working backwards; it's been crazy.

 Right now I am in Rwanda in a little cabin in the jungle. It will drop to 12 degrees tonight and the locals are panicked that we might freeze to death. In this room we have a radiator, a fire in the fireplace they have lit and built into a bonfire, 2 heavy down duvets on the bed, extra blankets. I'm roasting, lol. 

Every day since we hit the bikes has been better than the last and that is saying a lot. The people here, my God. The sweetest,happiest folks I have ever met. Children run alongside the bikes and everyone is smiling and waving at us and it's so clean here! There is a mandatory acts of service here for people of age .. Umughanda. On the last Saturday of every month every able bodied citizen 18 to 65 must improve the area through cleanup, planting trees, repairing public structures, clearing bushes... read up on it. It's beautiful. During those 3 hours all shops are closed, no cars are on the road, everyone just makes Rwanda better... and you can tell. It is spotless, no garbage anywhere. The communities are so close socially and so welcoming and proud of their areas.. I could live here. And I am saying this in a room with no water because TIA - this is Africa and something went wrong lol.

there was dancing... we danced.

it's all mountains and valleys and terraced tea plantations and visually moved me to tears.

this is where I'm staying right now.

people in the villages all wave as we pass.

The children are just glorious sweet happy little souls

Our crew.

I guess I should talk about the crew. 

Abbotsford bike show 2022 we met John Ayers of Ayers adventures at a booth. He talked us into coming to Africa with him and I am so glad he did. The impact that man has had on our lives will never be measurable, the gratitude everlasting. This is John today. Happy, laid back, responsible, and such a ridiculously huge heart. He's kind of cool, I guess.

The ride here was up and down mountains over the curviest roads I've ever seen, and at a good, solid pace if you have a death wish. We had a great, exhilarating ride right up until we were nearly ended by a semi truck, at which point I hopped in the van and let Chris carry on with the group. It was the first scare of the trip and really nobody's fault except the semi with failing brakes. 

To get here we crossed the border from Uganda today and that went really well and that is surprising. The borders here are... random. One of our group managed to exit Uganda without entering Rwanda... She just hung out nowhere. They took her back to get her stamp lol. Cool trick though.

 We all just had a wonderful dinner and are really coming together as a group. This is a beautiful things here and I am so lucky to be a part of it.