Current location: Springbok, Northern Cape.
I’ve decided to take the day off as I needed to sort out some last minute details before I cross the border into Namibia, like roaming on my different sim cards and the tracking unit on my bike. Also needed to give my bike a good rinse as she was absolutely covered in mud! Which says a lot about the weather I’ve had the last few days.
My farewell in Worcester was a memorable occasion! I got to meet a whole bunch of Dogs and we had so much fun! Thank you PietCoke and Jen for all your effort and for organizing everything. And a big thank you to all the Dogs that came by! I had a wonderful time! Some interesting characters indeed! lol
Launch day started out with a bit of panic. We got up bright and early, loaded the bikes…and then…dead battery on my bike!!!! Arrrgghhhh!!! Poor Piet pushed me down the road…but she (the bike) wouldn’t take. So then Jen had to bring the bakkie around so we could jumpstart the bike. Okay…bike running, we made our way to the ‘rendevous’ point and met up with the other Dogs who would ride down with me to Agulhas for the launch. Everybody predicted rain for the day, right then I was still optimistic and hoping the weather would hold out.
We met up with the rest of the pack and made our way to the Southern most point of the African continent. Picking up a few more pack members on route. Then from Bredasdorp, the sky started opening up and rain came pouring down! I did say that come hell or high water, this time I will make it around Africa. Maybe Mother Nature took that as an actual challenge!!
This was my first time at Agulhas. From here I will head North all the way to Morocco, then East to Egypt and only then will I start turning South to stand, once again, in the exact same spot where I stood on Saturday! That’s the picture in my mind that drives me from hereon out. Tomorrow I leave home soil and enter Namibia. I will travel through 30 other African countries before I put my feet back on South African soil again!
Standing there in Agulhas, with a whole pack of Wild Dogs surrounding me, rain pouring down on us, was such a proud moment! You guys really are a special bunch of people!
After the kick off we rode to Napier where we stopped off for some well-deserved breakfast! From here we made our way further North and through Caledon. Half the pack broke off from here and said their goodbyes…some of the guys rode on ahead to pick up their other halves to later meet up with the rest of us at Oasis where we would spend the night.
The next morning we were very temped to stay another day, but because I know I have a tendency to ‘get stuck’ in places sometimes (especially if I’m having a good time), I knew I had to push on. So I said my goodbyes and hit the road to Springbok with three Dogs left with me. Just before the N7 we stopped for the final goodbyes and I turned North whilst the boys headed back South.
The road up to Springbok was like one huge Dejavu attack. I’m sure I’ll experience loads of dejavu moments up until Angola. Tomorrow I cross into Namibia and from there, in about a week’s time, I cross into Angola again! Looking forward to the road ahead!