Wednesday, April 16, 2008

14th April 2008 - VICTORIA FALLS, ZAMBIA


End Zambezi Zone, enter Elephant Highway
During any journey time seems to speed up as the end approaches and the same is true for the Tour d’Afrique. Whilst the time spent in Sudan and Ethiopia felt (and in fact was) extensive, we are now constantly moving on. Tanzania, then a few days in Malawi followed by just over a week in Zambia.

Already we are at the Victoria Falls, which (by some measures) qualify as the largest waterfalls on earth. The rainy season is coming to an end and the huge amounts of water carried by the Zambezi River fall over a 2 km wide edge into a narrow gorge, sending up a spray of water which can be seen from the town of Livingstone 10km away. A little bit closer and we start hearing the impressive “Smoke that thunders” (Mosi-oa-Tunya, the Vik Fall's original name given by the local people). Standing on the opposite side of the gorge, the water doesn’t only fall down on us like rain or even a shower, but it is a downpour that soaks us down to the bones. Depending on the wind, streams of water are running down the paths and create little waterfalls themselves. Experiencing the Vik Fall’s magnificence makes it fully understandable, why they are rated as one of the world’s 7 natural wonders.

I feel I have been getting stronger on the bike over the course of the past three months and, to test my limits, I decided to curb up my racing efforts for the section Zambezi Zone, going from Malawi’s capital Lilongwe until Victoria Falls. It was by no means an easy section, with many stages between 150 and 195km long. My mission required more than just sweat and sore legs and on the 73rd stage riding in the peloton at 40 km/h my front wheel got caught up in Bernd’s rear wheel and a close encounter with the tarmac followed. Luckily I got away with nothing more than some nasty abrasions and the bike is still in one piece as well. We have had numerous pretty bad cases of infections resulting from as little as a mosquito bite or a scratch, so I am left praying for the best. In any case, I managed to secure a respectable 4th place for the section Zambezi Zone.

Tomorrow’s stage will kick off with a 40km time trial, after which we will cross the Zambezi River into Botswana (with 750m length the probably shortest international border).

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