Day 31: Road camp to road camp

As I was lying in my tent that morning before getting up, I overheard somebody walking past who shouted, ‘Time to get up’. He was right. I had been spotted and my position had been compromised. (What, you think you on a covert op or something now?) Now camping alone in the middle of nowhere isn’t exactly a 100% safe when you think about it. But when you really start to think about it, it’s about 99.9% safe.(Objection,speculation) Being close to the middle of nowhere drastically reduces the chances that somebody else is around, and even less chance that, that specific someone would cause you trouble. I’m sure that makes sense.

When my day really starts. After a nice hot cuppa.

Nearing the end of the soft sandy patch. If I'd just cycled instead of stopping and taking all these damn photos, maybe I wouldnt have been stuck in this place for so long. I did it for you guys.

Hot-as-hell! Damn right!

The day was much the same as yesterday and I was glad to be off the sandy section. I also passed the farm I was told about. I was now headed in the direction of McCarthys Rest border post into Botswana. A couple kms before it I came across a lodge where I went in to ask for some water. I didn’t see anyone at the main house so walked somewhat towards to garage area where I heard some people and noises. I walked to the one opening of the garage after seeing a cow carcass I think being cut up. It was on its back, stripped of its skin with its legs cut off at the knees. Can’t be sure it was a cow honestly, as it had no head. It may have been some other buck from a hunt that had just taken place. So I met another bunch of guys and they pointed me in the direction of the house entrance. I was met by a woman who handled the appointments and such regarding bookings for hunters and whoever comes and stays at their lodge. I refilled some water, which she made sure was ice cold and used the bathroom to clean myself a bit. I asked about a shop at the border post but was told it was closed plus, it s not even open everyday. Something about it being open every other day or maybe even once a week only. Wow, I really was far from civilization. Haha. But I lucked out when I found out that she herself ran a little shop for the people who worked for her. Sweet. Bought the usual canned food plus something I hadn’t had in ages. Plain white bread. I thanked her and headed off. Plus I learned that ‘gens bos’ was Afrikaans for border post. A little ‘aha’ moment I went through while talking to the lady earlier which I won’t bother going into.

Rest stop before I bought some bread.

The bread was sooooo good. Just by itself with water. I could have eaten the whole loaf. I really was sick of rice and lentils by now. It was bread during the day from here on out. I got to McCarthys Rest after seeing the shop closed as was told. I filled up some water and saw Botswana just ahead of me. This was the closest I had been to that country. Almost felt like going in seeing as there was a tarred road right from the start but I decided against it. I would be going into Botswana shortly. I headed back into SA for an hour or two before deciding to find a place to camp. I tried this one farm house but there was no one there. Damn, I thought. So I went on. Eventually I just camped beside the road again next to the fence of a game farm and another one across the road.

Botswana to my left for a little bit.

Totally getting burned.

Random species of buck from where I was camping.

Although it was nothing but dry and dusty riding these last few days, I did enjoy seeing the random species of buck here and there. Eland, kudu, springbok, impala etc. And at the end of every day I also had the joy of seeing a beautiful African sunset taking place over the bush. As much as I tried, I just couldn’t capture those colours on my camera. You will just have to get out there and see it for yourself.

Distance 70kms

Day 30: Van Zylsrus to road camp

I returned the key and said thanks again for the awesome place to stay. I also got to see some of the inside of the hotel which had some interesting décor. Well worth a look if you in the area and need a place to stay. I had planned to ride to a place called Severn but while buying some food, I was swayed by the owner of the one café plus a customer who was a farmer in the area. I had explained how I wanted to be border riding as much and close as feasibly possible, so the other option was to head up to via the McCarthys Rest border post as apparently there was fokall to see in Severn. Plus the farmer gave me the name of his farm in case I needed a place to stay when and if I came to it. I thanked them then left.

Cheers little wooden lodge.

Cheers to the guy who let me stay in his lodge. Too much flash, I know.

The road out of Van Zylsrus was brick laden for a couple of meters which lightened my heart. Were my gravel days over? Could it be? Alas, my optimism was shattered as gravel roaded reality hit in. Boo. I did reach 2000kms shortly after leaving so that was major highlight. Shit! 2000kms! That’s pretty far I thought. I reckoned I was 1/3 through with my trip. How wrong I was. My front gear switch also decided to give me problems all of a sudden. I couldn’t change down from the middle gear to the bottom one. I thought it was proper bust plus being out in the middle of nowhere, who the hell could help me. Wasn’t a big deal really. I could still ride. I just had to manually pull the chain over onto the lower gear. Plus it later came right itself, much much later, to my relief.

A nice little milestone.

Leap you say? No hills in this area. Maybe a deep hole somewhere.

Loads of these cattle loading docks in this area.

So about 52kms later I came to a turn off heading north which took me over the Kuruman river bed. I was now on a stretch towards the farm I was told about. I only managed about 25kms on this little stretch so never made it there that day. This bloody section of the road I was told was supposed to be quite decent. For a bakkie or 4x4 yes, but a cyclist, nope. There were many many soft sandy sections requiring me to push my bike through. I would always try my best to peddle as hard as possible because the speed helped but I slowed down quite quickly, then it was a case of gear shifting down as quickly as possible to avoid breaking the chain before I just came to a stop. I eventually just decided to push through any sections to avoid chain damage plus the rage that built up over the constant failure to ride over the sand parts. I found a big enough space to camp on the side of the road and called it a day.

Crossing the Kuruman River bed. A spectacular non event if ever there was one.

Cow strutting it's stuff.

Could go no further.

Distance 75kms

Day 29: Eensaamkasteel to Van zylsrus

Got ready quickly in the morning and said goodbye to the one family who was there including the guy I was supposed to meet yesterday. The road was pretty much the same as yesterday though about 10kms longer. Gravel, dust, and more sandy sections etc. Dont forget hot.

