Day 22 – Wilderness
Wilderness was such a good break after the fast pace of our demanding holiday schedule that we decided to spend an extra day here. I rode a very steep slope nearby and then another even steeper slope up to the Map of Africa. The Map of Africa is actually a piece of land surrounded by a meandering river, shaped like the outline of the African continent.
A tour official is posted here to provide info to visitors, and he advised me to take a short path to the end of the nearby paragliding field where the view is even better, spanning up the entire coast past Wilderness as far as they eye can see, and in the other direction the impressive forested slopes surrounding the tunnel of the Outeniqua Tchoo Tchoo.
I was grateful for this rest aftert the very tough uphill, and enjoyed a very fast descent. You only realise how tough the uphill was when you have both front and back brakes jammed in on the downhill to stop the bike from picking up too much speed! I reached 62km/hr on the downhill without even trying!
Got back to our Wilderness chalet after 1:20 and 20km worth of brutal riding. Although almost the entire ride was on tar, the roads were not busy and were set into deep
forest on both sides, making it a very enjoyable ride.
We went for lunch to the Wimpy in Sedgefield, where Heather almost drank a large horsefly which was floating dead and undetected under her milk foam! She’s vowed that to be her last Wimpy coffee (I doubt it). Little Erica has been eating from our plates during the entire holiday as it is just easier, and today she had some pieces of hamburger, waffle and chips. We’ll have to get her onto a healthier diet as soon as things normalise.
Erica has reached several milestones during this holiday:
– she turned 9 months old
– took her first steps
– stood up unsupported and drank juice from a carton, through a straw!
– learned to clap handies
She is very bright and gets frustrated if we are not constantly doing new things. I hope that home life is not going to be too boring for her after the hectic holiday pace!