Adventure with Cyclists
The travel was more of a breather than work
The week- long Majwe AM 570 Cycling challenge has since become my favourite trip of the year. As a journalist, and a Lifestyle reporter, I travel to diverse places a lot but not in 2020, obviously because of the Covid- 19 pandemic. Travelling for this event was one rejuvenating moment for me. It felt like that one special international trip because of its exceptionality. I never realized that I am a fan of cycling until then, and neither did I ever thought that cycling sport could be this amazing in Botswana, as I have only been a fan of motor biking. But thanks to this trip, I have explored something unique and I now respect this sporting code a lot. I have never even imagined that a bicycle could ride at 60Km speed and I can now attest to that. Viewing a group of cyclists doing what they know the best is just amazing and mind- blowing. I was sceptical about this trip when I was told that I had to go and do my Covid- 19 test at Diagnofirm, and leave the following day to Mahalapye and back to Jwaneng observing the cyclists. Having heard different frightening experiences about Covid- 19 testing, I just wanted to invite the earth to open up and swallow me, but I am a big girl and so I had to just wear my bravery to get the work done. I woke up the following morning with so many questions in my head, but when I saw younger people queueing for the test, I regained my confidence and assured myself that young people could not outsmart me. My turn arrived, and I took a short prayer and allowed the test procedure to get done. It was not as horrible as many made it seem like, and within at least five hours, I got my results and that was when I was surely ready to travel and explore nature.
The journey started with a send- off glamorous dinner held at Cresta Lodge, where people came looking the part as they honoured the black tie event that was esteemed by the First Lady, Neo Masisi’s presence. The excitement on the riders’ faces could not go unnoticed, especially that this was done to honor the late General Manager of Majwe Mining, Albert Milton, who also cherished cycling as a sport and revived it especially within Jwaneng. The first lady cycled the first few Kilometres of the journey. The cycling cohort lodged in at Masa Protea Hotel and left the premises at roughly 4: 30 am on this past Thursday. This was the pattern for all the trips, we then lodged at Cresta Mahalapye which was the first leg of the journey and then back to Cresta President in Gaborone, where we finally proceeded to Jwaneng early morning on Saturday. Coincidentally, the beautiful cloudy weather favoured the event. It rained in Jwaneng when they left and on the way back to Jwaneng it rained in Gaborone. For a long time, I have not travelled in such an amazing weather, especially where we had multiple stops to allow the cyclists to take their snacks and hydrate themselves. I could appreciate the journey so well as the bus moved at a snail pace to keep up with the cyclists and this allowed me to visualise more activities along the way. I could spot so many people along the Tropic of Capricorn route, setting fire and displaying the herbs that they sell after making the concoctions. I had seen people joking about this on facebook, but as they say, to travel means exploring and learning, I was excited to also get to see what others usually talk about. It couldn’t have been a better journey if we skipped the rocks at the Tropic of Capricorn point. Most people usually stop over there for a few snaps, and I have done that before but I still saw the need to. Well, this time around, I have observed something on these artistic rocks. The 15 columnar joint rocks that represent 15 countries that run parallel the equator at tropic of Capricorn at 23’ 26’ and 22’ at the south, each indicates the time difference between Botswana and that particular country. However, with Namibia, it is written ‘ none’ while in fact there are some points which translates to onehour difference between Botswana and Namibia. Well, my colleague and I had to question the History gentleman at the place and his explanation was that the Greenwich meridian times between Botswana and Namibia are different, based on the location. So, I found this very interesting to share because, according to my experience and knowledge, I only knew that Botswana and Namibia equates to one- hour difference but never knew the explanation. Thanks to this amazing travel that had relaxed stop points, I really explored my country, not in a hurry for the first time ever.
December is my birthday month, and it meant so much having to learn something new about my country while travelling. This is the period of the year where most people plan holidays to explore their country and the world. This unique trip of travelling with cyclists, made me realise that we learn a lot through travel. Cycling as a sport has earned my support and even if there could be an inter- zonal lockdown, I would have had a beautiful travel experience despite cancellation of two of my international travels this year.