Howzit

Two months since the first post and the project is coming along. We've had our first meeting with the people from HearUs. They're thrilled to have us on board and we're looking forward to helping them make a difference.
Gear wise - we've found a local bike builder in Bellville who'll be building our bikes. We'll most likely start with the first bike next week. Our plan is to have the frames (steel touring style) built here, and import the rest of the components from the UK - believe it or not this is actually cheaper than getting the parts here in South Africa! This also gives us the advantage of choosing exactly which components we want. Most of our research into this has been internet based, hopefully we don’t mess this up! ;-)
JT (who’s currently based in the Cayman Islands) has been busy building us a movie type presentation which we will take to potential sponsors/donors. It’s a really cool video and as soon as the final one is out, we’ll post it on the website for you guys to view. I also believe JT, started cycling in preparation for the trip – good for him – I reckon he’ll be the fittest from the three of us, so we can make him carry all the heavy stuff.
Imraan and I have also done a bit camping out in the wilds of Africa. I myself have been practising outdoor cooking (using a camping stove, pots, and minimal ingredients as if on the road) for a while now. We visited the Caprivi Strip for a few days of camping and fishing, judging from this trip I’m pretty sure we’ll be well fed on our cycle tour next year, at the very least Imraan has proven that he can catch catfish (barbels) with just about anything!
In the Caprivi we camped on the banks of the Kavango River (the main river that becomes the Okavango Delta in Botswana). On one particular night I recall hearing the not too distant trumpet of an elephant, being a city slicker myself, this was something extraordinary – the sound of a wild elephant, out in a wild Africa. Hopefully one day, someone we help via HearUs will also experience something similar.

               

We stumbled across this bicycle shop on the road into the Caprivi Game Reserve – I’m sure we’re going to see a lot more of these type of “cycle centres” next year – cycling is big in Africa!!!