To Nata Lodge: Thank you wind!!!!!

November 3, 2015

"Oh look, a hill" Rachel jokes. Really it's just a small mound in the distance. "Nothing but shrubs and small trees. That's a koppie" Patrick replies. It's the only one we see today, and it is even named.

The landscape doesn't change. The road stays relatively flat, no shoulder, potholes on the edges, and even less traffic today than yesterday. There is nothing until Mosetse where we stop for a cold drink, eat hard boiled eggs and ginger cookies.

At Dugwe, there is a gas station but we didn't see any sign for a guesthouse. There are more people out along this stretch than we've seen all day. There really is nothing along this road.

The wind is good to us today and we are reluctant to stop for too long in order to take advantage of a tailwind. Our second break is eating the power bars we bought in Francistown while still straddling our bikes at the side of the road. After the first 100kms the road shifts direction just enough that the wind swirls mostly as a crosswind. We still make good time though not quite so easy.

An early start gets us to Nata Lodge at noon. First eating lunch sharing a greek salad with dressing,chicken sandwich and drinking a cold coke, we then set up the tent and shower. The rest of the afternoon we relax at the pool.

Life is good on the road.

Five o'clock: we are making our way back to the paved road.

This pretty much sums up the landscape today.

Don't mess with the elephants. We keep a good eye on the bush in front of us as not to surprise any. From other cyclists blogs we learned that elephants sometimes react "funny" to cyclists. Today no sightings though, just cows, goats, donkeys and a few skinny horses.

This, plus a beer, makes it all worth it at the end of the day. Nata Lodge is a very nice, but expensive, place to stay. Camping is affordable though and with use of the facilities.

Today's ride: 137 km (85 miles)
Total: 8,804 km (5,467 miles)

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