23-29 November 2010 - SA, Zimbabwe and Botswana

November 23
Got to Nelspruit okay, met a biker from Joburg there. We spent yesterday riding around the spectacular Blyde River Canyon, the eucalyptus and pine forests around Graskop, Sabie, and Hazyview. 

Blyde River Canyon

We stayed in a tropical forest last night and cooked up a classic braai; and slung on the biggest chunk of cow I have ever seen onto a big grille! Took us an hour to get the damp forest wood alight. Had to pull some fuel out of the bikes to get it going! 

Heading for Musina tonight, will cross border to Zimbabwe tomorrow. Plan is to race up to Bulawayo the next day.

Nov 26, 2010
Zimbabwe started of very bleak coming through from SA. Was repeatedly warned not to stop at the roadside! Through desperation, people have resorted to crime. Real pity, Zimbabwe folk otherwise generally have a great reputation in southern Africa as smart, hardworking, polite, peaceful people. However Bulawayo (Zimbabwe 2nd city) was a revelation; it was very organised, clean, charming, and seemingly prosperous. Outside of SA, it is the most impressive city I visited, in respect of above. 

Bulwayo

Today I saw a farmer taking a roadside power nap at wheel of his tractor. He had no red triangle to warn other drivers of this obstacle, so he stacked 3 (red) cans of coke instead. African ingenuity, Zimbabwe consideration! 

The shops are well stocked, restaurants serve good food. So different to what I expected; I picked up muesli (for sustenance) at border in SA! 

Spent yesterday in the bizarre granite boulder landscape of Matopos, where Cecil Rhodes chose to be buried. Today I rode to Victoria falls. Can hear the roar, can't wait to see it tomorrow. Will probably leave day after for Botswana.

Balancing rocks at Matopos, these ancient natural monuments can be seen in various
parts of Zimbabwe. Ancestors used to live amongst them, and they are held as spiritual.

Nov 29, 2010
2 days ago I went up in a helicopter to fly over the Victoria Falls. It truly is one of those 'do before you die' events!   

Ariel View of Victoria Falls

Yesterday I crossed into Botswana, camped on the Chobe river, outside a town called Kasane. In evening I went on a river safari, up into the Chobe park. Highlight was definitely seeing a pack of the extremely rare wild dogs in formation along the river bank, chasing down impala; masterful team work, another WOW occasion! 

Chobe National Park

African Wild Dogs

3 recently discovered big diamond mines have totally transformed Botswana. Also, a working democracy has ensured the wealth is spread (by African standards!). 

I'm heading south for Nata now and will camp somewhere along the road to Maun tonight, probably beside the Makgadikgadi Pans. Should reach Maun, my base for the Okavango Delta tomorrow eve. 

18-20 November 2010 - South Africa - Port Shepstone, Eshowe

18th November
Am frozen solid from continuous rain and high winds, altitude mostly over 2km, but will live. Today was 12 hour ride, just to try and get out of the cold. Had few brandys tonight. Its always too hot or too cold on this trip!     


20th November
Just completed 4 days around Lesotho; going up Sani Pass, leaving at Quachers nek. Its all stunning wild scenery, fantastic riding country (albeit quite wet at the mo). Spent one night thawing out in Port Shepstone on south coast. 

Port Shepstone

Am in Eshowe today, nursing terrible hangover, courtesy of local brew Zulu Blond and v friendly locals...dreading meeting them again for Boks (rugby) game this pm! Will now head up to Nelspruit tomorrow. Am loving SA, but am bit behind schedule...

16 November 2010 - South Africa - Pietermaritzburg, Himeville / Lesotho, Sani Pass, Mokhotlong, Thaba Tseka

After leaving Durban, I made it as far as Pietermaritzburg that evening. The locals plied me with some SA brandy and directed me to a fantastic curry house, just next door. There is a sizable Indian population in town, and standard of curries was very good. 

Pietermaritzburg

Next morning, I headed over to the base of Sani pass, near a small town called Himeville. Weather was not great at low level and would surely be atrocious up the Sani pass. I made another foray into the beautiful Drakensburg Park that afternoon, and did about 2 hours of walking.

