Animals all round

After a night where we were visited by a hippo, an elephant and had hyenas hanging around calling out for most of the night, everyone was up early and raring to go in anticipation of the wildlife we would see on the Elephant Highway today. What lay ahead was 159km (mostly flat and straight) of prime elephant viewing country and we were not disappointed!! Riders cruised into the lunch stop with stories of catching glimpses of giraffes, vultures and having elephants run across the road in front of them as well as the ever present snakes and monkeys. This trend continued for the afternoon and tonight as we stay in our bush camp there is the anticipation of what may come and visit us throughout the night. The actual ride itself was fast and flat with a wind that couldn’t make up its mind whether it was headwind or crosswind. Coke stops were scarce but the one after lunch was a grassy oasis with your choice of cold drinks and ice creams. Some of the racers even decided to head back once they had finished to spend some quality time as the bush camp was a little “hotbox” this afternoon complete with flies. Others just lay about resting, eating, reading and trying to stay cool (sounds like a paradise). The ride tomorrow is much the same although there is the possibility of some bends in the road but who cares when there are elephants to spot, giraffes to see, vultures and snakes to avoid and some more riding to be done!