Maps of  about the region

March 11.

Finally departure! We had 2 days in Cape Town to sort out our equipment, get everything organized. With our bikes on our sides, 8 fierce warriors were posing for the start of the 13.500 km trip to cross Africa from Cape Town to Cairo. After a thousand flashes and almost sore muscles, we finally had liftoff!

This first day was merely acclimatisation, we tested the bikes, ourselves and the team. We arrived to a nice camping on the oceanside.

Distance: 77 km

Cape Town-Yzerfontein

March 12

Although the campsite looked safe, especially with the reinforced 5 meter high barbed-wire fence, we decided each night, one of us will sleep in the truck. I was the lucky one to be selected for the first night. A job well done, as all was still around this morning. We put A LOT OF suncreme on, as the sun is very strong and we all came from winter and are pale as hell. A large part of the track was on soft earth, so it wasn’t very easy to move forward. Our tires don’t seem to be the right ones for the terrain, as we had a total of 12 flat tires today! By the end we changed tires faster than in F1 racing...

Distance: 78 km

Yzerfontein-Die Ark (near Piketberg)

March 13

After a good night’s sleep in the ex-staples of a barn (which is now partly a campsite) we finally reached the hills (not that I waited for them!). On some of the downhill sections we nearly reached the speed of sound. In the valleys we saw citrus orchards and winegrowing. This seems like a pretty fertile area.

Distance: 123 km

Die Ark – Clanwilliam

March 14

Contrary to the orchards, we are now in an area where the vegetation is limited to low-growing bushes. It’s also even hotter than before. The town of Nuwerus is our home today. We got keys to the rugby fields dressing rooms and gym, so we could take showers and have a nice sleep in the mosquito infested locality.

Distance: 147 km

Clanwilliam – Nuwerus

March 15

Hungarian National Holiday. We were again fighting against the elements on the road as it was again hot and very hilly. Per capita water consumption is definately on the rise! In our campsite we discussed with our bartender the effects of global warming on this region and sipped some local beer.

Distance 127 km

Nuwerus – Kamieskroon

March 16

Short day in terms of  biking, but that gave us time to check out our destination, the town of Springbok a bit more. Supposed to be a town of 10.000 if nearby villages are added, but we only found one major road where most of the shops are concentrated. Miraculously, most people have a distinct resemblance to Nelson Mandela. The campsite here has a nice pool to cool down and relax after a killing day.

Distance: 70 km

Kamieskroon – Springbok

March 17

We changed our morning departure to seven so we have more time to bike in the cooler morning hours. For me it’s unheard of to wake up at 5:30, but it was a must. Shower, breakfast, disassembiling the tent, stretching, and it was already time to go. We just arrived to the namibian border. Our campsite is on the Orange river which is not orange at all. We assembled a couple of kayaks to practice for later use on this trip.

Distance: 127 km

Springbok – Violsdriif (namibian border)

March 18

Rest day! We bought a live sheep from a nearby herder and will prepare it for dinner, as two of the guys have birthdays. When they cut the poor animals’ throat, I had serious thoughts about becoming vegetarian. I’ve since reconsidered... Needless to say, the inhabitants of the campsite looked at us as if we were mass-murders and kept a safe distance when we approached.

Distance: 0 km