I woke up to find one of my breakfast croissants must've had a hole in the packet as there was a slight ant infestation. I'm not one to throw away gifts and quite frankly I'm getting a little fed up with how the insects of Africa think they can do what they want. Mozzies bite whenever and wherever, flies choose eyes and nostrils to fly into rather than the rest of the atmosphere and flying tank beetles choose to land on me instead of the rest of the planet. So I decided to make an example of these 30 or so ants and I scoffed the whole lot along with the croissant, they need to learn.
I was more tentative and worried about drinking the water than I was eating the ant croissant. I've been drinking bottled water since I entered Ethiopia and as time has drawn closer to finishing I really don't want any sort of bug that I had weeks/months of dealing with throughout Europe and Northern Africa. The water on the campsite came from a borehole so it should be good but it was a strange sensation to drink water from a tap again.
After I packed everything up (which was annoyingly covered in wet gritty sand) I said goodbye to the very kind South Africans and briefly stopped at the shop to grab another bottle of water. Today was going to be hot, long and very isolated so I needed to carry as much water as possible to ensure I didn't have a repeat of the Sudanese desert saga.
I had to cycle a good 20km before I got back into the National Park so it was a while before I got my next brush with nature. Armed with the added knowledge that 95% of the time Elephants are just testing you when they charge at you and its best to stand your ground, I felt a little more comfortable with what to do if I did meet Dumbo again. Sure enough, about 2 hours into the ride an Elephant emerged from the bushes and stood right by the road and began to eat the long grass that lined the road. It really is amazing how such a huge animal can come from nowhere and the feeling that I get as I'm merrily cycling solo then all of a sudden I'm joined by such an amazing animal is a feeling that's very hard to explain. My speed slows down yet my heart rate doubles. Adrenaline fills my veins and my senses suddenly become wired to what's in front of me and how am I going to get past it.
I didn't want to surprise this one like yesterday but I also didn't really want to pretend it wasn't there and try and sneak past it with nothing but two lanes of tarmac between us. I stood for a few minutes about 100m away and waited to see if it was going to continue walking across the road. It didn't look like it was going anywhere even with a passing lorry's efforts to move it along by honking its horns.
Conveniently for me, a truck pulled up by my side and offered to chaperone me past. As I cycled alongside the truck, the Elephant still didn't budge and it wasn't until the truck stopped to take a picture and i carried on rolling leaving myself completely exposed, did the Elephant turn and walk back into the bushes.
Even with the truck being there, the adrenaline rush was still intense as I knew the truck could be flipped like a toy if the Elephant for whatever reason, wanted to get me. Just like yesterday, I was knackered and needed to stop and get some fuel in me in order to carry on to my destination of Elephant Sands campsite.
Today's fuel was that rare combination of Biltong and Biscuits. Not your typical Masterchef combination I know, but it did the trick and I felt revitalised to push on and finish the day before sunset. I still had quite a way to go and i soon realised I couldn't keep on scanning every bush, tree and area of long grass for wild animals and actually had to knuckle down and cover the miles. I turned the music up in my earphones and got down to business whilst trying not to think about any surprise Elephants or Lions.
The last 10km were hard and thoughts turned to home as they normally do when everything else has been thought about. It's a constant struggle to keep the mind active and focused and also fresh at the same time. If I've thought about my first meal when I get back once, I've thought about it a hundred times and it seems I'm going to be a busy lad eating lots and meeting lots when I get back. Today was the first time that I thought about how I'm going to cope aswell. I have changed alot in how I think but the main issue is how I'm going to adapt back into "normal" life. For the last 8 months I've lived a life far from the ordinary. I've moved on almost everyday and had constant drama throughout that has knocked me back, lifted me up and filled me with a thirst for adventure and almost an addiction for new experiences. There isn't a cure or a simple remedy for what I've got, I guess I will just have to go with the flow and see what happens!
Elephant Sands is positioned in the middle of nowhere so I was very pleased to eventually see the sign. I was exhausted and the last thing you want at the end of a long hot day is a long driveway to get to your house. On top of this, you REALLY don't want the driveway to be foot deep sand but unfortunately, that's what I was greeted with when I turned off the main road. I pushed Nigel for what seemed like an hour and I still couldn't see any sign of a building. As I struggled through the sand, slumped over Nigel and willing myself on with shouts of "Come on Harding!" and "Vamos!" I momentarily lifted my head to find a house with a trunk stood dead still in front of me about 20m away. I really was not in the mood and I don't care how big you are or how dangerous you are, you do not get involved with a sweaty, tired and fed up bearded man. I shouted at the Elephant, mainly random nonsense that people who understand English probably couldn't understand let alone a Botswanan Elephant, but either way it seemed to work and the big guy could see that I wasn't up for playing any games and so he just moved on, crushing huge bushes and small trees as he did so.
I eventually found the reception and the fancy lodges that were placed around a watering hole. The campsite was positioned a bit further away from the water but I managed to stick my tent pretty close and with a good view of the whole site. My camping neighbours were a group of 4 (3 men and a woman) travelling up through Africa to Rwanda. One of the first things the lady said was "how are you going to adapt when you get back?" I had never been asked that before today and now I was reminded of it after thinking about it for the first time! They were a nice group and we talked for a bit but I was more intent on getting set up and cooking some food so we postponed more conversation till later.
As I was cooking food the trademark Botswanan evening rain made an appearance so I quickly had dinner and exhaustedly locked myself away for a quick nap. When I woke up, the sun had just set and I looked over to the bar area to find lots of people with their cameras out. There was an Elephant having an evening drink by the waterhole so I got a few snaps from a distance that was comfortable for both parties and I didn't have the issue of trying to get past him for once!
There was a fire going by the water hole so I spent some time sat around it and pondered more on what I might do when i've finished. I love a good bonfire and there's something very relaxing about watching a fire flicker and change as it burns. One thing that I also love to do is start a fire from scratch which I haven't done yet. Botswana is probably my last and best chance to do it so I will have to find the ideal spot to fire some sparks and get some "man points!"
I left the fire along with the pondering as I started to get attacked by a huge dragonfly as it got attracted and then injured by the fire. The flames must've hampered it and so it couldn't fly properly and consequently found itself flying into my head.
I finished my long, mentally and physically tiring day with a quick chat with my neighbours before laying my thoughts to rest. I will certainly not lose any sleep over my options of what I do when I get back, I like to call them good problems. First things first though, I haven't done anything in my eyes until I've got to Lesotho!
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