Our first weekend out: the Kalahari Desert Race, featuring Nr 86 Mr Mpho Bowie. And Nr 75 Mr Hamish Bowie tagging along with the other old geezers. To make it to the start in time, we camped in the bush the evening before at bike refuelling point number 1, together with some early South African crew. Hamish organized us a crew pass so we could drive past the huge police force on duty the next morning and park at the pits.
Whether you like racing or not, if you have never seen it before, the pits and the start sure are fascinating! Especially since the officials were very easy-going so we could get really close to our boys at heart and at the start.
Next to the bikes there is a race for factory cars and dessert warriors. After seeing first the cars and then the bikes with Mpho & Hamish start, we went into the bush for The Race part two. Together with Greetje & Arend (who used to race himself) and 5 ‘Terrible Teenagers’ (who actually were very polite & well-behaved) we did our own desert race to find a nice spot somewhere in the bush along the route, to have a braai and see the cars speed by.
Trying to find a good spot along the route proved not to be easy. We got lost, drove around the BDF lands (Botswana Defence Forces), reached a hilltop with a fabulous view and a BDF communications tower, met some army guys who also didn’t know where we should go (luckily they tend to be very relaxed about people driving over their lands despite all the ‘no go area’ signs), and ended up on a dump site. At some point Maud knew where we were: the BDF shooting range in the bush. Not that that was very helpful, cause she had no idea how to get from there to where we wanted be. In the end we did find a nice spot with a shady braai area and a good view of the track.
Sure, we really are interested in the race, really really. It is not about spending a nice day in the bush, having a braai, chatting, reading a book at all.
But come on, the real attraction is the cuties in their cool racing gear, and how much of that do we get to see along the track?
Maud’s Sugah daddy Hamish, ready to race.
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