Before today, I would have told you that Greek salad should not contain pineapple. Or apricots. And I also would have told you that only a fool would order Greek salad off an Afrikaans menu in a one-restaurant town in rural South Africa. Turns out I was wrong on both counts. After a hot morning riding along dusty gravel roads through dry scrub and farmlands, South African Greek salad was delicious, especially eaten al fresco and in the company of large format Christmas dolls.

The past two days have been fantastic. A combination of gravel roads winding deep into the countryside, quiet paved country roads and the occasional push on the highway to reach our destination.

The African sky is vast, a deep blue with scattered cumulus clouds that do little to temper the intense dry heat. The mountains of the Western Cape run laterally just to the north of our route and their lightly vegetated and rocky flanks have been a constant companion. The bird life has been amazing: rust colored kestrels, blue cranes with their long fluttering tail feathers, and flycatchers with bright red breasts. And ostriches (on farms) running along beside us! The best wildlife sighting, by far, was a pack of dozens of wild baboons, some massive, loping across a rust colored field. Riding along a dirt road, we noticed what initially looked like big rocks all spring into movement and realized they were baboons, their motion a distinct back and forth rocking that belies their speed. We watched mesmerized until they disappeared into the trees.

We have settled into our bike touring routine. Our bodies are toughening up, bike kinks have been worked out, we’ve figured out that sunscreen needs to be applied in abundance and the kilometers almost melt away as we enjoy full days outside and the unexpected beauty of the world.