As we rode in convoy out of the city, I was actually sad to
leave Addis Ababa. One rest day was just not enough. With so much to do and
see, I feel like I needed a week to really enjoy what the capital of Ethiopia
has to offer. In the end, I spent most of my rest day, once again,
sleeping, eating and contacting friends and family via a painfully slow Internet
connection. We went for a buffet dinner at an expensive hotel, the Sheraton. After all the cycling, no a la carte meal was going to be enough. At least, with
a buffet, you know you're walking away fully satisfied. After eating ourselves into
a food coma, we headed to the nearby bar for farewell drinks as we said goodbye
to a few TdA sectional riders leaving in Addis Ababa. But when a few leave,
there are also a few that join the TdA family. With a good nights rest in a
comfortable bed, which doesn’t deflate like my camping mattress, and a full tummy,
I was excited about getting back on the bike. At this stage, numerous riders
were still suffering from tummy problems, but by taking extra precautions, I’m
pleased to say I’ve not been ill again.
From Addis Ababa we made our way to Gogetti
camp, which was basically a bush camp near a small village. It was a fun 110km
ride, as we descended more than we had to climb... a great change. We
actually had a few local Ethiopian riders cycle the day with us. This made
issues with stone-throwing kids a little more manageable because from a
distance the local riders scared them off by shouting at them in a language
they could understand. Arriving at camp there were the usual warm Cokes and Sprites for sale. When you're tired and craving sugar after a long hot days cycle,
a warm Coke is actually heavenly. A few riders went for a long walk to the
nearby riverbed and spotted hyenas in the distance. I don't like Hyenas at all. They just freak me out... So when it was time for bed, I crawled into my tent
and struggled to fall asleep, knowing hyenas were lurking. In the middle of the
dark night I woke up needing the toilet. As I unzipped my tent, I heard the
scary, familiar call of hyenas and they were very close to camp, or shall a say,
they were basically in the campground, obviously attracted to the food bins
standing only a few meters from my tent. I popped my head out and investigated
with my torch. With the glitter of several eyes looking in my direction, there
was no way I was going to leave my tent and so I sat until morning with a
painfully full bladder. When the first light of sunrise became apparent, I was
ecstatic to finally do my business without any wildlife interruptions.
I needed to take it slow on the following day's cycle. After a terrible, restless night, I didn’t feel extremely
energized, so doing several refresh stop was on the cards and, of
course, we attracted a massive audience. It's the strangest thing,
basically while drinking our sugary drinks, the crowd of locals are watching
us, watching them, watching us!!! Very bizarre...
The day's cycle was a long one with the
usual unforgiving climbs. I cycled so hard and so fast... I just wanted to get to camp as soon as possible. However, with all the haste and rush, I overshot the turnoff to the Hosiana Deaf School, which
was to be our camp site for the night. Yip, I was in such a hurry to finish,
that I ended up doing and extra 15km of rolling hills due to getting lost...
Lesson learned I hope, rather go slow and concentrate.
Spending the evening at the Deaf School
was a great experience. All the kids were fascinated with us camping on their
school ground and watched us do our daily chores from a distance. As they
became more confident, slowly slowly they started to creep closer and
interacting with the kids made us realize how friendly, well mannered and
educated they are. This Deaf School is the only one in Ethiopia, so the kids at
the school are from all over the country and probably seldom see their
families. However, the school's program is run very professionally and it was
reassuring to see these kids in good hands. I could go as far as saying they
were the nicest kids we'd met in Ethiopia, possibly because they weren't throwing
rocks at us.
Anyhow, the next day's cycle was to
yet another bush camp and it was a good ride, because of a very fun, fast and
long downhill descent.
But as my luck goes, it never remains
easy. After lunch, the local kids had come out of school and their main aim was
to be as irritating as possible to passing cyclists. Just to add to the frustrations of the day, I got a puncture too. Luckily there was a Coke stop nearby where I could change my tube and enjoy a cold drink.
Thereafter, as we started to leave town
and finish the 30km to camp, we came across a very nice café which sold
delicious cakes and chocolate doughnuts. It's amazing! I don't usually like
doughnuts, but when luxuries such as cakes and doughnuts are hard to find, and you've been in a desert for over a month, a chocolate doughnut
is a golden treat. We sat down and each ate one with the biggest smile on our
faces...
... And, of course, we bought all the
chocolate doughnuts in the shop and took them back to camp to share with our
TdA friends. I must say we were very popular at camp because of the treat we
had delivered.
The 96km cycle to Arb Minch Hotel camp
was a beautiful ride, as we passed cute villages and green lush fields.
There was a large amount of off-road,
which slowed many riders down, but once at camp we had the option of stay at a
very nice hotel at our own cost...
As a reward I believe I deserved, I
treated myself to a room, which I share with a friend Claire. Nice warm shower
did some laundry and a comfy bed to sleep in made it all worthwhile. That
evening it was time for bike maintenance as well as changing tires as we reach
more bumpy off roads.
The cycle to the next riverbed camp
started with the fabulous familiar paved roads and then it was back onto the
off road...
We made it to the lunch stop in good
time, even with our several coke stops and taking photo's.
But to delay us just for a little
longer, my wheel had a slow leaking puncture and so, before it caused more
trouble, I decided to fix it under the comfortable shade at the lunch stop,
where help was also readily available.
Thereafter we continued the days ride
and did the usual afternoon stops. However, as the sun got hotter and we all
started feeling tired and ready to relax at camp, my cycling buddies and I
decided to crank up the pace and get to camp quickly.
At this stage I thought I had learned
from my mistakes after getting lost en route to Hosaina's Deaf School... But I
guess not. Yes, that’s right, once again I missed the turn off and endured an
extra 20km of off-road climbing.
Maybe I just enjoy punishing myself by
making the cycle just that little bit harder. The moment I realized I was lost, my feeling was -defeat, -frustration and a little -scared. With no signal to
call for help, the only way out of the dusty valley was to cycle 20km back up
the ruthless off-road uphill. It was also getting late and the last thing I
wanted was to be lost after dark. With no other options, I pushed myself up that hill, constantly on the edge of emotionally breaking down... but that
wouldn't have helped anyone and it would've taken energy I didn't have to spare.
Finally reaching the riverbed camp just before dinner was served, it was
reassuring to see that the TdA organizers were all in their support vehicles, just about to send out a search party for us. They said that where we got
lost was a common occurrence so they would have found me in no time if worst came
to worst. It's times like these that I am happy to be doing this trip through
Africa with support from TdA, because being alone and getting lost is dangerous. Running out of water after taking a wrong turn can be very worrying.
That evening I felt extremely dehydrated and exhausted so an early night was
key for me...
No comments:
Post a Comment