The family who saw me off.

The farm house which was unoccupied.

This is what an extra 10kms looks like.

I think my expression says it all.

Alone yes, but not feeling lonely. Which is a very good thing in these parts.

Shade. Where its only very slightly less hot.

I reached Van Zylsrus and I immediately thought, ‘wow this place appears smaller than Askham.’ I didn’t care, I just needed a place to stay. I went in and after a bit of rejection or two I met the owner of the Van Zylsrus hotel. I had asked him if it was possible that I could just pitch my tent on a piece of grass I saw outside in the back. That was a no. We talked a bit about my trip and the upcoming roads for a while before he just let me stay for free in one of his lodges just outside town. Sweet. So he gave me the key and I had to back track a bit before turning in through a gate and pushing my bike a bit through some red sand before I arrived at the lodge . It was awesome!

Time to relax indeed.

On the way to sweet lodgy relaxing.

It overlooked the entire area I had just ridden through which was nice to see from an elevated view. It was beautiful! Vast open spaces of red ground peppered with thorn trees. I couldn’t believe I had lucked out like this at the end of the day. The lodge was a wooden one with all the basic creature comforts and a bunk bed. I cooked myself a fat chow of rice and canned pilchards again before enjoying the setting sun. Did I say it was beautiful. It was! I had told the owner that I would maybe go back for a drink after I had settled in but it appears I settled in quite a bit so didn’t bother going out.

This 1. Tent 0.

To the left.

To the right.

Island style.

The whole shebang. View was serene.

I was pleased though a little confused to see that a cat had made itself known to me on the outside porch. Quite a fluffy one too. I wandered who it belonged to and where it stayed as there was no one else in the area in the other few lodges. Then I saw there was a bag of cat food and a bowl outside on the porch also. Must come with the lodge. Feed cat please. So I did and it ate itself full. Cats are interesting animals cause they mainly all about themselves. I wanted to pet it but it just hissed at me. Fine, screw you too animal. Plus for some reason it wouldn’t come inside. It would just sit right outside the door looking in. It was then time to sleep and I closed the door with the cat still outside, as it was now becoming quite a chilly night. Dunno how that cat manages to survive the cold but it did.

Asshole. Still, he was awesome.

Fine, stay out in the cold. Im sure the cold suits your cold heart.

Distance 80kms

Day 28: Askham to Eensaamkasteel

So I left Askham looking forward to staying on a farm called Eensaamkasteel. Took my time as it was super hot once again, plus you generally just ride a little slower on the gravel roads. The scenery was pretty sparse being bushveld with thorn trees scattered throughout. I could also see the Kuruman river bed to my left.

Pretty much what I had to look forward to for the next couple of days.

I was now back on gravel road for the next part of my journey which would be the next few days as I was to find out. I’m not going to describe the roads much for this section of the trip as they were pretty much the same. In general they were pretty flat which was decent enough plus every now and then it would be peppered with bumpy bits and occasionally softer sandy sections. Either way, it was doable on a mountain bike, just at a speed less than on a tarred road. The other thing one must get used to is the dust that blows into you whenever a car drives past. Most times you will get right in the thick of the dust cloud but other times if there is a slight side wind blowing you can get on the correct side of the road while the dust blows away completely missing you. Those are the somewhat cons of gravel roads. The upside of gravel roads especially this section of the country is that there is very little traffic so it was way safer compared to the more used tarred roads. Some days, the amount of cars that drove past were less than ten.

Pretty vast hey.

I was also pleasantly surprised when shortly after I left, I was offered some refreshment from two kind ladies in their bakkie who were passing by. I think the can of fruit juice was already being handed to me before the bakkie came to a stop. Take note people who offer adventurers anything. Fruit juice or non alcoholic drinks is always the better option over beer. Then again it depends on the adventurer. We talked a bit and they said they had heard of my trip I was doing. Really I thought. Who from? Doesn’t really matter. They were prolly joking I think. So off they went leaving me with my extra bit of supplies and some zesty energy thanks to their passing kindness.

Lovely ladies who gave me some additional sustenance for the road.

Entrance to one of countless game farms

I was told Eensaamkasteel was about half way to Van Zylsrus which was perfect, as I would be riding there tomorrow so a decent halfway point is always a good thing. I arrived there after about 70kms with the remaining 80kms to do tomorrow. Before actually arriving I was met by a farmer or game ranch family who were returning from a shop in Upington and asked where I was off to. I told them, and they assured me it was close by. I finally arrived and I was quite tired after this little trek.

Why aren't you a permament river Kuruman?

I had thought for some reason that I would be staying in the actual farm house. (Hahahah, fool!, laughs the ghost of optimism). This turned out not to be the case. There was no one staying in the main house so I eventually went to where I was hearing music in the distance and met some of the farm workers where they were staying. I think it was a bit of a shock for them to see me as they had no idea I coming. I told them my whole story saying this had been arranged for me somehow so is it cool, if I can just pitch my tent somewhere. Seeing as this wasn’t their property they had to get permission from the actual owner and confirm my story. They called the guy and after another call I think, I got the go ahead. I was supposed to meet another guy here who Elreze from Askham knew, but it turned out he was now in Askham. So I was shown to a place to camp. I was quite tired by now and all I wanted to do was rest. I was also helped by a friendly guy who was a little bit drunk so I did my best to tolerate him even though he was quite talkative, and I was relieved to see him return to his house so I could just lie down. I was covered in dried sweat and dust and got ready for bed. It would turn out to be a cold night. But I saw plenty stars because I was peeing plenty as always. Yay, more interrupted sleep.

Camp at Eensaamkasteel.

Distance 70kms

Map of days 13-27 overview.

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