A long driving day

We were up at 5.45 this morning ready for a 6.30am breakfast and a 7.15am departure.  It took a while for all of us to settle bar bills and get our breakfast orders in, but we got there eventually.  I had the same as yesterday and Mark went for the avocado toast option.  Both were very good.

We were on the road at the prearranged time and headed back across the narrow strip of land.  Once we were on the other side, we turned inland and drove south.  We were making for our overnight stop - the Acapulco Hotel in Caucasia 500 km away.  It was extremely warm on the truck, even with all the windows open!

Our first stop came at around 10.30am, a quick pause for fuel and toilets.  Ritchie was pleased with the progress we were making.  We stopped again between 12.30 and 1.30pm for lunch.  We just bought drinks as we had the chicken and salad we should have eaten last night.  I also had some no-sugar Greek yoghurt and fresh blueberries.

After lunch, we continued our drive southwards.  The countryside was lush and green with lots of cattle farms and small settlements.  The roads were generally in very good condition, and our old truck coped well with the hills.

We stopped again for toilets about two hours later.  We then continued to make good progress until we were just 70 km from Caucasia.  At this point, we were flagged down and told that the road ahead was closed due to protests.  We would not be able to reach our hotel tonight!  We had no choice but to turn around and try to find a different hotel back up the road we'd just come down!

By this time, it was 6.30pm, and night had fallen suddenly and completely as it does in these parts!  It was pitch black!  However, we got lucky!  Just 25km back along the road, we found a hotel (Estancia) that had rooms available!  Nikki managed to get us all booked into individual rooms.  We were soon able to check in, order food and drink, have showers, and relax.  We were in a brand new room (I think we were the first people to stay in it) with ensuite and air-conditioning.  We weren't that hungry, so we just ordered a portion of French fries each, had a couple of drinks, and went to bed.

It was a good end to the day - especially as we were thinking we might have to wild camp somewhere!Read more