Take only memories, leave only footprints - Chief Seattle

29 March 2019, wild camp 99km from Aus to 48km from Aus
Bahnhof Hotel Aus R1,360

Dilemma: if you simply can go no further and “cheat” by hitchhiking bikes ’n all, should you arrange a ride back the next day and cycle the planned distance, or should you simply say "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof"? If the former, what are you trying to prove and to whom? If the latter, will “cheating” become the easy way out? This time, we settled for the latter…
Charl got up at 04:00-ish to pee and came back to the tent to propose we begin packing and get on the road instead of waiting for the 05:15 alarm. So in the wan light of our single working headlamp (I managed to lose the lens off the other), and the brighter light of the moon, we quibbled as we packed, tired still and anxious about the remaining 99km to Aus.
Our first 20km were a joy in the dark, on a long, straight, flat road. We could literally see those few approaching vehicles in our rearview mirrors for ten minutes or more before they reached us; ditto their rear lights after they passed us. But then we began to climb. It was hot already before the sun came up, and a gusting wind carried heat with it, not the coolness we have come to enjoy. And we knew we had around 60km of climbing to do - in reality, despite a gradient flatter than yesterday’s, an impossible task.
The wind picked up as the day progressed, so strong it blew the membrane in my nose dry and my saliva to ash and my eyes red and sore. My tongue and cheeks and lips stuck together, requiring a small effort to separate them one from the other, leaving a slight abrasion on my tongue. Just horrible…
Again we had to flag down vehicles for water. Three young men stopped and gave us what little they had, but then we hit gold with an Italian couple on a lengthy safari who filled three of our flasks, giving us almost five litres. They too refused payment.
Charl particularly struggled today; it was obvious his tiredness was not just fatigue brought on by many hours on the bike, but that he was “bonking”. For those not familiar with this term in this context, it does not mean sexual intercourse, but that you have “hit the wall”. Essentially it is a terrible weariness brought on by too much exercise and too little glucose. It is hugely debilitating and requires jelly beans and rest. While we ate canned fruit and fresh fruit and boiled eggs, it was not enough. At one point I waited for Charl at a picnic spot for over 30 minutes. We have cycled together for 20 years and seldom lose sight of each other regardless of who is in front, so this was worrying. In fact, when an ambulance passed me by travelling in the same direction as we were, and gave me a toot in greeting, I leapt to my feet, suddenly very anxious about Charl. Anyway, he arrived at last and much to my relief agreed we should call it quits. The picnic spot was on the wrong side of the road, but we positioned ourselves and our bikes in such a way that we could watch the road and be ready to hitch whenever we saw a car approaching. Two vehicles stopped, neither suitable, but the third contained Julian Baard, on a business trip and on his way back home to Windhoek. He cleared the cab for me, and we piled the bikes, bags and Charl in the back of the bakkie for the last 48km into Aus.
Julian’s DoorTec factory is in South Africa, and supplies South Africa, Namibia and Mozambique. His one son is in business with him, his other, Stephan, was captain of the Namibian cricket team, and accepted a playing contract in New Zealand.
Julian told me there has been no rain in the region for seven years; that the enormous sheep farms had essentially been abandoned as farmers sought work in the towns and cities; that only oryx and wild horses have survived the drought, their numbers drastically reduced. Sad. Despite our tiredness we had been conscious of the beauty, and potential beauty of the landscape through which we passed.

For today's route see below photos
For overview route, click on ROUTE tab above…