Heading to Victoria Falls

I just rode 180.7 kilometers! Check it out on #strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/43393890
A hearty breakfast with the elephants strolling by , then dropped at the road ready for another 180km , on the way we past some locals with buckets coming for water and past a hunting safari where people come and pay big bucks to shoot the game - yes you can get permits to shoot elephants , leopards , Buffalo and I dont know what else  -it costs something like $20000 US - Personally I found that quite disturbing - not that ive never killed anything but its the motive behind it  I mean how hard would it be to find and kill an elephant - and for what ?
A mostly flat ride with a few undulations  . It was getting hot in the afternoon  and as I rode past a tree with people sitting under it I noticed they were selling watermelons and sugarcanes so I bought a watermelon  and cut it open , I couldnt eat it all so I gave it back to them and they gave me some sugar cane which was sweetas !  You peel it back and then chew the stem inside suck the sweetness out then spit the leftover fibre out afterwards.The guy in the photo was called Francis and he took me over to the shop next to the school to grab a sprite .while I was in the shop there was a crowd of kids outside the door that appeared - watching and stairing at me  -I shouted Francis a drink then went outside  and offered one of the kids a drink  -man their faces lit up , they all sat down in a huddle and shared the drink with each other - they all know how to share - it was so cute then they came a shook my hand   - Humanity!   As I approached Victoria Falls I had one more hill to climb so I reached into my front pannier and grabbed a piece of sugar cane to and ripped into it while a couple past and saw what I was doing - I saw them have a bit of a laugh at what this sun tanned oke was doing  - being a Jew to a Jew!  Wazzup!

The Lion and the Dung Beetle

Stoked that I decided to stay another dsy at the Ivory Lodge ! Waking up in a tent in a safari park was awesome  -then the sounds of Baboons running past -I opened my tent and there was one a couple of meters from me  .A yummy breakfast then soughting some stuff out  wrote a list  of things to do in time for a game drive at 345pm.I hadnt really used my panasonic digital camera that much so far but was discovering that it could capture some nice photos ! So for the game drive I had a gopro head mounted camera with remote and my digital camera .The first creature we came across was a Dung beetle Ha ha so funny Rolling a piece of elephant dung up the road  it was quite bad ass how the dung beetle was facing backwards as it rolled the dung in the opposite direction it was also cool how our guide knew all about them and pointed out lots of interesting fact about them and any other life forms we came across really awesome to hear sll the guides depth of knowledge about all the creatures I enquired of  . It was awesome to see the wildlife living amongst one another and to see the intelligence  of each creature in their domain ! We stopped at a pond fir s snack and I think I ate quite a bit of it while the crocodile watched us just popping its eyes up just above the water line then disappeared. Soon after the wind changed and with that I spotted a lioness walking towards us out of the long grass  looking for a nice feed of impala  , the lioness knew that the impala knew she was about  so playing it cool she lay by a mound of dirt. When we turned the motor on she got on her hands and knees and crawled into to scrub  -the hunt was on - by that time the sun was going down and there was lightening in the distance so time to go -Awesome ! When we arrived back - one of the German tourists had managed to capture a photo of the  crocodile taking the turtle off the rock -Absolutely classic !! Made me appreciate one of Jesus' s parable about how not to worry about food and clothing because God provides  - The food chain ! No supermarkets deep freezers out here! A big Thankyou to Jannis and the team for your friendship and hospitality and for the extra food  ! Cheers!

Ivory Lodge

I just rode 86.9 kilometers! Check it out on #strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/43389822
Just a quick jaunt .Woke up in to the sounds of African gospel amongst the background noise of a small African village .Grabbed some airtime then rolled out headed for Ivory Lodge watching out for lions along the way . If I did come across one I had a plan -knock it out with a can of baked beans then go for the throat with my knife - I was hoping it wouldnt come to that but these thoughts were inspired by a story Malcolm told me of a guy who saved hus wife's life as she was getting pulled from her tent by a lion - apparently he managed to strangle the lion after it put up a fight - imagine that -fighting with a hungry lion - but get this - the husband only had one arm - I think he can call himself a man ! Apparently he was also a good shot with the gun also a great angler and pretty good at golf too ! Got picked up off the road and taken to the lodge as a saftey precaution because of the wildlife present in the park.  Settled into my tent then sat down at the hide for a spectacular display if elephants in the wild! There was also impala , kudu and a croc in the pond with a turtle on the rock---which is another story  ! Ha ha for the next post! Great company and food for the evening as I pondered the beauty and power of these creatures we share this planet with!  A comfortable bed and a mosquito coil smoking out my tent  Sweet dreams.

