Louise Trichardt to Vaalwater: 314 Km
Today we ride to Summerhill Game Reserve just 30 km from Vaalwater. We don’t need to have a super early start but also do not want to linger because of the planned national shutdown day the EFF planned. Louise Trichardt is the only sizeable town we will ride through and we do not want to get stuck in a protest.
But those fears were unfounded as we quickly found out. We did not encounter a single protest of lack of service anywhere. It was business as usual. We stop in Louise Trichardt to fuel up before heading towards Vivo. Overall the road condition was good and just past Vivo, we go onto gravel.
The tracks are very sandy but with momentum the going is good. At Bochum, we pulled over a donkey cart and asked if we could ride (drive?) it. The guys are on their way to collect water and are very friendly. With a few basic instructions, we are on the cart and riding. After our ride, they go on their way while we take a drink break which is just as well. Just 500m down the road one of them was standing next to the road waving us down with my gloves. I left them on the cart.
The road and scenery are some of the most amazing we’ve ever ridden. The sand is not too deep but just deep enough to dampen the ride. I really, REALLY need to make more effort to double-check the route once it is uploaded to the GPS. Instead of going left at Marken to Vaalwater, we are directed past and onto a nice sand track. Usually not a problem but in this case, the road led us to a private access track.
At this junction we turn left and immediately it looked different, less used. Within 20 meters we got stuck. Sort of a blessing in disguise since we decided to turn around after a 1.5 hour dig out session. It is only after the fact that I found that it was a private road on some game farm.
Back on the road, we started keeping an eye on the time. Since we camp on a game reserve there is no access after sundown. Luckily the last 100 or so kilometres went smoothly and we arrived at our campsite around 4 pm.
The folks at Summerhill are really friendly and welcoming. I did not want to carry meat around all day for a braai so we are glad to have to option to get dinner.
Leave a Reply