Canadian Cool In The Namibian Heat

A few weeks ago I was driving somewhere on a 165km stretch of road in the Desert.

The journey had been long, it was hot and I was in semi-automatic mode ...


Suddenly I passed a long-distance cyclist travelling in the opposite direction.

Alert now because I'd missed a photo-op, I spotted another cyclist approaching in the distance and so I slowed down, pulled off the road and grabbed my camera.


Lo and behold, it was a lady cyclist, kitted-out for a long-distance journey.


With a wave she stopped and pulled over - she told me that her name is Brenna and I heard well enough to get it right first time.

Brenna is Canadian and, together with her partner, who I had passed earlier, was cycling from Cape Town to Morocco ... I was amazed at the scale of their adventure.


She paused briefly to give me her e-mail address so I could post the pics to her.


With a last smile it was time for her to press on.


... and then she was gone, continuing her journey of a Lifetime.


I admire people who embark on this kind of adventure, travelling a continent on their own power, uncomplicated, with miles and miles to unclutter the mind - vulnerable and exposed to nature completely.

I think that Namibia is probably one of the best countries to cycle through.

Happy Trails Brenna.

Related Posts:
The Zen Of long-distance Cycling
Intrepid Travellers

ps ... I posted this earlier but had to delete because the pics were not loading from my Picasa album ... I'm trying Photobucket, please let me know if there are any hassles with the images ...

.

The Zen Of Long-Distance Cycling

OneStonedCrow PicsAt times, when driving in Namibia, I encounter these travelers in the middle of nowhere, most of them having cycled all the way through Africa or intending to do so.

To me there's something deeply appealing in what they're doing. Perhaps it's the concept of being totally self-reliant, unhurried and able to rest your head wherever you find yourself. I imagine that it must be a kind of meditation, legs pumping away automatically, the mind in a heightened state of awareness ...

It's not all fun and games though - a few I've spoken to have told me scary stories of encounters with robbers, thugs and suspicious, abusive government officials in some countries.

I salute these intrepid adventurers.

.

Intrepid Travellers

I came upon Florence & Jean-Philippe Duval between Mariental and Keetmanshoop - in the middle of nowhere, ... it's 220 ks between the two towns ...




I pulled off the road ahead and waited for them to come by to snap some pics.




They're from France, cycling around Africa ... living a dream ...




Check-out Jean-Philippe's cool trailer for carrying his guitar ... when I told him that I would love to travel like they do, he suggested that I could sell my car ... ?




We stopped for a few minutes to exchange mail addys. They have a blog where they document their travels - it's mainly in French, with links to their pic albums too.



OneStonedCrow Pics
Then they were on their way again, heading south to Cape Town, 1000 ks away ...

... happy trails, good people ...
.