The gamble paid off and the following morning was blue skies. The pass is indeed a very dramatic entrance into Lesotho, and the final 20 minutes of the pass see the track climb at crazy gradient hair pin bends with loose rock/gravel, making for a very slippery surface. I was glad to be going up and not having to come down this way. 

Sani Pass

I celebrated the ascent with a pint of stout in Afria's highest pub. 

Sani Top Chalet - Highest Pub in Africa

Yesterday evening, I made it as far as Mokhotlong. I stayed at a guest house provided by nuns at St James Mission. They have no electricity, we walked around with parrafin lamps all evening. Given the aging furniture, it felt like a period Victorian drama scene! 

St James Lodge, Lesotho

This morning, I left for Katse Dam, a huge hydroelectric project that brings this resourceless mountainous state some vital foreign income. The scenery has been striking today, particularly when i got to a canyon formed by the Senqu river. Unlike the Grand Canyon, you don't just admire the canyon form above, the road meanders all around it, making for stunning panoramas all around. The charms of this little country are attributable to its wild barren mountainous scenery. I don't think there are many actual attractions as such. 

Senqu River, Lesotho

Anyway, I only made it as far as Thaba Tseka, when the rain forced me off. Unfortunately, there are no beds in town, so I will just make a dash for it as soon as I have finished this email. I'm told Katse Dam has a lodge. After seeing the dam project, I will generally head up North towards Butha Buthe, (although I have not reads up yet to see where the attractions / accommodations are). 

Thaba Tseka

7-13 November 2010 - South Africa - Durban, Drakensburgs & Durban

Time has flown by, and suddenly it's two months, half way through Jay's trip and I left cold wet London to join him in South Africa. We spent our first night at the Africa Regent Guesthouse in North Durban. I cannot highly recommend this place enough. The decor is African themed with amazing stuffed antelope heads on the wall, African masks and many other African cultural artefacts. The staff were very warm and welcoming, eager to share their local knowledge of the area.

Africa Regent Guesthouse, North Durban

Africa Regent Guesthouse, North Durban

The next day we headed out to the middle of nowhere in the Drakensburgs. Along the way we stopped at Howick, a really charming little town that felt like something out of a Victorian era. Very sleepy and quiet, with a definite 'go slow' attitude. 

Howick Falls

Howick - Local saleswoman of the year

Not so charming was Mooi River, a predominantly black township which turned out to be our nearest port of call to civilisation from our Guesthouse (another 45 min drive) which were staying at for the next three nights. The Antbear Guesthouse overlooks the Bushmans River and Giants Castle. It is somewhat off the beaten track, and the local's told us to watch out for the 'donglars' aka huge pot holes in the road. 

Donglars!

Antbear Guesthouse

Our Room for 3 nights

On the Tuesday we headed down to the local area known as Giants Castle for some hiking and to view some old rock paintings. Absolutely magnificent, I will let the photo's speak for themselves!

Giants Castle

Unfortunately, or as it turned out fortunately, we were rained out on the Wednesday. Hiking in the rain was not my idea of fun, though Jay was game to give it a go. We headed into Mooi River for some essential supplies, aka Vodka for me and decided to have a coffee at Beannies Restaurant, a delightful place we had literally stumbled upon on our way to the guesthouse on the Monday. We spent a wonderful afternoon camped out there being fed and entertained by the owner Monique. A truly inspirational woman. Beautiful, strong, wilful, and incredibly generous - she refused to let us pay for anything we ate and drank that day (my mouth is still watering remembering her scrumptious blueberry pancakes). Here's a message from Jay: Sitting in a delightfully girlie cafe (to escape the continuous rain). I noticed the remarkably clever format for South African articulated lorries! They split the towed truck into two, thereby creating four sets of axels. This gives them about 40% extra volume of storage, from a single truck! Ingenious!!! Ah now for some more carrot cafe with Chantilly cream... LOL, trust an engineer, I admit I did not quite share his curiosity and enthusiasm for the trucks!

