The Final Week

Monday May 4 to Friday May 9 - The final week.


Sunrise over the Orange River on Monday May 4th, South Africa on the other side.



We load the 'permanent bags' onto the support trucks for the last time - these are the bags to which we do not have access on a daily basis.

Ten kilometres down the road and we see signs for the first time to our destination of Cape Town.

Across the Orange River...

...and into South Africa.

Here Rae rides with Tony who earlier single-handedly defied the Kenyan political situation by riding through on his own without any of the normal support provided by Tour d'Afrique.

Monday morning was beautiful weather but steadily uphill and against the wind, so slow discouraging progress.

A wind shift and a change to down hill made the afternoon a lot more fun than the morning.

The next day was miserable, scotch mist, wind, cold, and a lot of uphill. Wednesday was a return to better weather...

...and more downhill to help us along.



This was the final week for us to face the dangers of the African continent - a scorpion found by somebody's tent...



...the wind, especially when it was on the nose as it so often was...



...bicycles!... my goodness... they found us out... the enemy is us!



...and this one must have been made just for me.


With only three days to go, my rear tire decided to come apart on the sidewall, but it held on for the balance of the day and I changed it before we went back on dirt roads.




Thursday we headed for the coast, passing some very European-looking scenery...

...before getting onto our final bout of dirt roads.

The shore was shrouded in fog, so we didn't get to see the Atlantic until we were there.

Second last night - campsite is at the shore - ideal for getting sand in all the zippers of the tent for one last time...

...and an ocean sunset.

Friday the shoreline remains misty...

...and the first few kilometres were again on dirt.

The final night dinner was a good one - the last we'd eat from the travelling kitchen, and in fact the last one that African Routes would serve to anyone as this trip is the company's final one before closing its doors - not a business failure, but a conscious decision by the owner that it was time to retire rather than refurbish the fleet.

Tomorrow is the end of the journey. It's fair to say the mood tonight is different.