Oct 17th & 18th

October 17

Kamieskroon – Springbok

46 Miles

Erik:

We woke up with some fog that made the day way easier and pretty enjoyable. It was stephs first time in a real fog, so she loved it. There was one point when we were going down the mountain and all we could do was stare at the sun peaking through and making the whole valley a lush green. Lots of downhills and the uphills weren't so bad. We found a nice Caravan Park in Springbok and have really friendly neighbors (Devon and Charne from Cape Town). Overall, a solid day!

Fog! 

Our Laundry drying. 

Looking back. This is the thick of Namaqualand, SA

October 18

Springbok

0 Miles

Erik:

We decided we needed a rest day. We want to make it to the Namibian border tomorrow which is 70 miles from here, so we may as well chill out. There's a Meercat that keeps wandering into our camp. Steph calls him Timon. We took pictures like the tourists we are (I feel the fool after making fun of all the asians taking pictures of squirrels  . The landscape looks like Nevada. Maybe a bit greener, but the same kind of mountains. Rocky and filled with shrubs.

Timon!! With creepy red eyes.

Oct 16th

October 16

Garies – Kamieskroon

31 Miles

Erik:

What bad day. 97% uphill. Mountains. 1000ft elevation gain in the first 4 miles. Ugh. It was rough.

We made it to a little town just as unfriendly as the last. The camp ground was nice though and so was the owner.

The only highlight were the baboons. Big guys. Just feet away. I'm glad they didn't see us. When steph first saw them I just assumed she was hallucinating because of the heat. Haha. 

Steph:

We were coming up a hill and around a switchback and I saw two large black thing moving behind the railing. Erik was behind me and when I told him he said I was making it up. But then we really turned the corner and this HUGE male walked across the street behind the other two. HE WAS HUGE!!

I don't make stuff up.  

Oct 15th

October 15

Nuwerus – Garies

48 Miles

Steph:

This morning, Rosa woke up early with us and cooked us breakfast. It was awesome. She gave us some cookies and sent us on our way happy, rested and well fed.

I noticed a huge difference in my legs right away. So much better than yesterday. Today was truly enjoyable. I was able to push and spin all the crazy hills with a normal and acceptable amount of pain. And guess what?! The coolest thing happened! We were coming up a hill and noticed something in the distance. It wasn't a car or a truck, it was another fully loaded bicycle!! Her name was Abbie and she became my hero instantly. She was from New zealand and had started her journey in Uganda. Her end goal was Cape Town and she had done the whole thing in 5 months! She told us that she had no support at all from her family and friends which made me really sad for her, since we have the greatest support ever. But she was happy and positive and laid back. We asked her tons of questions and she really couldn't stop talking :). It was so cool to hear about how she had just done what seemed like such a huge and nearly impossible undertaking just a day before. Erik and I felt so pumped!

About 1.5 hrs later, a baaki (pickup) pulled over right in front of us and offered us water and candy. These two gentlemen (Sean and Alf) were father and son and wanted to know all about what we were doing. They gave us great tips on things to do in Namibia and were just so excited for us. Alf is part of a cycling club in Cape Town and said that it was the coolest thing.

Erik:

Both of these things were very encouraging. The "nay-saying" gets to you after a while. It was good to hear from someone who has already done it and someone who believes you can do it. And both were genuine about how awesome they think it is.

We ended the day on a high note at a B+B in Garies, which was actually pretty sketch. Not a very friendly town. Tomorrow will be long and hilly.

Abbie from New Zealand! Cycled from Uganda to Cape Town in 5 months!! By herself!

Oct 14th

October 14

Lutzville – Nuwerus

35 Miles

Erik:

Due to having too much fun the night before, the 14^th was pretty much hell. "Jetoncia" was out in full swing (this is what we call stephanie when she is not her usual lovely self). We were hungover and weak and it was uphill and uphill. We left really late so it was super hot early on in the ride. After about 10 miles the road turned to gravel. Seventeen miles. Steph and I were dying. The ups and downs were steep and difficult to ride on our road bikes. Corrugated and sandy. Our backs and shoulders were sore from absorbing all the shock. The downs are usually a small break but were just as bad, if not worse, than the uphills. We were on our brakes the whole time and super alert. Steph was in a horrible mood.