Monique

On the Thursday, glorious sunshine - hooray! I'd arranged the night before for Jay and I to have a horse riding lesson. The sight of Jay in his full 'protective' motorbike gear was very amusing. He was an absolute natural, once he got over the fact that the stirrups did not react in the same way as bike gears.

We checked out of our wonderful guesthouse, to head back to Durban. One of the highlights of the holiday, something I had really been looking forward to was the Karkloof Canopy Tour.

We then headed back to Durban, for another two nights at Africa Regent Guesthouse. I'd been told the steak was amazing in South Africa and I was not disappointed. Check out the Butcher Boys if you are ever in Durban.


Sadly coming to the end of the trip, and time to see some of the wild animals I'd heard so much about and leave on a high. Tala Game Reserve and the Natal Lions Park did not disappoint and I am now keen to experience a real safari.

Tala Game Reserve

Natal Lion Park

1-3 November 2010 - South Africa - Nelspruit & Johannesburg

I entered SA on 1st and stayed at the Funky Monkey Backpackers lodge in Nelspruit, a really cool place! 

This is certainly a very pretty and tidy country, even more so after having spending time in other parts of Africa. It certainly feels like I am taking a break out of 'real Africa'! I arrived in JoBurg on the 2nd November and am staying with Steve's folks in Stirling Road, Sandton. It's a beautiful suburb in Northern JoBurg. 

Sandtown, which Jay stayed just outside off

The bike is currently getting: a full service, new chain and sprockets, new mirror and most importantly new tyres. Ironically, it was not my tyre that got punctured on this trip, but my foot! 
 
I went to see Steve's family doctor, a very stern faced old school doctor called Dr Rautenbach. As Steve's parents had forewarned me, he did not pussy-foot about. He injected anaesthetic into 3 points on the sole of my foot (the most painful injections I have ever had!) and whipped out his scalpel. Anyway, he pulled out the fragment of coral and dirt that had caused me so much pain and discomfort over the last 7 days. He also cut out the surrounding infected flesh. There's a hole the size of a pea in my right foot!


Anyway, I'm just relieved that I'm now clear of the intrusions and can start the healing process. 

 

30 October 2010 - Mozambiqu - Maputo

I pulled into Maputo yesterday, its the Mozambiquan capital and a pretty cool city. There’s a fresh cool breeze off the sea that blows onto a high escarpment. Its only 100km from SA and the facilities are not bad. Finally had some great fresh fruit juices (3 back to back!), the first since Ethiopia. Africa has generally just not caught onto the crazy idea that you can squeeze fruit into a glass and the foreigners in particular will pay good money for the pleasure! 

Maputo

Foot still quite sore, will def get it seen to in SA. Its such a difficult injury as its directly on the ball of the sole of the foot, just where all your weight goes. I’ve designed a bandage that attempts to divert the pressure away from the injury, but it only improves the situation so much. It does not look infected and there did not seem to be any coral stuck in when I first looked at it... it’s a bit of a mystery!

25-27 October 2010 - Mozambique - Bazarute Archipelago, Inhambane, Tofo beach

25 October

Yesterday I went snorkelling in the Bazarute Archipelago (Mozambique), also called the ilhas do paradiso! Idyllic Desert islands with dunes, coral shores, flamingos and 1000s of colourful fish. 

Bazaruto Archipelago

From tomorrow I will start heading south towards capital Maputo. First stop is at Inhambane (charming old colonial town), and nearby Tofo beach. Boats from here go out to see manta rays and whale shark. Water quite choppy though, not sure if i fancy snorkelling out there! Will make enquiries first about safety, and also weather/visibility. Coast is practically all owned by South Africans from here south. Its a surprising expensive country, considering the general poverty. Good music scene, especially the rap (in portugese). Chilling in a garden today (got cut on coral yesterday, will keep dry for 2 days), at least 25 species of bird already popped in today! Saw the most incredible bright orange coloured full moon yesterday, did not have camera!

26 October

I am at Tofo beach right now. 

Tofu Beach

 27 October

Coral cut on sole of foot still quite sore, will just read / chill today as walking hurts. Got a little reed hut directly over a great beach. Heard whale shark experience not that great with snorkel anyway. Now hobbling off for some breakfast.