Johannesburg

Flying out of Europe was tough. As I flew between London and Zurich I
felt like I was moving within a protective bubble where everything was
safe, knowing I'd shortly be bursting out of this into the unknown.

Waking on the plane this morning I looked out at the sunrise and could
see the Zambezi glistening far below and it all looked so beautiful.
I'm now glad I came. Very glad. During breakfast we flew over the
Botswanan Salt pans and I could make out the road I'd be taking in a
couple of weeks running just to their south west. I'd done a lot of
the initial planning of this journey using satelite view on google
maps and felt strangely familiar with the view I was now looking down
upon. I'm also glad to report that the road was, well... very obvious!
There's little chance of getting lost, at least on this stretch. The
salt pans were vast, really vast! There was quite a bit of water in
the centre of the bigger parts too. I wonder if this means a chance of
spotting flamingos when I pass?

Now passing into South African airspace and the terrain is becoming
more folded, I expect this will come as a pleasant change after riding
the monotony of the Kalahari. Starting our descent to J'burg now,
getting quite bumpy, probably just my bike exploding in the hold!

Sent remotely