Finally though, we arrived in Nuwerus. We rode up to the first farm that we saw and knocked on the door. Rosa greeted us (70yr old farm owner) and said it was ok to pitch our tent and have a hot bath. She insisted we have tea with her and her daughter. After tea she graciously offered to let us sleep in the spare bedroom. She had just slaughtered two sheep the day before and let us have some meat to braai as well. The best meat I've ever had. We went to sleep early. Much needed.

Steph:

I hated today.

Daily Update

Hello again!
We have internet again! Woo!
Here's what we're going to do. Since we're super behind and yet have seen so many cool things, we're going to schedule this thing to publish a post every day until we're caught up! Saavy?

Stay tuned!!

South Africa!

Hello!
It's been a few days since we've had internet. To be honest I don't even know what day it is. If the first week is running together I can't imagine what we'll feel like in 4 months. What I can tell you is that it's been pretty awesome. Also, that the hospitality of South Africans we've met has been incredibly generous and amazing.

I don't have much internet time left (we called our parents) so this can't be a super drawn out "stephanie message". I'll give you the main points:

Lambert's Bay! Very pretty little town on the coast. We rode 60 miles that day! Our farthest and fastest yet! Most of it was a slight downhill (the best) and the wind was at our backs. We went up our first legitimate hill...and had to walk it...like pansies. Haha. Don't worry though, since then we've gotten better. The night was spent in a secluded "caravan park" right by the beach. It was very nice. As far as animals, we saw a few turtles on the road and a bunch of cats stalked us at the camp site. That's the closest we've gotten to a lion.

Lutzville! The next day was a little slower. We left the coast and headed inland, which means that the wind was fighting us a little more and the hills picked up. Part of this route took us on a dirt road, a toll dirt road. It really wasn't that bad! Our skinny tires did very well and we saw at least 40 turtles. They were everywhere. They're pretty cute.
That afternoon we were pretty tired though so as soon as we entered town, we looked for somewhere to stay. We found the loveliest people! Marzaan and Riann own a B+B and took us in like we were family! The room was lovely and the Braai (bbq) that night was epic. We drank, stayed up late and definitely felt it the next morning...but it was well worth it!

ok, I'm out of time :( But we'll update you on the rest of the week in a few days. By then we'll have crossed into NAMIBIA!!! Our first border crossing! Woo!

We miss and love you all!

-Steph

2 cycling days down...

There is free internet at the library here in SA. That is a major plus. Well, we have made it about 100 mi north of cape town. We are on a one day rest period, and tomorrow we head to Lamberts bay.

the first day we made it to Yzerfontien and camped out there. It was about 48 miles from cape town and lots of ups and downs. Very hilly. We went through a major down pour right at the begining, but nothing could ruin the views and scenery around us. Verdent and green. Bright pinky, yellow and purple flowers everywhere! We saw our first wild ostriches. Funny birds. After we got into town we found the only caravan park (overpriced due to the local) and stayed there. Yzerfontien is a little getaway town for Cape Town. So we watched the sun set over the Atlantic and went to bed very early.

The second day we got off to a bit of a late start. We both slept in a little bit. So we were off at about 9. Same glorious scenery, wind at our backs, and a wide skirt (shoulder) to ride on. The up hills were much steeper, but the down hills were long and enjoyable. The ocean is a perfect blue green color. We saw our first WILD ZEBRAS! woooo. It was sureal. There were 2 zebras just staring at us, and 4 Springbuck with 3 baby spring bucks. The road cut through a nature reserve, and these guys were chillin right next to the fence. After that it was all farms and wheat/barley fields all the way into Veldriff. Everyone we talk to is really nice and interested in what we are doing. Tonight we are staying gratis at the ex mayor, ex parlimentry representative of veldriff and western cape. Cool dude.

We were wiped out after our ride, so today we spent relaxing and reorginizing. Our quads are going to rock after this venture.

So far SA hasnt seemed to third worldly, I certainly feel safer here than I did in mexico city, but you can still see some real poverty around as you go through. All in all it has had its ups and downs, but we haven't given up yet (that's good right? 3 days and still going strong!). I am about out of time on the computer so until next time!

