A typical rest day

So, what do riders do on a couple of rest days in Livingstone, gateway to Victoria Falls? First and foremost they visit the falls themselves. A spectacular view from the bridge crossing the Zambezi allows you to experience the natural beauty of one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Most of the 2007 riders would tell you to enjoy the breakfast at The Royal Livingstone Hotel and then make you way through the gate to the falls from there. They claim that the food rivals the view of the falls, but that is coming from riders who have ridden a total of 1500kms in the past few days! Livingstone is a bit like an adventure playground that caters for the adrenalin junkies; gorge swings, white water rafting, river boarding, joy rides in light aeroplanes and helicopters and a bungy tower. Due to the level of the water this year, however, none of the water based activities were being offered. As a result there were some sad faces on the riders faces but, as per usual, most coped with life at the Safari Lodge; a quiet, secluded, friendly lodge offering shade, peace, a great bar, good food and nice chalet accommodation. Just a place to recharge the batteries for two days. The majority of the riders enjoyed the well-named “booze cruise” (thank god, we didn’t have to ride the following day after this one!) as well the sunset cruises. We celebrated Marc Cote’s 50th birthday, the departure of our sectional riders, Siggy and Ruth, and, sadly, one of the African Routes boys, Wimpie. We welcomed Ian and Alicia, two sectional riders who have joined us for the rest of the tour. As you can imagine, it was a busy two rest days! we enjoyed a visit from Paddy Thomas’ parents. Paddy’s mother is an avid reader of the TDA website and rider blogs so she now knows all our dark secrets! There were also those little quirks to deal with…lost passports, stolen money and people needing to visit the doctor and a spot of grocery shopping to satisfy hungry rider mouths for another few days. So,even though we couldn’t raft the might Zambezi River in 2007, we did experience the Falls, enjoy two rest days, ate some delicious food and woke up feeling pretty refreshed for Stage 74.