Thanks for the information. Good to know that there is the ability to keep clothing clean. Certainly, we don't want to offend nor risk infection. Take good care.

Hi Dino
We try to launder our clothes as often as possible. Particularly in hot weather. Dirty cycling shorts risk infections on the sensitive bits. In SE Asia we tend to carry two pairs of cycling shorts to decrease the risk of having to wear a sweaty pair. However, in cooler climes are prepared to risk only carrying one pair. We cycle in hiking shirts, which double as normal day-wear. These dry quickly so laundering them is usually not an issue. It helps that there are two of us. Leigh washes and I wring. Wild camping presents challenges and so we might go for a few days in grubby clothing. But as soon as we are back in civilization we make sure the laundry is the first of our chores.

Laundry was on my mind and then you mentioned it in this entry. I travel relatively light, so being able to wash clothing out and get it dried are important. Occasionally, finding a real washing machine and a dryer would be nice. How did you fare with this aspect of bicycle touring?

You're in Nevada ;-)

Thanks for keeping up on the journal and for posting the nature stuff! I quite enjoyed it!

Thanks Mike. Hope you enjoyed it and found it useful. We hope to leave again in about a month or so. Not sure to where but obviously, given these times in which we live, it will be through some area in South Africa.

Thanks for another great journal Jean-Marc.

I read somewhere that a very high percentage of crimes are prevented or subsequently solved not by great detective work but as a result of information from their informants or "grasses" as referred to in the British television shows!
Anyway good result by the SAP!

Knysna's economy is based on tourism and COVID-19 has killed that industry. So there is an extremely high unemployment rate in the area. The streets of the town had clusters of men hanging around hoping for piece-work. I can't imagine how desperate people could get when all they want to do is feed their families. However, the guys involved seemed to have been the taxi driver and his assistant so they would have had some form of income although most likely greatly reduced. I'm not excusing what might have happened nor trying to downplay the risks of obviously wealthier people cycling through a poor area. Our route wasn't the one we would have preferred to use. We had been trying to avoid heavily populated areas which is to where people have flocked to try and make a living (only to see that source of employment disappear). There is no easy answer.

Thank you for this post and your honest reporting of your whole adventure. This is why we’ve been hesitant to bike down there: we’ve read of a few bikejacking incidents, with worse outcomes. Living in a country armed to the truth and so full of crazies as we are, it feels silly to fear biking anywhere else; but still. Glad to hear someone was watching out for you.

Thanks Bill. I must make an effort to get the camera out of the bag!

Nice avian photos today!

I suspect something more drastic than antibiotics lies in her future :-(. Hopefully she can hang in until we get to PE.

I hope that Leigh is now medicated enough to last until she can see her usual dentist.

Mike

Wow!!!!! Stunner of a photo. Well done.