What do you really feel inside your body when, after a year and more than 30,000km on a bike, you reach your goal?

It's a good question that we even had the opportunity to practice. 

When we arrived at Cape Agulhas, Africa's southernmost point, in brilliant sunshine and wind in the hair, the smiles were big and spirits high. But although Cape Agulhas marked the achievement of cycling from Europe's northernmost point to Africa's southernmost point, it was not the final goal of our trip. The real goal has a much better and more colloquial name, Cape of Good Hope! Therefore, Agulhas was a dress rehearsal for us and our feelings about ending the adventure. 

The dress rehearsal

Cape Agulhas is a very raw and beautiful place. It is the point where the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic Ocean. Rough rocks form the coastline between the fine fynbos plants and the azure sea. A wooden footbridge leads to the small monument, where we could park the bikes and climb up to pose for a nice photo, taken by the nearest tourist with a big camera. 

And what did we feel? What stirred in the body and mind? What words were lined up to express the feat? 

The answer, honestly, is that it was hard to feel anything. An emptiness reigned in the space that should have been filled with flower-wrapped words. We sat on a bench and peeled a carrot while looking out over the sea. 

From Agulhas, the last 500km lay west of us, to our final destination. We must use the last days on the bike to reflect, so that we are better equipped for an emotional outburst at the Cape of Good Hope!

Trust in the world. But not blind trust

We always talk to locals about our route. Partly to get good input for exciting places, but also to check if security is ok. 

And here, just a few hundred kilometers before the finish line, it is the first time we encounter a safety obstacle. Cape Flats. 

All the South Africans we have spoken to tell us that we are not allowed to cycle through this area, which is actually a large township, with approximately 1.5 million inhabitants, or well over a third of Capetown's total population. 

The entire Cape Flats is divided into different neighborhoods. The largest is Khayelitsha with almost 400,000 residents. 

The neighborhoods are divided between black and colored Africans. Actually, we think that it is all very reminiscent of the cities that we have seen thousands of throughout West Africa. But we hear again and again that crime in the Cape Flats is huge. And out of control. Murders are committed daily. Gangs rival. Extortion and robbery are big industries. It's a hard life for most people who live here, regardless of whether you have a job or not. 

Although we mostly want to insist on the good in people, and not let ourselves be cowed, we of course take the only sensible solution, to cycle around a big loop. We know that there are more good ordinary people with peaceful intentions than there are criminals living in the Cape Flats. But the frequency and degree of violence make it a foolish project to want to prove the good in people. 

Arrival in Cape Town

The decision means a detour of a few days, north of Capetown, where we can cycle along a less dangerous road. The iconic Table Mountain, the city's landmark, towers over the horizon with its completely flat top. Again, we feel in our whole body how close the end of the trip is.

The detour takes us right past our good friends, Mikkel and Janine's house, where we will stay for the last days before we go home. So of course we take a break by their pool while we prepare for the final stretch. 

Mikkel works with interventions in slum areas in Africa. Janine with sustainable trade. We couldn't dream of a better end to our trip than being with really good friends. And even friends who have as passionate thoughts about Africa as ourselves. And a huge knowledge. We have many good talks where we try to understand more of this amazing continent. At the same time, we have golden moments with Tessa, Felix and Mila. Mikkel and Janine's three children, each of whom are the coolest, cutest, funniest nuggets of gold.

Ubuntu

Suddenly the end is near. It starts to tingle in the body. We don't want to go home. We already miss the adventure, although it is definitely not over yet. But Capetown is a modern metropolis with everything the heart could desire, and we find ourselves sitting in cafes in freshly bought clothes while sipping cappuccinos. But we miss the wildness of West Africa. We try to close our eyes and see street scenes from the Congo for our inner gaze. Children at the pump in the villages. Pots over an open fire. Smashed cars bumping over bumpy dirt roads jammed with people. But most of all we miss the presence. If there is one thing we have learned in Africa, it is the enormous strength of community. It is an understanding that slowly creeps into the body when you spend a long time in Africa, and surrenders. The feeling of never being alone forces one to let go of the ego and instead take on the community. It's beautiful once you understand it. To do everything for the good of everyone, rather than for one's own gain. To share everything. To respect and help each other. In South Africa they call it Ubuntu. It is a good word that we will remember. 