First Weeks 2

So on Sunday we got to have quite an adventure. Ourselves, Chris, Tamlyn, Roman, and a few other of Chris's friends rode our scooters along the coast down to the cape of good hope.

It was my first time riding a scooter... ever. So I took it around the block a few times to get used to the gears (it's not automatic) and the feel. It has a different feel from a motorcycle, but still very much the same. We all loaded up and rode into the city. My rear tire went flat right accross from the world cup stadium. I was able to push it up onto the sidewalk and heins changed the tire out, 10 minutes later we were on the road again.

We rode down the cape and it was getting colder and more rainy, but that didnt really ruin our mood. The views were just amazing, the landscape was gorgeous. Up and down the windy mountain roads, right along the coast, it was breathtaking. And then, we saw BABOONS! There is a guy that watches them and makes sure they dont bother the drivers. We were told that baboons will try to steal bags, open door, and just do mean baboonish things. They left us alone, happily eating flowers.
We did a lot of driving, and a lot of stopping. One of our stops we were at the docks looking at the fish and seals. A boat pulled in and started to unload the fish where our scooters were parked. So we went over to move them. It was crazy busy and I think I got a bit nervous by all the people watching, I started the bike, and went to push it off the stand but I didnt hold the clutch in. So I pushed it right into gear and it tried to jump into the harbour and run people over. Thankfully I was able to grab the clutch and bring it back down onto two wheels without killing anyone or smooshing very many fish. Everyone laughed at me. It was good times.

We then rode around the other side of table mountain through some really great neighborhoods. Scootering was quite fun, and unexpected. We certainly didnt expect a free 150km tour of Cape Town and the Cape of Good Hope, not to mention doing it on scooters in a whole scoot gang (I just made that up, scoot gang. It's good). So tomorrow we peddle out and they tell us we will see the real africa after about 30 miles.

Cape Town is great. The whole area is so green, full of flowers, and just has epic views. The city itself is very clean. Cleaner than a lot of american cities.

We are unsure when we will next have internet, but maybe 1 to 2 weeks and we'll have another update.

So far so good!

Look how cool we are

A seal at the docks

Baboons next to the coast

Steph and I next to the "big 5". . . in case we don't see the real thing

As we first started out on our adventure

Our crew

The whole coast looked like this. Breath taking. 

First Weeks

It's hard to believe we're here. It's hard to believe that we've been in Africa for almost a week!

I don't know if it's because we've just been waiting to get here for so long or because this week has seemed more like a very cush and incredibly pleasant holiday instead of a hard core, roughing-it, sweat and grime filled camping trip. It's been awesome :)

We left Phoenix on Monday morning. I had been nervous all week long. There was no reason for it, honestly. Especially because I was more prepared for this trip than I have ever been for any other one. Erik had packed the bikes up days before, I packed up all of our equipment as well. I actually slept sunday night, which is very unusual. Erik thought the reason I was freaked out was that we were going to go cycle from Cape Town to Nairobi. Haha. Probably.

Our first flight from Phoenix to Atlanta was very uneventful, even though our nerves were every where. We kept saying that we were going to Africa and laughing nervously. Maybe that was just me :). In Atlanta we had some high quality McDonalds and made last minute phone calls. It went by pretty quickly. Our 16 hour flight was also relatively easy. The guy next to me was from Durban and very nice. He liked to talk, a lot, so it was good that the lights basically went out right after we were fed. We were actually very impressed with how much food we got on that flight. Both of us slept a fair amount and watched a few movies. We landed in Johannesburg the next day, went through customs, picked up our bikes, rechecked everything and climbed into the next plane. Two hours later we were in Cape Town! Woo! Again, our bikes showed up without a problem and only a few minor dents on the boxes.

We walked out of the gate and there was Chris!! Chris contacted us on Couchsurfing.com after we posted that we needed a place to stay in Cape Town. He very graciously offered his home to us and then even more graciously picked us up from the airport. It took us a while to get the bikes in the car but somehow we managed and headed to his and Tamlyn's lovely house.

We can't even begin to express our gratitude to these guys.

-Steph