Once again Africa called me to visit the place where I grew up. This annual pilgrimage has become, for me, a place to recharge my batteries.
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| Sand truck transportation |
Like many of my adventures that begin or end with a moto in need of repair this trip to South Africa and Lesotho did not disappoint. This sand truck found me stopped on the side of the road on the Wild Coast of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Being a Sunday afternoon there was not much traffic on this dusty road but after waiting only a short while I heard this truck grinding slowly up the pass. The driver and his two assistants (one of whom was totally drunk) hoisted by motorbike and me up on the top of the load of sand and we then slowly bumped our way north.
At the next intersection I parted ways with the sand truck and negotiated a ride on a bakkie (pick-up truck). I say negotiated, however with a broken down motorcycle on a Sunday afternoon in this part of the world there was not much negotiation about the price of transporting me the two hours to the city of Mthatha. The very helpful and friendly man on the left in this photo gave up part of his Sunday afternoon sitting in the pub to ensure my moto was well tied down on the back of his truck and for his son ( who had not been drinking) to drive me.The local shebeen (pub) at this intersection was doing a roaring trade and a number of the clients decided they wanted photos taken sitting, and falling off my moto as well as trying to "help" me with all my luggage so I was pleased to get away from there. I was dropped off a couple of hours later at a very nice hotel where a hot shower and a meal was most welcome.
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| Fred |
The next morning found me waiting for the doors to open at Transkei Yamaha who arranged for my bike to be picked up at the hotel and transported to Fred's Auto Electrical as the problem was clearly electrical in nature. These wonderful people would not accept any payment.
Fred and I went to work diagnosing the problem. As the battery was dead I was concerned that the stator had once again burnt out ( this was the problem on my trip to SA last year ) In no time at all Fred found that when the new stator was installed they did not fit a connector together properly - and just like that we had my bike running. When trying to pay Fred for his time his comment was that he does not charge people who are traveling through and need help. One of my friends, who reads my blogs regularly, once said that she was amazed at how often I meet such generous people in so many different countries - she is so right!!
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| SA Border Post at bottom of Sani Pass |
From Mthatha I rode north and west to the bottom of the legendary Sani Pass, which climbs 1300m into the highlands of Lesotho over a distance of about 9 kms. The pass with numerous switchbacks has got better over the years but still the rough dirt road needs to be given full attention on a dirt bike to keep the rubber side down.
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| Sani Pass |
Lesotho is a small county in Southern Africa which boasts the highest, lowest point of any country in the world.
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| Colorful local Basotho people |
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| Afriski |
My first overnight stop in Lesotho was at Afriski, the only African ski resort south of Morocco. The resort boasts one T Bar ski lift and a wonderful bar and restaurant.
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| Fields of Cosmos |
Once I got out of the highlands there were fields of Cosmos as far as the eye could see. What a magnificent sight.
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| Zuma |
Coming back into South Africa found me in Ladybrand visiting my brother. I enjoyed a wonderful Easter weekend with family where the beers flowed freely. From the photo above you can see who rules this household.
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| African Wild Dog |
No, this is not one of the pack that roam through my brother's house but an African Wild Dog ( also know as a Cape Hunting Dog) that I was lucky enough to see in the Kruger National Park. Since, for obvious reasons, I was unable to ride my motorcycle through the national park I took a flight from Bloemfontein to Nelspruit ( name now changed to Mbombela) where I picked up a rental car.
I will post just a few of the magnificent creatures that I encountered on my trip through the Kruger Park and then into the Bulule Reserve which borders the Kruger.
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| Beady eyed Glossy Starling |
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| Grumpy Southern yellow-billed hornbill |
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| Silly Bustard crossing in front of the car |
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| King of the jungle |
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| Wide Mouthed Hippo |
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| Alex and Alex |
I took a three hour walking safari one early morning, protected by these incredibly knowledgable guides. It was only me on this expedition so I had their undivided attention and learned so much ( much of which I promptly forgot) about the flora and fauna.
From here I retraced my steps and had a few more days motorcycle riding in Lesotho before flying to Johannesburg and then the 15 hour ( plus two hours stuck on the tarmac) marathon back to the US.
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| Farewell to Africa for another year |
