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| Cape Town |
Thursday, May 20, 2010
The Final Leg – Namibia to Cape Town
The Final Leg – Namibia to Cape Town – 740 kms, with legs of 133, 117, 148, 112, 140 and 90kms.
Another 6 perfect days in paradise – and none without challenge.
As I cycled this leg with Annalise as my riding partner, I was filled with a cascade of feelings that ranged from nostalgia to gratitude.
As always with a trip of this sort, the challenges of each day’s ride only served to embellish any underlying emotions.
Was it the long climb out of the Orange River valley to the plateau at Springbok that did it? Or was it the steady and relentless headwinds. Perhaps it was the return to gravel when we were diverted along country roads to avoid the heavy traffic as we neared Cape Town. Was it the drizzly rain or the 2 degrees Celsius – or the signs pointing to Cape Town with ever decreasing distances – 370 kms to go – then 122 – then 88?
Or, was it the magnificent views of Table Mountain and Robben Island that loomed as we reached our long-awaited destination? By chance, was it the grandeur and the surrealism that attended our last 30 kms convoy ride under police escort from Blauberg Strand to the city’s waterfront on a crisp but sunny day?
It was all of these!
Whatever it was, as the tour ended, it caused tears to flood my face and to mystify my view.
Nostalgia and gratitude – these were the emotions.
For me this ride was a quest – a journey laden with significance.
Nostalgia – It was on these roads that I rode my bike as a child – It was on these roads that I drove when I returned 7 years ago after an absence of 46 years from African soil – and now, at the age of 71, I cycled from Malawi, through Zambia, Botswana, Namibia and down the Western Cape to Cape Town, South Africa. Yes, the emotion can correctly be described as nostalgia, not a desire to return to that past, but rather, a feeling of appreciation for the past. It was indeed a journey laden with significance.
Gratitude – evoked by nostalgia’s sense of appreciation – gratitude for all that I have been given.
I have received more than my fair share of this world’s benefits – more than I possibly deserve.
And so – from my vantage point of nostalgia and gratitude – I want to say thank you and au revoir.
Thank you Mum and Dad for the struggles and the challenges that you endured in post depression Canada, for daring to go to Africa in an era of pre-war global uncertainty, for giving Bev and I the African heritage we so cherish. And then – for taking us back to Canada – and for all of the goodness that awaited us there.
Thank you Bev for your constancy and your mentorship. It was you that always came to support me at my boxing matches, rode the trains with me when we went to boarding school, mentored me into medicine and more.
Thank you Wendy for the years we had together and for our three children.
Thank you Mary Ellen for our years together and for the gift of Rachel.
Sarah, Martha, Rebeccah and Rachel – few fathers can genuinely say that their children are their very best friends – but I can. Thank you for your love, your genuine joy of life and your altruism.
To Kate, Lucy, Willem and Alexander – you are ‘the greatest’.
Chris, Cory and Ed – I truly value your commitment to our family system – I am lucky to have joined your families too.
Bev, Mandy and Tess – I love you guys and thanks for everything.
Michael, Andy, Anand and Wayne – thanks for being the best professional partners and friends any one could hope to have.
Griff – thank you for the friendship and mentorship you offered in promoting and developing my career.
To all of my friends on whatever continent you reside, thanks for your loyalty and your love.
To all of my patients, many of you now deceased, thank you for teaching me the values of hope humility and humanity.
With respect to my recent bicycle journey, thank you Margaret, Chifumbe, Andrew and Chayza for attending our media event in Lusaka. We look forward to many years of collaboration and mutual learning.
A special thank you to my riding partners, Lianne, Jessica, Cat and Annalise for your care, for ‘pulling’ me up all of those hills, and for filling my days with interesting conversation.
To all of my other fellow riders and TDA staff, thanks you for receiving me so well.
To all of you who sponsored my ride on behalf of our work in Zambia - I thank you.
Linda, Gary, Kim and Kim, Glynn, Rebeccah, Joan and Joan, Muriel, Fay, Tim, Carole, Nicole, Felour, Ken, Tom, Lianne, Jessica - thank you for all you do for www.okazhi.org
Au revoir – until we ride again – may you all pursue your own quests – your own journeys laden with significance. …….
