April 5, 2025
It was finally time to start riding today and thankfully, a fairly short day. I don’t mind longer rides and this trip is going to have some extremely long ones in the days ahead, but I cold only train a limited amount in our winter weather and I was happy to only have to do 84 kilometers today. The heat is the biggest factor my body needs to adapt to. At home you get used to it gradually but with jet travel you can get dumped, quite quickly, into the cauldron.
The ride was mostly flat but I felt it in my legs to the point of painful cramps near the end. His almost never happens to me and I resolved to up my intake of electrolytes on future days.
We crossed into Botswana right after lunch and while there was some paperwork, there was no charge for the visa and the process went very smoothly. From the border there was a quick stop to turn $100 US in over $1,000 of the local script. I am a rich man in Botswana.
After setting up my tent, showering and getting my gear stowed, I was able to sign up for a boat safari on the Chobe River. The Chobe runs through a national park with Botswana on one side and Zambia on the other. The river is often featured in National Geographic specials, or so we were told. If so, they must close it off to other traffic as there are dozens of craft of various configurations, powering hundreds of tourist up and down through the park. It is not hard to spot the wildlife, just look for where another boat has stopped.
That said, there is wildlife a-plenty. Hippos wallow and dive in the shallows, Cape Buffalo cluster on the islands, Elephants and Giraffes cruise the shoreline. None seem to worried about the attention they are getting which is surprising as some of the boats are really aggressive. Despite the crowded waterway, it was still quite an adventure and well worth the time and money.
