Friday 2 May 2014

Blood, pets and gears

Wednesday 9th April

I woke up excited for my breakfast initially and then my border crossing into South Africa (priorities are spot on!) I mapped out my last 6 days last night and checked the distances of each leg. Today would be the longest but was split nicely into two with a lunch stop by the border in a place called Lobatse. I only had 130km to do today so it wasn't even a long ride compared to the majority of Botswana.

Breakfast didn't disappoint and I savoured a couple of bowls of cereal along with a cooked breakfast that strangely included minced beef. I felt fit, full and ready for anything. The road was good and I had a beautiful section to myself. The weather was colder, something I have not experienced that often and i don't have too many items of clothing to deal with this so I just cycled harder and kept warm that way.

The change in terrain was become more obvious, hills were longer and taller and vast fields less common. I arrived at the border in no time after a quick fried chicken stop in Botswana. I normally like to get in, get out and get over the border as soon as possible (probably since the Kenyan incident) but today I decided to spend some time with security and have a chat. I wanted to make the most of this moment, my penultimate border crossing before reaching my destination and now, gone were the days where I felt like a dreamer as I told the locals where I was heading. Now I was making that dream a reality and receiving compliments and words of congratulations instead of sarcastic laughs and constant warnings of dangerous countries en route.

I didn't let it go to my head, in my eyes I've done nothing other than cycle a minimum of 60 miles a day for a lot of consecutive days over a period of 8 months...and rarely showered. I do however dislike negativity and pessimism which I can understand in the early days but having experienced what I have done over the last 8 months I feel I have a good idea on what to expect in the remaining 6 days. "Where do you finish?" One of the guards said. "Lesotho, not far now" I said "just 6 more days" "Nooooo" he said "at least 10 days" No sorry you're probably right, I've planned and cycled 15,000km over some of the toughest terrains in the world but these last 6 days in flat lands of South Africa will actually take me twice as long! he could be right but really? I don't know. You can't win them all I suppose.

As I made my first turns of the pedals into South Africa the first song in my ears was their World Cup song "Waka Waka." Another country closer and another buzz of adrenaline as I repeated to myself, "I've cycled to South Africa," It didn't sink in..."I'VE CYCLED TO SOUTH AFRICA" I laughed as I have done upon every entry to a new country and got my head straight down and pumped my legs as the head wind increased and so did the hills.

Shortly after this my first memory and mental image of South Africa that will stay with me forever will be of a roadside calf head butting its mother's udder for more milk and consequently forcing her to urinate. I not ashamed to say I found this absolutely hilarious and so I laughed my way up and over the rolling hills for the next 10 miles or so. This may seem immature to some people but if you're easily pleased about the tiniest of things, it's a lot easier to stay positive and complete such tasks. I would say that this characteristic is probably more important than having quads like Chris Hoy, because I don't have them at all!

The terrain was hilly but nothing that I couldn't deal with, the kids on the other hand were less relaxing. School seemed to kick out at 2:40pm and I found myself having to meander through large mobs of very vocal and some quite intimidating youngsters. South Africans in the north were nothing like Botswanans in the South and I felt an air of hostility. Was it because I was white, hairy, dirty or all three? I don't know, but I wasn't exactly comfortable and so I put both ear plugs in and blitzed it down the middle of the road to avoid any collisions. I received more people laughing at me and pointing at me in the short distance from the border to Zeerust than I had done in the whole ride. I wouldn't mind it if I was telling a joke but I wasn't, I wasn't even singing! 

They would shout things and get quite close to my personal space but I've been there and received that so I just kept going. I don't know if I'd feel differently if I knew what they were saying but what I did know is that everyone said something that sounded different but it all sounded like a 1 year old with a dummy half in its mouth...crying. 

The kids may have made the second half of my day feel longer but nevertheless I eventually arrived in Zeerust where I saw a nice campsite almost immediately. I cycled past it to get to the city centre and ATM and then returned. As I jumped off Nigel and wheeled him up to the entrance of the reception, a car had parked up and let out their two dogs. One dog came running up to me whilst barking but I ignored completely and propped Nigel up against the wall. To my complete shock the dog wrapped his teeth around my leg and bit down on my calf drawing blood, I couldn't believe it!!!! 

"Oiiii!" I said! He ran back to his owner after he realised that I wasn't pedigree chum and left me completely stunned! I mean, what do you do when you get bitten by a dog?! And what do you say to the owner?! The last time a dog bit me I carried on cycling up the hill in Ethiopia but I had reached my destination this time! Just as this happened, a pet meerkat came running out of reception and jumped up onto Nigel. What sort of place is this? I didn't have a clue what was going on?! The owner said sorry, not much else she could do other than pay for my rabies jab that I have already had luckily and I walked into reception all a little bit confused and shaken up.

As I was still trying to come to terms with the dog that I wish I had kicked and the meerkat constantly running around my feet, the man at reception eagerly bombarded me with questions as he was fascinated about my ride. I tried to explain but I was still a little distracted from my bizarre welcoming to South Africa. I regrouped and set up the tent under close supervision from the meerkat. After that I took a quick wander into the city centre to buy some treats for being a brave lad and not crying during the vicious attack of the border collie.

Things went from bad to worse. I thought I had bought myself a nice strawberry milkshake, it turned out to be absolutely horrendous and the bread I bought was half the price in the next shop I went to. I was in South Africa and not exactly happy with the current experiences. Zeerust as a town reminded me of the set of American Gangster, it was rough. Mostly super saver discount shops, run down buildings and the golf course next to the main road really didn't fit in with dirty streets. I got back to my tent and took some time to enjoy my cheese and ham sandwiches and eventually change my mood to being happy with my arrival. 

As I've said before, the fear/excitement of the unknown is the joy and attraction of travelling. When it comes to Zeerust, I've came, I've seen, I've bled and I will hopefully never return.

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