Contact me at billnelems@fastmail.fm if you so choose.
Another 6 perfect days in paradise – and none without challenge.
As I cycled this leg with Annalise as my riding partner, I was filled with a cascade of feelings that ranged from nostalgia to gratitude.
As always with a trip of this sort, the challenges of each day’s ride only served to embellish any underlying emotions.
Was it the long climb out of the Orange River valley to the plateau at Springbok that did it? Or was it the steady and relentless headwinds. Perhaps it was the return to gravel when we were diverted along country roads to avoid the heavy traffic as we neared Cape Town. Was it the drizzly rain or the 2 degrees Celsius – or the signs pointing to Cape Town with ever decreasing distances – 370 kms to go – then 122 – then 88?
Or, was it the magnificent views of Table Mountain and Robben Island that loomed as we reached our long-awaited destination? By chance, was it the grandeur and the surrealism that attended our last 30 kms convoy ride under police escort from Blauberg Strand to the city’s waterfront on a crisp but sunny day?
It was all of these!
Whatever it was, as the tour ended, it caused tears to flood my face and to mystify my view.
Nostalgia and gratitude – these were the emotions.
For me this ride was a quest – a journey laden with significance.
Nostalgia – It was on these roads that I rode my bike as a child – It was on these roads that I drove when I returned 7 years ago after an absence of 46 years from African soil – and now, at the age of 71, I cycled from Malawi, through Zambia, Botswana, Namibia and down the Western Cape to Cape Town, South Africa. Yes, the emotion can correctly be described as nostalgia, not a desire to return to that past, but rather, a feeling of appreciation for the past. It was indeed a journey laden with significance.
Gratitude – evoked by nostalgia’s sense of appreciation – gratitude for all that I have been given.
I have received more than my fair share of this world’s benefits – more than I possibly deserve.
And so – from my vantage point of nostalgia and gratitude – I want to say thank you and au revoir.
Thank you Mum and Dad for the struggles and the challenges that you endured in post depression Canada, for daring to go to Africa in an era of pre-war global uncertainty, for giving Bev and I the African heritage we so cherish. And then – for taking us back to Canada – and for all of the goodness that awaited us there.
Thank you Bev for your constancy and your mentorship. It was you that always came to support me at my boxing matches, rode the trains with me when we went to boarding school, mentored me into medicine and more.
Thank you Wendy for the years we had together and for our three children.
Thank you Mary Ellen for our years together and for the gift of Rachel.
Sarah, Martha, Rebeccah and Rachel – few fathers can genuinely say that their children are their very best friends – but I can. Thank you for your love, your genuine joy of life and your altruism.
To Kate, Lucy, Willem and Alexander – you are ‘the greatest’.
Chris, Cory and Ed – I truly value your commitment to our family system – I am lucky to have joined your families too.
Bev, Mandy and Tess – I love you guys and thanks for everything.
Michael, Andy, Anand and Wayne – thanks for being the best professional partners and friends any one could hope to have.
Griff – thank you for the friendship and mentorship you offered in promoting and developing my career.
To all of my friends on whatever continent you reside, thanks for your loyalty and your love.
To all of my patients, many of you now deceased, thank you for teaching me the values of hope humility and humanity.
With respect to my recent bicycle journey, thank you Margaret, Chifumbe, Andrew and Chayza for attending our media event in Lusaka. We look forward to many years of collaboration and mutual learning.
A special thank you to my riding partners, Lianne, Jessica, Cat and Annalise for your care, for ‘pulling’ me up all of those hills, and for filling my days with interesting conversation.
To all of my other fellow riders and TDA staff, thanks you for receiving me so well.
To all of you who sponsored my ride on behalf of our work in Zambia - I thank you.
Linda, Gary, Kim and Kim, Glynn, Rebeccah, Joan and Joan, Muriel, Fay, Tim, Carole, Nicole, Felour, Ken, Tom, Lianne, Jessica - thank you for all you do for www.okazhi.org
Au revoir – until we ride again – may you all pursue your own quests – your own journeys laden with significance. …….
Contact me at billnelems@fastmail.fm if you so choose.
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