people do things by the clock etc.
I decided to go and celebrate Jenny's birthday and typically as I was waiting for them to arrive, the Norwegians came round to take me out for dinner. I agreed to meet up with them on Saturday and had a lovely evening with Jo and Jenny. We went for an absolute belter of an Indian and ended the night with a few drinks and met a very memorable couple from both halves of Ireland.
It really was a great ride and a great evening and its rare that I've had such a successful day and evening as after a decent ride, the evening is normally spent exhausted or locked away in a place that isn't really ideal for wandering around in after dark.
I booked myself on the bus going to Victoria Falls at 10am tomorrow morning and if the weekend continues the way that today has started then this weekend could be a highlight of the whole ride.
No comments:
Post a Comment