My visit to Botswana was rather short compared to the other countries I’ve been to and there were less spectacular things to see. But I’m well aware how limited the time I have left on this trip is so I was rather happy to be able to cover some distance quickly. I’m already in South Africa now and rode 300 km there as well.

This was the gate of the first guesthouse I stayed in in Francistown. Obviously I had to stay there and it turned out to be rather nice. There are some actual bicycle parts welded into that.

Imagine how interesting the landscape is when I bothered to take out the camera to get a picture of this hill ;) It was the first one I saw after a long time. Of course a flat road means easy cycling but I was struggling with the heat and headwind sometimes.

I was reaching 8000 km on this trip almost exactly while crossing the Tropic of Capricorn.

There’s also this monument with a pipe that the sun will shine through once a year.

According to the coordinates on wikipedia and my GPS the sign and monument are way off the actual location, almost 3 kilometers. This is where it should have been (but I guess they don’t want to move them all the time anyway).

Distances can be long between towns featuring a guesthouse so some bushcamping was required.

The nicest part certainly has been staying in Gaborone. I was invited to stay with a very nice family with two of them having serious cycle touring experience. I left well rested and equipped with lots of useful tips for the route ahead.

The last 3 days in South Africa have been easier, there’s more infrastructure, even small towns have big shopping centers, ATMs, guesthouses etc. People keep recommending I get a lift and skip some parts in the middle and spend more of my remaining time in the more scenic landscapes along the coast. I’ll probably do that soon.