DAY 3 - There’s a big day ahead of us, by Shaun HeavensMtentu Lodge to Mbotyi

After a very windy night we all met bleary eyed at 6am for another hearty breakfast. (Shout out to Lesley McMillan for surviving the night in a tent). We knew we were in for an epic day, but sitting here writing this blog now, I don’t think any of us appreciated just how EPIC the day was to prove. After our walk down the small cliff to the beach, we were ferried by 2 man canoes across the estuary to our bikes where they’d been left the night before (and secret hopes that they’d been stolen were dashed).

Big shout out to the big man Geordie Davy Sinclair for his special ‘canoe dance’ as it rocked left and right. “There’ll only be one river crossing today guys, so I’d recommend taking your shoes and socks off today, to keep them dry” were the wise words from Leader Ian. (When I say wise - I mean, not wise at all - more later).

After carrying our bikes up another small cliff we actually got the chance to ride them - by happy chance this was at the same time as it started to rain. If anyone tells you ‘African rain is warm’, they’re lying. A track up to the top of the nature reserve meant we got off to a proper challenging start. Lucky for us Leader Ian kept our spirits up by stopping us each time it started to rain particularly hard. Thanks Leader Ian! 🙂

After leaving the reserve we were rewarded with something we never thought would be the cause for such excitement - a concrete track! At this point it might just as well have been the ‘yellow brick road’! “Toto I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore”. Spirits lifted as we made decent progress and were blessed with a bit of a downhill, which led us to a truly impressive bay - the surf was awesome, 10 feet, at least. At the sight of the ocean, Guide Bruce had to be held back by big Mo Rasool, he was desperate for a swim.

A spot of lunch followed even though it was only 10:30, then we tried something new with the bikes - holding them above our heads to get them over a six-foot fence and down to the beach (Jane Fonda work out - eat your heart out). Now remember those ‘wise words’ from Leader Ian about keeping our feet dry - well it proved rather difficult as we carried our bikes to the other side of another estuary. Short of doing handstands we were doomed to half an ocean’s worth of sand (and ocean) in our shoes.

The funny thing is it was fantastic! The team were incredible helping each other through. It’s difficult to get across in words, it was one of those ‘you had to be there’ moments - but boy, I was so glad I was: amazing work guys.

So, after that everything turned into a bit of a blur, we cycled and then we cycled and then we did some cycling. We were blessed again by hitting a super smooth African highway which sucked the energy out of you. At some point we then hit what even Leader Ian described as ‘a proper climb’. Now given some of the hills we’d already dragged ourselves up, those words were more than a little bit troubling. Sure, it was epic - I’ve climbed a few long and steep hills in my time (Lofthouse in Yorkshire, springs to mind) but this was on another level. It went on and on and on - and then it went on some more and then some more etc, etc. The sense of achievement I know I felt when I crested the top will stay with me for the rest of my days. Absolutely awesome and worth the challenge event on its own. We then cycled some more and then some more - before then cycling some more.

Special shout out to Super Sue Colson and to cold Lesley who graciously gave, even colder, Guide Gareth her jacket - on the mistaken belief that it wouldn’t rain anymore or get any colder. It did both of these things really well! Also respect to David Fawcett ‘the tank’, Marc Wooldridge, with a small house on his back and the legend that is Ken Bray. Leader Ian’s understanding of how far to go is ‘like stealing vehicles from a multi storey car park - just wrong on so many levels’!

Eventually, battered and bruised and just plain exhausted we reached the top of the hill that led down to our new lodge. The ride down (about 3km) was fast and exhilarating and for many as challenging as you like. We made it though and our reward? Hot coffee and steaming hot showers (the first time for many of us).

And so as I sit in my room writing this blog - a lot has been said about the teamwork and how well everyone looks after one another, so apologies for repeating what my previous bloggers have said - but the sense of togetherness, of making sure everyone was okay (Yoga Bill Colson - you know where I’m coming from here) was just fantastic. I have no words - I just know that I am so pleased to be here, despite how my legs hurt, with a great bunch of people, in such a fantastic place. Thank you, Africa.