Last night, we stayed apart from each other, as the big camper with Viki and Viola went to the next bigger city to run errands and my “Africa” bus stopped in the mountains with Sami, Kerstin and me because it was already dark. In the morning, we were rewarded with a wonderfully beautiful panorama of the sunrise – a fitting start for the day as it is Kerstin’s birthday! The sunrise was pretty much her birthday present because we did not really celebrate at all. The days here are always exhausting and stressful. To her great joy, there was also a birthday surprise from Kathi, Claudia, Sari and Veronika for her: a big box with small gifts, chocolate and lots of motivational messages.

Today was characterized by the mountains. Today I set my new altitude record: 5,300 meters in altitude at a distance of 235 kilometers. I have never done so many meters in altitude on the bike in one day! Only with the touring skiers, I managed to get to almost 9,000 vertical meters. I am very curious how I will feel in the coming days after this accomplishment.

But that’s not all, we are also in a new country: Ecuador. It was very easy for me as a cyclist to cross the border. The cars took another two hours, which they had to spend with the formalities. During that time I continued on in the dark until they caught up with me again.

The temperature differences that we experience here are also very exciting. Yesterday, at 600 meters above sea level, we had 41°C. There were cactuses everywhere and the air was as hot as in a sauna. In the morning, we went back into the mountains, where it only had 4°C at the highest point at 3,300 meters! That was also the reason why we drove into the night so late today because I really wanted to come down from this altitude. Now, we are on a gravel place near a big city at just over 1,800 meters above sea level. At this altitude, we sleep better and I can regenerate easier. Of course, as the nights are already short for us, it also matters whether we sleep up in the mountains or down in the valley. Here, it has pleasant 12°C and since it is already well past midnight, we are all going to bed now.