A person is only a person, by virtue of other people. 

Limited freedom of movement

From the pool in Mikkel and Janine's garden, we can see the clouds drifting over the cliff side of Table Mountain, like a large waterfall in cotton wool. Tessa, Mikkel and Janine's youngest, calls it a "Cloudfall". She speaks fluent English after they have lived here for a year. All three children quickly adapt to the new reality in Africa. But as Mikkel and Janine say, the family lives in a bubble here. Like all whites in Capetown.

During apartheid, the whites in South Africa built a mental prison for themselves. They wanted the power and the money and the only way they could find out to do that was by oppressing the black and colored in the ugliest way. Since then, the whites have lived in fear of their countrymen. We still don't understand why the whites don't apologize once and for all for the terrible things their ancestors did so that the slate can be wiped clean. Instead, they cage themselves behind barbed wire and security guards to protect the wealth they have built on apartheid. But we can understand that they are afraid. 80% of the population is black or colored. Only 16% is white. 

For Mikkel, Janine and the children, this means that the children must be driven to everything by car. At school, for gymnastics, for Ukulele, for playdates. No whites walk or cycle very far in Capetown. This means that when you get your first boyfriend, there is no chance of keeping it a secret from your parents!

We walk and cycle around a bit ourselves. A few times we can feel that we are approaching the edge of the areas in which we cannot move freely. A young man with a gang tattoo on his face wants to talk to us. He's out on parole, so he doesn't want to make trouble, but tries soft blackmail: 

"You're probably afraid to take your wallet out of your pocket so I can see how many notes you have in it". 

We shake him off after some time. It's not our first day in Africa, so we can commit. But we can also feel why we have to stick to the safe areas. Why not just cycle around as you see fit. 

School trip to the Cape Flats

One of Mikkel's good friends is a school inspector at a school on the Cape Flats. He asks if we want to come out to the school and tell the students about our journey through Africa. Of course we would like that. If we can help give hope and dreams to children in a tough area, that will be fantastic. 

Ox picks us up and tells us on the way out to school that he usually calls the gatekeeper in advance so that they can keep the gate open when he arrives. It's too dangerous to keep outside and wait. When we arrive, we are a few hours later on it than he usually is. Therefore, we are out of the rush hour traffic. Ox points to broken glass on the road and says: 

"It's from this morning". 

When people stop at the red lights in the morning, young criminals come and smash the car windows to steal money and phones. If you are not quick to give up your valuables, you risk being shot. 

Inside the gate, the school is like a little piece of paradise, in the middle of the tough slum area. It is clean and tidy here, and everyone smiles and laughs. Both children and adults. It is clearly a safe place where you can let go of your worries. 

The children are very sweet, and we will each have 3 children with whom we will form a reading group. We get a book, sit in a circle and read aloud together. After that, we join dance lessons and get high fives from the children when we dare to throw ourselves into cool moves. However, it is nothing against what the children themselves can do. Each and every one of them could win a talent show in Denmark without problems. 

Before we have to give our lecture, the whole school gathers in the church. It is a Friday meeting point, and there is loud and beautiful singing. Everyone claps and dances. The songs are usually only one verse, which is repeated over and over again in a gospel style. It is a great physical experience, and we are both completely carried away by the intense atmosphere. Visiting a Danish church service will never be the same again. 

In a classroom, around 40 students and the school's teachers have settled in as we switch on the projector and show pictures from the journey. Ox has prepared us well:

"Just make a good start, and there will probably be lots of questions". 

And sure enough, we are constantly bombarded with good, funny, observant questions for a little hour. We try to focus on the trust between people and hope that maybe we planted a little sprout in the youth. Imagine if these children, instead of crime, could get a job and live a safe and peaceful life. 

On the way out of the gate, Ox casually tells us that a man was shot on the road while we were inside the school. We don't believe our own ears. Did he mean today? Or yesterday? Or last week? Or was it actually now while we were inside the school?

