Campsite on the Nile, 20:20.739N 30:23.622E

Beyond the Saddle ....Cairo to Cape Town
Howard Fairbank
Fri 26 Jan 2007 21:04
End of Day 12 (Cycling days).... A long 97 km ride....not the same as 97km in Egypt...average speed there was 32+ km/h when cycling (and not drinking tea with the locals and having haircuts!) ...now with the road conditions I am lucky to be averaging 19km/h....makes a huge difference on the days adventure! Lots of people are not handling the conditions well, and there have been a few people taking the bus option and with a 80 km similar day tomorrow, and 97km the next day a few are thinking about the bus for a day.....

The ride today was great with the desert behind us and basically following the Sudanese Nile....much narrower fertile / productive farming area on each side of the river, but the villages are so much more interesting....more about this in the newsletter. Met lots of locals again today.....was great.

Our campsite is right on the river, and I am typing this while sitting on my own way away from the group with the water literally 2m away. There are supposed to be Nile crocs around, but most of us swam today. It was a perfect way to end a hard days cycle...the water was surprisingly cold, but just what I needed. Also was able to have a much needed wash and clothes wash!

Thats about it for now....don't want to take away from newsletter content.

I do wonder how many people read this blog....it would help me in splitting my efforts between the blog and newsletter. Maybe you could send a short email to africa {DOT} cycle {DOT} trip {CHANGE TO AT} mweb {DOT} co {DOT} za telling us whether you read this and how you find it?

Thanks...!