SOON, A LIFETIME OF TRAVEL

A mix of emotions at Lago Rosa

 

João Rolo arrived at Lago Rosa. The Portuguese flag clung tightly to the bike. His right hand held the arrival trophy and, between the dry mouth and the arid trail that contrasted with the exuberance of that lake, it was still heard, even with a choked voice, the tribute: "From Lago Rosa to you, my friend. Rest in peace!".

"I have arrived. Being there and not celebrating is hard, but I didn't feel like celebrating. It was a lot of sacrifice. I wanted to offer you the arrival. I didn't want to be selfish, but I wanted to have a little bit more of his presence. My biggest and only celebration was to offer the arrival to Armindo.

The rains in the arid desert of Mauritania 

 

It hadn't rained there for about 40 years. A rain that painted green the usual inhospitable, arid, and hostile desert scenery. The "superbloom" of Mauritania, which looked more like a phenomenon of the Chilean Atacama Desert or the North American Mojave, gave a special toast to the passage of this edition of the Africa Eco Race. "Seeing the green desert was unique. It's something rare, it's a gift to admire that different mantle of landscape that we expected", says João Rolo, defining this experience as one of the most remarkable of the race.