The fact is that about two people are shot a day in the Cape Flats. We look at the small houses and tin sheds, through the rolled-up car windows, on our way back to the center of Capetown. 

Exciting visit on the last leg of the trip

After a few days with Mikkel and Janine, we get on the bikes for the final triumphal ride, towards the Cape of Good Hope. 

On the way, we will visit exciting people whom we have been looking forward to meeting for a long time. 

Jørn Stjerneklar is married to Helle Maj. They live in Hout Bay. A small town on the way to the Cape of Good Hope. We have written to them and introduced ourselves and Helle and Jørn have invited us to lunch. 

Jørn has written a fantastic book: "The heart does not forget what the eye has seen". A harsh and loving account of Africa. Jørn has lived and worked in Africa for 40 years as a photojournalist. He has been in many of the conflict areas while they were in the dark. But that has not extinguished his love for Africa, for its people. He writes dazzlingly about it all in his book. And about the love for Helle. 

When we read the book, which was published just before we left Denmark, we already knew that we would try to contact them. 

We had a bottle of wine with us and the conversation went cheerfully and effortlessly over home-baked Danish rye bread and good cheese. 

Helle Maj has also written a book that we are looking forward to reading: "The Black Widow". About the murder of a Dane in South Africa.

All in all, the two have a nose for good stories in Africa, and it is a huge recommendation from here to read their books. 

We left Helle and Jørn very late in the afternoon, drunk and bubbly, not only from the wine, but to a large extent from all the fantastic stories they told from a life in Africa. 

Later that evening we arrived at Søren Bendixen and his wife Jannie's. Søren is Africa correspondent for DR. 

Even before we stepped through the door, a bottle of wine was ready on the table here, too. And the interesting talks continued well into the late hours. Søren had completely different and really interesting perspectives on Africa. 

The next day we took the whole family to the beach, where there was a competition in lifesaving. A sport we had no idea existed. A large crowd of very young boys and girls, with perfectly chiseled torsos, competed in running, swimming, paddle boarding, etc. It's the only sport we've ever heard of that actually has a good purpose. In order to compete, one must fulfill one's duty with a number of hours of lifesaving per month. Sport with social contribution in a country that needs lifeguards in their cold shark-infested waters. And oh well - the seals in the area have probably got rabies, so you have to be extra careful when you bathe. 

The long-awaited ending

Two quick hours on the bike in the morning light brought us the last kilometers down to the terminus. Now! Finally! Could we see the Cape of Good Hope rock formation emerging, against the azure background of the Atlantic Ocean. It is an amazingly beautiful sight. Still unreal. But the whole body was overwhelmed with joy at the sight. 

We rode the bikes to the legendary sign, parked up against it and climbed onto the sign so we could take the symbolic photo that a long journey has come to an end. 

The joy bubbled in both of us and even though a fight and a bad atmosphere almost developed in the long queue of tourists to have their picture taken at the sign, nothing could take the pride of the moment away from us. 

We knew there would be no confetti or fanfare. But there were plenty of curious tourists who asked us to tell our story and who congratulated us on our achievement. It gave a little goosebumps to tell stories and a nice perspective on what we have just achieved. 

A romantic twist

After some time we put the bikes away. We walked up the rock face a bit and found a ledge to sit on, away from the crowd. 

As we leaned into each other, we talked about how the trip has affected us. How the last time has brought us close together. There have of course been hard times along the way, but we have managed to solve the conflicts together and show each other that our love is greater. 

With the Cape of Good Hope as witness, Kenneth got down on one knee and asked Marie if she wanted to get married. 

It was a Yes!

And so one adventure ended, while another can now begin. 

We are back in Capetown where we celebrate every day. We are celebrating that we have cycled 30,641km from the North Cape to the Cape of Good Hope. We celebrate that we are together. And we celebrate that we are getting married. 

Soon we will be home again

Everyday life has started to take its toll, so while we're exploring Capetown, we're answering messages from home. Job offers are coming. We are working on a new lecture, which is already taking shape. Articles and interviews are offered and arranged. We pack up our bikes. And we enjoy the last time with our good friends Mikkel and Janine. In the meantime, we are processing what we have experienced and what we have learned from cycling from Cape to Cape.