- Joined
- Jun 24, 2012
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- Slowveld
- Bike
- KTM 890 Adventure R Rally
It is day 6 of our 13 day adventure in Zimbabwe. It is also my daughter’s 14 th birthday. I have been unable to reach her. I should be by her side celebrating her 14th birthday. Instead I find myself standing on top of a gomo just outside Harare. All around me the views are breathtaking from this magnificent vantage point. My heart is pounding inside my heaving chest. I feel the urge to vomit. I’m fairly certain my current state was caused by the exertion of picking up fallen bikes and walking back to my bike on the steep climb up the mountain. I also admit to myself that my physical symptoms may in part have been caused by my phobia for what we had just conquered.
Standing there, slightly removed from the rest of the group, I remember my daughter’s words to me just before I left Nelspruit a week earlier: “Dad, it’s fine! It really is! There will be other birthdays. Just make sure you think of me wherever you are on my birthday and send me a pic when you do.”
I type a short message and attach the pic. I know it will only send once we reach Harare and have wifi, but I’m certain she felt that moment with me.
Standing there, slightly removed from the rest of the group, I remember my daughter’s words to me just before I left Nelspruit a week earlier: “Dad, it’s fine! It really is! There will be other birthdays. Just make sure you think of me wherever you are on my birthday and send me a pic when you do.”
I type a short message and attach the pic. I know it will only send once we reach Harare and have wifi, but I’m certain she felt that moment with me.