High and going Higher

I just rode 178.4 kilometers!  Check it out on #strava :http://app.strava.com/activities/42953344  about three hours sleep I was surprisingly fresh -Malcolm -A true legend arose  before me and made me some french toast and a cup of tea -what a top man!  Leslie also got up to see me off  - Thankyou so much for having me Leslie and Malcolm !!! I am so lucky to have met you!
I was heading out of Bulawayo when I cycled past this msn sitting under a tree -he looked like he had lost a leg or two  - I just felt like giving him some money to buy some food so I turned back and introduced myself to him  - he was repairing shoes that had been thrown away -stitching them bsck together under a tree on the ground he was such a humble honest and loving person ! With 4 kids  it really moved me to meet such a man whi some would say he had so little but on the contrary     he had so much- he had God and integrity - it is men like this man who give you perspective and make you think of whats important - your next car or holiday or coffee or forgetting those things to give someone who could use it that money -after all what if that were you isnt that the 10 commandments summed up into 1!! I havent written much about the poverty that I have seen so far in Africa  it is probably quite a complex issue and also a simple one too - I think Michael Jackson summed it up  "If you want to make a change , it starts with the man in the mirror!"
I decided to chuck on some house music and get going  to make a dent in the 180 before lunch   the road was flat and I was pumped my thoughts were elevated and I was off ! People are very friendly here - waving and saying hi all the day .On the side of the road were these little gangs of boys I stopped to say hello and half of them ran off into the bushes, on the table were there slingshots I think they also look after the cattle - some were only about 5 years old couldn't help but wonder about what it would be like growing up fo them.Another group signalled me fo some food I had 3 apples so gave them a feed.Made it to Lupane in 6 hours 5 minutes averaging just over 28kmph smoked it -asked a lady at the servo about  where to stay and found a place for $10 US per night I was in my room when I heard these people singing across the road   I had to go check it out  - no instruments only a tin roof and some seats - so beautiful - I recorded them to listen to when I ride - Awesome Sadsa for dinner again ( stew with ground up maize) shouted these guys a feed only 2 bucks then Reverent Africa came and introduced himself to me and gave ne his address at Vic falls while the other guy disappeared into the dark with apparently a prostitute  which I think there were a few around  - No thanks!

MALCOLM ROSSAFARIS

This is a later post due to uploading difficulties that I experienced for some reason in Bulawayo .I was so blessed to have met Campbell Ross on the side of the road in South Africa ! Not only has he being keeping coms with me since then but he has also guided me to meet some awesome people like his older brother Malcolm and his wife Leslie ! Who let me stay at their place.The first night I was their we went out to a really nice little pizza place -for some strange reason I had a bit of a bloated stomach later I found out that it was because I had eaten too many mopane catapillers previously  -allgood ! I was fascinated to hear real stories of some of the history of Zimbabwe from the people who lived through those times if war - inflation and political uncertainty  - people who had been kicked off their farms by the ruling regime - even flooded out of their houses by the regime putting hoses in from the outside . Leslie , who is the principal of one of the best private schools in Zimbabwe told me of how when it came time for parents to pay for their daughters education they had about 6 or 7 different currencies to pay in and also different methods like barter  for example someone re did all the upholstery - if you wanted to pay in the Zimbabwe currency there was a time frame that you could pay in eg from 9am to 12pm on a certain day -Leslie told me how she remembers parents walking into to school literally with wheelbarrows full of money - some days inflation could be as much as 200% and then there was the petrol rationing where you had to cue in your car for a day or two just to get some petrol .
My first morning in Bulawayo Malcolm and I headed off to the Bulawayo club for breakfast  then off on our safari to the Matobas -A world heritage site and also the burial site of Cecil John Rhodes -whom the former Rhodesia was named after. The full English breakfast was great then we headed off in Malcolms Toyota Hilux Surf  .It was awesome to hang out with Malcolm and gain some insight into the history of this nation from someone who had been a part of it -A commander in the army -a Ceo of a company who managed to bring the biggest piece of mining equipment into Zimbabwe via different channels when there were heavy trade sanctions against Zimbabwe. The Matobas was a still and timeless place  with awesome rock structures and colourful lichen and lizards. The place where Cecil Rhodes was buried was named by Cecil Aswell snd was called "The view of the world"  We went from there to have lunch in the middle of the park  As usual I had developed a massive thirst and appetite .Malcolm and Leslie had also invited me out to dinner to join them at a fund raising event also at the Bulawayo club. It was good fun putting on a shirt and tie and some of Malcoms slacks - gave the old teeth a floss snd brush even trimmed the finger nails . And their I was with a shirt and tie upstairs at the Bulawayo club  sitting next to this sexy teacher - and I could go on  -the live music -the food-the company ....  It was such a contrast from two nights prior eating mopane worms and pap sitting on the footpath outside of a takeaway shop .The MC for the night was a chick/teacher-------Diva called Gugu -she was so awesome  -so funny , anyway before I knew it I was up making a speech to all the guests about my trip  - classic ! Just when I thought the night was over Oriana and Gugu invited me to come out and check out Bulawayo  - I had such a great time with them and will never forget the way Gugu carved up the dance floor  man you have to see her to believe it  she should definitely be on tv ! Anyway they dropped me off around 330am in time to catch about 3 hours sleep to ride 180km to Lupane -Awesome!

Elephants

Will my digital camera photos upload - hope so !