And now for my second death-defying feat... Outrunning a pissed off elephant!

Ok, so I make it sound better than it actually was. He mock charged me. But I didn't stay around long enough to determine if he was really going to keep running at me. So, after Livingstone, Zambia (which I'll get to in a second), the tour started a new section called "The Elephant Highway". Funny name, right? Well, 11km into this section, myself and a fellow rider named Adam came upon a rider named Len. Len had warned us that there was an angry elephant ahead and that he was charging people. Now, Len is in his 60s and is a stereotypical American, so I didn't pay much attention. Adam and I rode on only to find... guess what... an angry elephant about 10m off the road. And guess what he did? He charged us! Surprise, surprise. At the time, I was sure he was actually charging us, as he came out of the bush trumpeting, stomping his feet and flapping his ears. Now, let me tell you that if you want to test a 0 to 50km/h sprint, have an elephant chase you. Anyway, we actually had turned around to head back toward camp/Len, so I realized it was a mock charge, but not before someone peed in my pants. So, in response, Adam and I waited with Len for more riders and went as a large group after the elephant had retreated into the bush (I'm pretty my giant cyclist build scared him off). So, the rest of the day was without incident as we entered Botswana. Strangely enough, we had a wildlife specialist come to our camp and give us a brief on what to do around elephants. Namely, do not cycle within 100m of them, under any circumstance, even if they are happy. Well, I like to live dangerously, as some Kenyans can attest to.

Ok, well, before that,  I was in Zambia. At first, Zambia was very similar to Malawi, only a lot more expensive. There were vast fields of corn and maize-like crops, called sorghum. Also, there was corn. And I noticed some corn.  Really, I was unimpressed with Zambia. So far, Malawi and Zambia have been my least favourite countries. Very expensive with not a whole lot to offer. What I can praise Zambia about is Livingstone. Named after the famous explorer, David Livingstone, it is home to the beautiful Victoria Falls. The tour stayed at a hotel called "The Waterfront" which was about 5km away from the falls and right along the Zambezi river. At night, the camp was quiet enough to hear the falls. Anyway, I had two days rest at this hotel, which was well needed. The first night I got good and drunk, as people were buying rounds left, right and centre. I woke up the next day to an all-you-can-eat buffet breakfast and then headed off to the Falls with Ryan. We took our bikes (believe it or not, they are a handy mode of transport) down and cycled right in the main gate without being stopped, saving us $20USD. We walked all around the back of, and then across a bridge right in the middle of the falls, called the "Boiling Point". Here we proceeded to get soaked. The spray from the falls is insane. It's way heavier than any rain you will ever experience, but it's a hell of a lot of fun. All of the tourists were wearing rain jackets (wusses), but Ryan and I just wore our clothes. We would end up drying off as we cycled home anyway. The second day in Livingstone, I did nothing. I relaxed. I ate some food, slept, did some laundry and relaxed some more. It was well deserved.

So, after we left Livingstone, we crossed the border to Botswana. In doing so, we actually crossed into Zimbabwe and Namibia as we took a (very, very unsafe-feeling) ferry across the Zambezi. All 4 countries intersect in the middle of the river. There is no bridge because the countries are having a hissy fit over tariffs and payment to build a bridge. So, there is a lineup of trucks that can take up to 2 weeks to cross from country to country via this two-truck ferry. African efficiency at it's best. So, yes, we ended up in Botswana, prime wildlife area. Our first night camping, I heard a very angry elephant and awoke the next day to find some trees torn apart and a light standard folded in half just outside out camp. He must have been one pissed off pachyderm. Also, the same morning, as I cycled off, I saw two buffalo (which are WAY bigger than you imagine), three impala, and a bunch of huge birds called ground hornbills that could eat a turkey vulture for breakfast. In general, I have been very pleased with Botswana. It is up there with Tanzania and Sudan as my favourite countries. It's really cool seeing wildlife as you bike past.

I would like to issue an appology to all my readers. I have been pretty slack with my blogging. There will probably be no more pictures because the internet here is just so unreliable and slow that it becomes a huge chore to try and upload without your own laptop. Also, as the tour draws to a close, I keep getting a sadness that it will all be over soon. Instead of blogging, I usually go and spend as much time with friends/riders as I can. I know it will probably be a long time before I see them again, so I'm jamming as much time in as possible. Plus, it will be a lot better to hear stories from me in person when I'm home, than over "teh interwebs". I never feel I am quite conveying my full personality through the blog anyway. Speaking of personality, this next and final month of the tour will really challenge me. Many people are starting to ride the truck instead of cycle, and opt for hotel rooms instead of camping. It seems that the three month mark is the limit for most people. Not me. I am tackling this last month with fervor. As the tour wears on and I get more tired, I will try even harder. This is the time of the tour when you find out what you're made of. You don't start taking breaks. I came on this tour as a way of challenging myself, and I will do so to the full extent. When it gets hard, I usually ask myself: would JTF2 stop for this? Long distance, rain, cold, sun, heat, charging elephants, gun-wielding bandits, broken kit, or exhaustion, nothing will stop me. I will drag myself into Cape Town if I have to and I guarantee I will have a smile on my face for doing it.

As a last note, I have decided to race this next section (The Elephant Highway). My cycling has improved greatly and I want to see how I do compared to the real racers of the tour. I don't expect to win at all, but see how I fare when I push myself. One of the days I raced so far, I was 3.5 hours faster than a day of similar conditions and distance from the beginning of the tour. So, we'll see if I can actually place on the board as the section draws to a close in the next 6 days. Anyway, I'm in Maun, Botswana now, and the wild animals of the Okavango Delta are calling my name. So, as usual, I leave you with some random stats.

Trip distance: about 9100km
Average trip speed: 22.52km/h
Time on saddle: 390hrs
Longest ride: 182kms
Elephants seen: 3
Camps moved due to lions and a giant python: 1
Highest race placing: 3rd
Tires left: 3
Countries dominated: 8