Day 32: Road camp to Vorstershoop

I was now determined to get to Vorstershoop once I got going. If anything, just to try and get a shower somewhere. Based on my map book, I soon passed into the North West province. Thought I would see a signboard to take a picture but no such luck. It was a sign of things to come. See that I did there?

I came to a fork in the road where I paused to work out which way to go. I consulted my mapbook. Man, I wished they had more signs in this place. I took the left. It was the right choice. Going right would have been the wrong (ok stop now, we get it) choice and would have taken me to Severn.

Little bit of action happening in the sand there.

About an hour later I saw that the road now ran through a gate. This appeared strange. Was this the end of the road being that it just took me to a farm plot or something. Luckily it was just a gate and I was told by some farm workers that I was on the right track to Vorstershoop. Yay, I thought.

I was also met by a passing boer in his bakkie called Alec who told me to ask for a guy called Tian when I get to Vorstershoop. Alec said he knows him and that Tian must give me a place to stay. Awesome. I had a place to stay. I said cheers for the info as he drove off.

I then came to an intersection where there was a community church building, which was recently built, compared to all the other worn down houses, in an area called Radnor. The name wasn’t in my map book and I couldn’t help but think with a name like Radnor, this place belongs somewhere in Middle Earth. But I was lucky enough to see a sign that said Vorstershoop turning left so I pushed on for the last 40kms to Vorstershoop. Along the way I also saw Alec again.

Radnor. Most happening place in middle earth.

Just look how that pipe is happening.

Like cow like calf.

I arrived at Vorstershoop pretty tired and was surprised to see that this town was even smaller than Van Zyslrus. Way, way smaller. It was basically comprised of a cell tower, a police station, a bottle store, a general dealer store, a petrol pump and a few houses. That’s it. If there is something else, I missed it. Plus I was met by a couple donkeys on the outskirts of the town.

Who needs a gun when you got mind bullets ey?

At last!!!

I was now on a mission to found Tian. I went to the store and asked for him and was directed to his home which was just behind the shop. Now at first I thought this was just going to be a little store seeing as this was quite a small place, but I was surprised to find that it was quite decently stocked. So I collected my jaw off the floor and went to Tian’s house. I was met by super thin dog that looked like a mini greyhound but it turns out it is a windhond. He was super friendly, so I went inside after knowing that fact and knocked on the door. Tian opened up and I told him my story. Especially the part where Alec the boer told me to tell Tian to give me a place to stay. Funny thing is Tian didn’t know who Alec was. Eish I thought. This was falling apart quickly. My next plan of attack was to ask for a tiny patch of grass in his garden. He was skeptical at first, for valid reasons. I was a complete stranger. But he said it was fine and I got to unloading my things. Now when listening to Tian I really had to concentrate, as he was speaking in what can only be described as a very sloshy Afrikaans style with a bit of pace. I gathered that he had a bit to drink before hand. No matter, I made out what he said well enough to converse with him. It was almost like a different dialect of Afrikaans and it was actually quite awesome when I think about it. Thank god I paid enough attention to it while growing up or I would have been lost. The other awesome thing was that he also told me his dog’s name. It was Tampon. Boom! And just like that I had met, in the middle of nowhere, in a little town called Vorstershoop, the dog with what was the coolest most unforgettable name I had ever heard. Tampon would retain the crown for the rest of the trip. I couldn’t help but wonder if I should call my next dog, Condom for some reason.

Pleasure to meet you Tampon. Flippen awesome dog he is.

So while I was slowly unloading my bike and entertaining Tampon, Tian came back and said he actually had a guest room I could stay in. Boom! He admitted he wasn’t thinking clearly a few moments earlier so he changed his mind. I thanked him and took my stuff in. It was a flippen awesome room. The whole house was to be honest, which he was still busy adding some finishing touches.

Boom! Make yourself at home.

Enjoying the afternoon fire.

After showering the last 3 days of sweat and dust off my body, I went outside to chat with Tian a bit. He had also invited one of his friends or workers over which he jokingly admitted to being for security reasons in case I turned out to be a killer. Haha. Well played Tian. Well played. They were a friendly bunch I gotta say. Tian said this was how the people were like here in the Kalahari, friendly. Was good to hear. Then he went to bed early after telling his friend to just show me around the kitchen for when I wanted to make supper a little bit later. After that his friend said cheers too. It was good to be in Vorstershoop.

One more of Tampon.

Distance 70kms