Canyon Roadhouse to Canyon Farm Yard

March 30, 2022

Got up early and headed over to check out the breakfast buffet. As it was pretty expensive, I wasn't sure I was going to partake, but in the end, I did and I grabbed some snacks for lunch.

I am not sure what is up with my digestive track, but belching galore again today. I know you all wanted to know that. Finally stopped and took some Pepto Bismol and got things under control. A few hours later, I stopped and ate a muffin and it started all over again. Uuuuugh.

Belching issues aside, I had my own personal safari today which made me very happy! Saw tons of springbok and even had my second ostrich sighting, but they were far away. Still enjoyed seeing them though. Later in the day, I passed through a gate/cattle guard indicating I was entering a game reserve and no camping was allowed. I had also seen signs saying something to the effect, new animals had been relocated, slow down while driving. My mind was thinking, "What kind of animals are we talking about exactly?" Ha ha!

Animals on the right side of the road (look closely)

A group of springbok on the left side of the road

And my eagle eye spotted these ostrich in the distance. Thank goodness for the zoom on my camera!

I got to a junction and amused myself by using the shade of a bunch of drain pipes that were there as shade and to keep myself safe from creepy crawly things. After yesterday's snake sighting, you can bet I looked carefully around the edges of the tube before I crawled in!

After my break I turned left onto the C12 road headed towards Chamaites, not that there is a town there, but there is camp I had a headwind now, but I felt strong which was nice. It also wasn't as hilly as it has been and that was also nice. However, today was the day of the disgusting cannibalistic creatures aka armored katydid/crickets. They were scattered on the road for miles today and I am pretty sure they are bigger than the one I initially spotted when I didn't know what it was! Since they are on the road, guess what? They get ran over by cars which is disgusting enough given their size, but the ones that are still alive, then move in and eat them. Gag. I even saw some fighting over the remains. I literally dodged them at times because the thought of hearing the "crunch" if I ran one over I'm pretty sure would have made me vomit! Oh, and they make this noisy screeching sound too if I get to close and rear up on their legs. Oh, the joy of African insects!

I don't quite this quite conveys the grossness of what I endured, but these three were feasting on their dead friends!

Oh, but you think that's it? Oh no, things get worse. I had heard people talk about the baby red grasshoppers and I hadn't I seen them cross the road? Well, today I got the full on experience and I assure you, I could have done without it. As I am riding along, I see some weird red, wide lines across the road. Not sure what it is, but then I notice it's moving. Uuuugh, this is what people were talking about. I have not choice but to ride through them as there are multiple groups of them across the entire road. I told myself, "Don't think about it, just go." That experience was just so wrong! They are actually having a plague of them right now and the farmers are bearing the brunt of it. I guess they eat/destroy everything rather quickly. I also was told people are required to poison them at night as that's when they sit in the bushes.

....and 50 million grasshoppers! This was the first time I had to ride through them.

I see a truck pulled over up ahead a couple of people out of it clearly wanting to chat with me as I get closer. By the way, they don't call trucks trucks here. They are referred to as "bakkies." You also don't see the big huge ones like we have in America. Also, tons of them are set up to handle the dirt/gravel roads in Namibia. 4x4's set up with roof top tents and camping equipment. I stopped to talk to the people, a couple of Germans, as I needed a break anyways and this was the perfect excuse. Better yet, they offered me water. I didn't need any, but said if they had any cold water, I'd love it. They produced a gallon jug and it's so nice to just gulp down a bunch without worrying about it. Tasted so good! We chatted awhile, before I said I should be on my way again. They offered to fill me up my 48 oz bottle with more water before I left. I initially declined, but they insisted and it turned out to be a good thing.

I'm paralleling these mountains off to the right side of the road

The never ending expanse of nothing on the left side of the road

I was happy to spot a red train trestle to break up the scenery. It's the little things....

My tracks trying to power through a sandy section. Pretty sure I came to a sudden stop in the middle section of deeper sand.

I was trying to show the grasses blowing in the wind - against me. I thought this one completely uprooted demonstrated the headwind the best! :)

Got to the the Canyon Farm yard, my home for the night. I almost was going to take an inside room, which was designed as an igloo, but then she told me there was not electricity at night. No sense having a repeat of my hot, cooking feeling again during the night so I took a tent sight. It has it's only little bathroom and shower. After getting my tent set up I went over to the swimming pool. Nice and deep, but a lot of bugs in the water including a bee that started to sting me while I was floating! The grounds were again decorated with classic cars and some interesting decorations including some fake crocodiles in an enclosure which I was a bit confused at first trying to decide if they were real or not. (They weren't!)

They had a bunch of birds in cages too. I was sitting at a table wondering what that noise was and where it was coming from. They were talking parrots! Fun!

I went back to my camp and was getting bitten again by these little bugs that have made my life miserable the past few days. I have so many bites on one of my arms and they are itchy. There was no way I wanted to deal with them in the outdoor shower so figured my swim was a "bath" and called it good. There is a little cafe/shop at this little place so I was able to get cold drinks. I also had my first good biltong of the trip. It's basically beef jerky. I had kudu which is an antelope found here that has wavy/spiral type horns. Haven't seen one in the wild yet. For other cyclists, I use the word "shop" loosely. They had cold drinks, coffee, fresh baked cookies and biltong. Although, they lady was kind enough to give me some sliced bread and mayo so I could make a tuna sandwich.

The closest I've been to spotting a kudu so far

Headed to my tent when it got dark and enjoyed a brilliant orange sunset. The sky lit up with bright lighting flashes in the distance again. This time I knew that it was so far away, there was not need to put on my rain fly per the owners of this camp.

Loved watching the entire sky light up in shades of orange.

Today's ride: 30 miles (48 km)
Total: 2,329 miles (3,748 km)

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