Day 27: Rest stop camp to Askham

As I was packing up after breakfast I saw that someone was walking towards me in the distance from across the ground across the road. Finally he arrived and he let me know that he worked on the salt pans in the area. Aha, now I knew what the hell I was looking at from across the road. Didnt know we had salt pans to begin with. Another interesting fact I picked up. We talked a little, well he did mostly, but his attitude was one of general bitterness I would say, plus I think he may have been a little hungover. He wasn’t happy with how he was treated at the farm as a worker which had been for many years. I didn’t know what to say really other than to just sit and listen to his story while I carried on packing. It was just plain terrible I thought. I offered some weak excuse for him to try and get the word out about whatever he was going through, but he didn’t think it would help. Plus I said that not everyone is an asshole like your boss, so don’t fall into the trap about judging people too quickly based on your misfortunes. Hard I know sometimes but its the truth. I was finished packing. So I said farewell and wished that his life changed for the better somehow. I let him have my one water bottle as it was almost empty which he just took for himself when talking to me while I was packing. I couldn’t quite shake the feeling that nothing much had come of that whole encounter other than the fact that he reminded me about the harsh reality that so many people in this county still deal with. I made note not to forget it.

Time to get going.

Looking at the salt pan across the road as the sun was rising.

A gentle decline of cows. I was about to enter Red Meat country.

More salt pans.

Dunno what these guys were doing in the area.

Another rest stop.

Still looking good.

Some bug on a pole.

Getting close.

A couple hours later and totally out of water, I arrived at Askham which is about 15kms south of Botswana. This town is super small. I think it’s the smallest one I had ridden through. I headed towards the ‘main’ area where there was a garage and shop and such and also saw a bunch of guys standing outside their bakkies and 4x4s. I approached them and asked them some questions and we got talking. They were completely blown away after hearing that I had ridden all the way from Cape Town. ‘Junne man, is jy befok?!’ the one said. I couldn’t help but laugh. I guess one has to be a little befok to do something like this. They explained that the road running alongside the Molopo river was terribly sandy so it wasn’t a good idea to take it. Well noted. So that left me with the only other option being the Kuruman River road. I asked about the quality of that and they said it’s alright, pointing to small section of gravel road I had ridden on into town. It was similar to that. Well, that’s doable I thought.  Then another guy came down. He was an actual resident of this place. Can’t remember what he was doing with these people, maybe just filling up some diesel, but long story short I got a place to stay in his guest house. Stoked, again! Said cheers to the bakkie bunch who wished me luck then followed Pieter as was his name back to his place.

He stayed right around the corner behind the ‘Kooperasie’ as I think it is called. He welcomed me in and showed me where I could stay in the guest house which he rents to anyone who comes along and stays in the area but he let me stay for free. As always, bed, shower, creature comforts after 2 days riding is plenty welcome. I cleaned up then took a little walk around to see that place and to take pictures. This place really was quiet and in the middle of nowhere. I would get more answers later.

Creature comforts.

That my place in the back.

Holding my head or taking a picture.

Kalahari lifestyle.

House across the road.

Thats Pieter's place.

Smile.

Where his eggs come from.

Plain and simple yet delightfully colourful.

Glad to be resting in the garden now for a little bit.

 Pieter invited me for coffee just as I had made my own and I found out a little more about him. He was the local handyman who took care of things around the place. At first I thought he was a farmer to be honest. He had that look. Haha. Stereotypical assumptions. Gotta love it. Also found out his brother works near the Augrabies Falls owning a guest lodge I think which I may have ridden past when I was there a few days ago. I think he was also born in Namibia too? After the talk I went to sit in the garden a bit after checking it out. He also had a chicken roost outside so he said don’t bother buying eggs as he had fresh ones from there. I don’t think I actually got any in the end.

In the evening, we were visited by two of his neighbours, Elreze and her friend whom I have forgotten her name. Sorry. I lost my notes much later and with that many of the names of the people I met. Elreze and her friend worked at the KLK Landbou BPK or 'Kooperasie' as she called it. It’s like a general store for all the farmers in the area where they buy stuff like hardware and all sorts of things for livestock and such. They were a friendly bunch who spoke loudly to make as if there were more people they told me as Askham is very, very small. Fair enough. We had a lekker potjie, mine being made separate as I didn’t eat red meat. It was a simple hearty meal that went down well. We also had something called nXaba (not sure about spelling) but it is a vegetable that grows underground like a potato but it has a similar texture and taste of a mushroom. They were all about the size of baby potatoes too. They were washed, peeled then boiled. Then they were cut up a bit before we ate them plain or with aromat. Aromat being the better option.

My hosts for the night.

I realized I was also talking loads of Afrikaans so far on my trip which was fun. Ek praat dit nie by die huis nie, maar ek is bly ek kan meeste van dit verstaan. Meeste, nie alles want daar is baie baie woorde want ek kan nie onthou nie of ken te gebruik waneer ek praat bety keur. Obviously I did it out of courtesy to my guests who were also more than happy to let me speak English if I wanted to. Many times I did just speak in English when I couldn’t convey exactly what I meant in Afrikaans. I must have so butchered that language at times.

Elreze also let me know about a farm I could stay on tomorrow which was about half way to Van Zylsrus. I was happy to hear this. I thanked them all then went to bed, happy with the fact that I had ridden north from Upington. Tomorrow I would head east again.

Distance: 85kms