People with Donkeys used to transport heavy loads.
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Gaels in Mozambique.
- Thread starter Drumacoon Lad.
- Start date
School children...
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More happy kids...
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My trip South from Hlotse to Semonkong was uneventful and a chance to enjoy all the challenges of Lesotho roads. I was stopped by 2 check points - the first of which saw me extract my drivers license from my wallet (it’s going to be repositioned!) and invited me to buy him breakfast, which invitation I declined with a smile. The second asked me where I was headed and when I told him said: ‘It’s very cold there!’
A few snaps, hopefully not duplicated Jim’s artistry
A junior Basuro cowboy rounding up outside our lodging
En route
A couple of friendly characters Jim and I met when we hiked this afternoon . We felt the lack of wellies over the boggy ground
Wonderful terrain to walk
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A few snaps, hopefully not duplicated Jim’s artistry
A junior Basuro cowboy rounding up outside our lodging
En route
A couple of friendly characters Jim and I met when we hiked this afternoon . We felt the lack of wellies over the boggy ground
Wonderful terrain to walk
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People plowing with 4 cattle.
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A pretty waterfall and another great view.
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Finally I had to stop to take it all in.
Simon and left UK some days ago to, travel via 2 very different routes, with a plan meet at Semonkong today and arrived within 30 mins of each other.
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Simon and left UK some days ago to, travel via 2 very different routes, with a plan meet at Semonkong today and arrived within 30 mins of each other.
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And a pleasant conclusion to the day, amidst a nocturnal thunderstorm, to have a wood fire in our rondavel
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Brings back memories. I went to school in Upington and spent most of my time in the SAAF at Bloemfontein. Sister lives in Windhoek. Namibia is one of my favourite countries to visit.
Pleased to hear that tanneman. Yes, I enjoy Namibia and I'm making up a few contacts around Windhoek. Didn't see much of Upington but served me well for an overnight stay. Parking in the hotel foyer is never bad.
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Si after a night of intense rain we had the fun of crossing the river…already washing over the bridge
We made it up the rocky track from the Lodge to the easy terrain…where I quickly discovered:
1. The combination of dual purpose rear tyres and my limited skills were poorly suited to fresh deep mud
2. The 800 GS loaded is bloody heavy!
Fortunately and as ever in Africa I had lots of little helpers on the spot
My Kriega on the crash bars took most of the impact and now look properly muddy
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We made it up the rocky track from the Lodge to the easy terrain…where I quickly discovered:
1. The combination of dual purpose rear tyres and my limited skills were poorly suited to fresh deep mud
2. The 800 GS loaded is bloody heavy!
Fortunately and as ever in Africa I had lots of little helpers on the spot
My Kriega on the crash bars took most of the impact and now look properly muddy
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The massive storm overnight had made this road out of the lodge more challenging and there was considerable wet mud in places. The good news from Simons bad luck was that he was was fine, as was the bike. Once we got to the tar road we were both ready for the wonderful road back to the Lesotho capital, Maseru. The road is at a high altitude, varing from 1,700 meters up to 2,750 with wonderful corners. Today, like yesterday, the road had suffered with wash from the mountains, of mud and stones and therefore a totally absorbing ride.
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I think it's fair to say that this pebble, on a corner, is not covered by the term "wash". It wasn't there yesterday, so must have fallen onto the road overnight. Happily we negotiated it safely.
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Again the locals carried on life along the road, briefly snapped by my head cam as we speeded past. Wheelbarrows featured quite a bit, with one kid having a rest from wheeling his heavy load uphill and the other two finding a good place for a sit down.
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This lady didn't have a wheelbarrow but was still able to transport a large timber log.
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We stopped for a moment to catch our breath and climbed up to take in the scenery. After taking this photo I turned around and below me was this wonderful valley. It had a village of rondavels, a herd of cattle, a shepherd tending sheep and all surrounded by a river. Quite a beautiful pastoral scene.
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Having reached Maseru we fought our way through the Saturday traffic. One heart in the mouth moment, was when a young lad decided to dash in front of me and was lucky I missed him. We reached the border and were through in 10 minutes. We'd like all African borders to be like this please.
Once in SA we headed north and began making good time. The roads were pretty flat and good stretches for keeping up the pace. It was cloudy and some of the clouds were dark. This resulted in a stop to put on waterproofs and then the heavens opened with a few bolts of lightening to boot. One bolt crackled to our left and immediatly came the thunder. It was close but lightening could never hit a speeding 250cc motorbike, would it? After 2 of these storms and more dark clouds around, we stopped and found accommodation for the night.
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Once in SA we headed north and began making good time. The roads were pretty flat and good stretches for keeping up the pace. It was cloudy and some of the clouds were dark. This resulted in a stop to put on waterproofs and then the heavens opened with a few bolts of lightening to boot. One bolt crackled to our left and immediatly came the thunder. It was close but lightening could never hit a speeding 250cc motorbike, would it? After 2 of these storms and more dark clouds around, we stopped and found accommodation for the night.
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Our plan was to keep heading North East towards Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and see how we got on. Our deal (between Jim and myself) is we won’t hammer on against some self imposed deadline when we’d be better off stopping.
For that reason we spent a lot of time debating our transit into Mozambique and decided to move back our hotel booking in Maputo by a day, so that we could handle the impending bad weather sensibly . (Normally we would not book ahead anyway but in order to get a Moz visa on arrival we nenes to show proof of an accommodation booking).
That proved a good decision because as we exited one thunderstorm and at 4 pm headed towards the next town, which carried dark and threatening over it - we stopped and said almost simultaneously “Shall we stop here and find a BnB?”.
That town was Bethlehem (Free State province) and fortunately there was room at the inn
(if not power, as there was load shedding in action until 6.30).
So at our advanced ages we are learning discretion over valour, and tomorrow promises to be a sunny ride cross country to the wonderfully named Piet Retief (look him up, a Voortrekker and influential boor who came to a grisly end at the hands of Dingaan). And if it goes well we may end the day in Eswatini
.
And we’ll start the day well fortified with our breakfast just purchased at the filling station around the corner.
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For that reason we spent a lot of time debating our transit into Mozambique and decided to move back our hotel booking in Maputo by a day, so that we could handle the impending bad weather sensibly . (Normally we would not book ahead anyway but in order to get a Moz visa on arrival we nenes to show proof of an accommodation booking).
That proved a good decision because as we exited one thunderstorm and at 4 pm headed towards the next town, which carried dark and threatening over it - we stopped and said almost simultaneously “Shall we stop here and find a BnB?”.
That town was Bethlehem (Free State province) and fortunately there was room at the inn
(if not power, as there was load shedding in action until 6.30).So at our advanced ages we are learning discretion over valour, and tomorrow promises to be a sunny ride cross country to the wonderfully named Piet Retief (look him up, a Voortrekker and influential boor who came to a grisly end at the hands of Dingaan). And if it goes well we may end the day in Eswatini
.And we’ll start the day well fortified with our breakfast just purchased at the filling station around the corner.
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Having just listened to Ireland beating South Africa at rugby this evening, I think we'll be trying that bit harder to get out of the country tomorrow. I wonder if the Ireland sticker in my bike will get some attention.
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It was a cracker of a game and we are (deservedly) #1 in the world so make sure you wear green tomorrow and ensure that all the Boks see the sticker.
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