Zimbabwe - The Lions on the Road: Cycling London to Cape Town - page 274

mountedonthewalls.Mr.Steyntoldmethatastheanimalscameontohispropertyheshot
them. Thank God by this point he had warmed up to me.
I was given a short tour of the farm in the morning and just before I left, the family
presented me with a huge packed lunch for the road. After a hug (a handshake for Jog) and
a big thank-you, I hopped on the bike and made my way through relatively flat terrain. I
arrived in Chivhu and met the sisters at the Catholic Mission who told me that there was a
Belgian doctor, Ludwig Apers, in the village. I went to visit his home but he was working
at the hospital. His wife Vervaet invited me to stay and I played with their three children
until he returned. Ludwig eventually finished work by dinnertime and greeted me at the
door. After the children went to bed, I sat with Ludwig and Vervaet until 10:30 p.m. chat-
ting mainly about Zaïre for he did part of his medical training there.
I had breakfast with the family and when Ludwig left for the hospital, I soon fol-
lowed. I set an ambitious target of cycling 150 kilometres for the day. The first 50 kilo-
metres to Mvuma were very quick and by 10:30 a.m. I arrived. Due to the wind, the next
50 kilometres were very slow and I completed them by 3:00 p.m. My final 50 kilometre
stretchtookmeintonightfall.ThankfullytheroadwaslitasIapproachedMasvingo.When
I arrived at the Catholic mission, it was empty. I waited and when the priest arrived, he
didn't even want to look at me. I asked him simply for permission to set up my tent on the
property and that I would leave first thing in the morning. He agreed and let me stay in the
hall instead. He gave me a glass of water and bid me a good night. I never saw him for the
rest of the evening.
In the morning, I went to say my prayers in the church before I left and met him at
the door. He asked me if I was leaving and I said that I was considering living here until I
was old…just kidding…I said yes and thanked him for everything (at least he provided me
with a safe place to sleep.)
Iwentintotowntolookforabanktochangemymoneybuthadnoluck.Forbreak-
fast I had a Coke and chocolate (yeah I know, not healthy.) I walked over to the bakery
and bought a dozen small buns for $2 and packed them in the panniers for my lunch. After
filling my bottles with water from the bakery, I left the town and immediately had to tackle
a 5 kilometre climb. When I arrived at a rest area at the top, I pulled over and ate my last
boiled egg and a few buns.
The next 30 kilometres of road were flat which I capitalized on and just sped
through. I passed by the entranceway to The Great Zimbabwe Ruins. These were built
1,000 years ago and were the remains of the largest pre-colonial structure south of the Sa-
hara Desert. However, since I didn't have a camera that worked, I decided not to visit them
(in hindsight, I really wish I did.)
I continued onward for another 60 kilometres before I took a break. The headwind
picked up and really slowed me down. This was a good thing for I started to pay greater
attention to the scenery especially between the 70 and 95 kilometre marks. There were