Schooled on Mountain Riding 🏔️
After riding for about 60 miles together, the group splintered into separate factions for the afternoon. Half went to eat fresh oysters and seafood, and the others went to pet some elephants. I opted for the elephants.
These orphaned, docile creatures reside in a sanctuary that cares for them. I met and pet Sally, the first elephant to be rescued. With her single tusk, the tour guide promised that Sally would be “friends for as long as we had food.” Sure enough, when the food was gone and another group of people ventured along with more nutrients, Sally ditched us. Regardless, we enjoyed stroking Sally’s burlap-like skin, feeding her pumpkin and carrots, and learning about life as an elephant. 🐘
We continued riding east and then north over three different mountain passes, each with fewer and fewer cars. On these roads, my new friend Kim Pedersen schooled me on mountain riding when he overtook me on a sharp curve. Being from Denmark, this is not the style of riding I expected from Kim. After finishing the trip, I asked how he learned to handle a bike like that. His answers:
Learning to “play” on the bike and getting comfortable with it
Training on tracks
Practicing a lot
I have some training and practicing to do, perhaps in Denmark. 🏍️
We celebrated Richard’s 50th birthday tonight with a song, candle, and a couple of short speeches. Yesterday I had lunch with Richard, and tonight I had dinner with him. He told our table of four about living and visiting Namibia, his home country. To my surprise, I learned that Namibia is a popular tourist destination and one of the safest places to visit in Africa. Richard recommends traveling there in a car (rather than a motorcycle) due to the abundant vacant, gravel roads that connect town to town. He also noted that May is the best month to visit. I think you see where I’m going with this… 🚗🌍
Finally, I took a brief solo walk after dinner to look at the stars. I’ve never seen the stars of the southern hemisphere, but some incoming storms and clouds impaired my view of half the sky. However, I found the Southern Cross and saw some lightning strikes in the far distance. Realizing it was a good time to retreat to my Hobbit hut, I capped the night by packing for tomorrow’s early checkout and departure. 🌌⚡
