Cycling The Globe

Distance: 58.7 km
Ride time: 5:13:56
Average: 11.2 km/h
Max speed: 36.0 km/h
Total: 44599 km

I had woken up with some sudden stomach cramps during the night, realizing the problem must have come from the water I’m carrying. I had refilled one of my bottles at a gas station, and the water did indeed look somewhat dirty. Lesson learned, you have to be careful with these things. Luckily I felt better in the morning, and I had another water bottle with clean water – a good thing since I’m pretty much in the middle of nowhere!

Once back on the road, the mesmerizing landscapes from yesterday’s ride along the Orange River continued. There was plenty of time to enjoy the good views since the dirt road was so bad that you couldn’t ride over 10 km/h.

This part of Namibia is nature wise an absolute highlight of the trip so far!

I knew that my road would leave the Orange River and that there would be some climbing involved after that. I had hoped to reach this climb before the midday heat, but with the slow progress on the dirt road I didn’t quiet make it.

I had a last swim in the Orange River before I started the hot climb towards Rosh Pinah.

I did indeed get very hot, and I was mostly in my own thoughts dreaming about ice cream and a cold drink. At some point I did turn around and discovered this. I’m not even sure I really appreciated the view before I looked at my photo later that night.

The road continued to climb towards the mining town of Rosh Pinah which would be the destination for the day. After enjoying that ice cream I had been dreaming about for half a day I found a guest house for the night.

Rosh Pinah is a town that was recently built to support the mining people who work out here. With a gas station, supermarket, fast food restaurant, and even a small mall, there is really all you need.

I had been in contact with Andre V51B and I had been looking forward to visit him. Unfortunately Andre lives in a restricted diamond mining area. We had been working on obtaining a permission for me to go there, but it would take another week before it would be ready. A shame really – hope to catch you next time Andre.

Instead I enjoyed a day being inside, away from the powerful sun, while updating the blog and planning the next part of the route through Namibia.

It seems like I have already seen so much fantastic nature in my few days in the country, but apparently there is more to come…