Day 63: Karino to Komatiepoort

Said cheers to Gavin and his pets which included Whitey and the awesomely named Zaptronics or Zappy for short. Haha. He had the 2^nd best name I had heard on this trip so far.

And Tappet. This is how a cat supposed to act. Wonder how that cat in Van zylsrus is handling. Agh he was awesome in his own way. I mean how cats not be?

Stay in Karino.

Whitey, Zaptronics and Sweat Pig.

Ill let my beard do the smiling.

The first 20kms of the N4 were done quickly as it was slightly down and pretty straight all the way to Komatiepoort. It was also pleasant because of the valleys I was riding through with the hilly tops all over the place. And the Crocodile river I passed also looked quite nice. And the fields of sugarcane. Man, they looked so delicious. Just wanted to steal me some of that sugary deliciousness. I was also approaching what was a first on my journey. A toll booth. Nothing to worry about. Didn’t have to pay. Stoked. Though I had to pay another way as I got another damn flat tyre. But I was helped out by 2 guys who worked at the toll booth who provided a bucket of water for me to check where the hole was. Much appreciated. Then I was off again.

Get in my belly sugar cane.

Love this name.

Another lovely rive crossing.

Helpful duo at the Toll booth.

And just like that the mountains are gone.

See, this is what makes a dangerous road even more dangerous. The need to capture it in that moment.

It now became quite a dodgy ride in parts as the shoulder as the rode was pretty damn small and there were plenty, and I mean plenty busses and trucks using the road. At one point I actually had to pull off the road for fear of being hit by a bus that I saw was being overtaken by another bus. That was a close one. I knew I had to get off this road asap and I held it together till I finally got to Komatiepooort where I breathed a sigh of relief. I had made it past the near death trap that was the N4. Take note cyclists. The N4 going towards Mozambique is pretty kak on a Saturday.

I had hoped to have a place to stay over in Komatiepoort from this one guy I spoke to at the wedding a few days ago but that didn’t happen. So I eventually ended up staying at the caravan camp park near the entrance of the town. This was after I was rejected by the police for the first time. Sob, sniff, why?!?! By now I had decided that tomorrow I would continue down towards Swaziland instead of heading into Mozambique towards Maputo.

Captain Rubbish?

I really should be getting that place to sleep right now.

Distance 100kms