Zimbabwe - The Lions on the Road: Cycling London to Cape Town - page 273

I decided to stay in the capital and called Maribeth from David's home to confirm
that I would like to go to the picnic. She then suggested that I could sleep at her place.
David, my bike-mechanic-Guru gave me directions to her home. Before I left, he arranged
to pick me up at 4:45 p.m. to go and say the Rosary and hear mass at his parish. So, off
I went and cycled to Maribeth's home and met her husband Blair and daughter. I washed
up, dressed and told them that I would be off to mass with David and would return by 7:00
p.m.
Before mass, it was David who led the congregation in praying the Rosary. During
the service, there were two missionaries as guest speakers who spoke about the work that
they did. I of all people had firsthand experience of the noble work that hundreds of these
missionaries did across Africa and to this day hold them all is such high esteem. When I
returned to Maribeth's place, homemade pizza was on the menu. The family waited until I
arrived to eat. After the dishes were done, I played the piano with the children and then hit
the sack.
After breakfast the next morning, I prepared to go to mass with David. After com-
pleting the Stations of the Cross outside, we celebrated mass and then joined the congreg-
ation for tea outside. There were a lot of people who lingered after mass to socialize and
I felt such a beautiful sense of community. David then dropped me off at Maribeth's and I
went with them to the Canadian Easter picnic at the botanic gardens.
It was actually a fun-filled afternoon. I planted chocolate eggs around and watched
the children look for them, I played volleyball (which I suck at), and went for a stroll
through the gardens. We then headed home where I had enough energy to start a pillow
fight with the kids. When they went to bed I joined the adults to watch some TV and went
to bed.
The next day I was to leave the city. I said good-bye to everyone and made sure to
cycle by David's home to say thank you for his kindness.
IfoundtheroadtoBeitbridgeveryquicklyandplannedtostopinBeatrice,mynext
town for the day. After an initial shock of potholes, the road improved tremendously and
was quickly into farming territory again. It was very flat with a slight headwind. It was
actuallyexcitingtobeonthebikeagainnowthatDavidfinallysolvedthefree-wheelprob-
lem for good.
I arrived in Beatrice in excellent time and decided to keep going. At the 68 kilo-
metre mark after Harare, I met a 90-year-old farmer and asked if I could camp on his prop-
erty. He said yes but then his wife interjected and said that they were going out for dinner
and suggested that I try the next-door neighbours.
I cycled over and Mrs. Dot Steyn was immediately hospitable but her husband, Jog
didn't seem to trust me at first (he eventually warmed up to me.) Their 11-year-old daugh-
ter, Linda was like her mom and just openly talked to me as if I was her brother. I was
shown the guestroom and as I passed through the corridor I noticed all these animal heads