Limpopo 18 March 2023

Magoebaskloog to Louise Trichardt – 236 Km

Day 2 of the trip and traditionally this is the day that the adventure is set to start. Distance as the crow flies to our camp just past Louise Trichardt is just over 160 Km so for this reason we will be riding mostly gravel through the forests of Magoesbaskloof. That way we still end up with a nice ride of 236 km for the day.

So we are in no hurry and decide to stop at the Pancake House in Haenertsburg before we get going. It turned out to be a very good decision, easily the best pancakes I’ve ever had.

With full bellies, we hit the road past Cheerios farm before we stop at the site of one of the Long Tom artillery gun sites. This is where the Boers made a last stand against the advancing British Forces during the Boer war. When they realized all was lost the decision was made to blow up the gun to prevent the British from getting their hands on it.

From here things start becoming a bit sketchy. Although the GPS insists that there is a ridable path I started to have my doubts as the tracks kept on disappearing. Luckily it would re-emerge a few hundred meters later. Even where there were clear tracks it was loose and muddy after some good rains earlier in the week.

Going was slow but at least we were advancing this will change before too long. As I took a turn on the Veekraal road things started looking different. At first, I wasn’t too concerned because we were climbing all morning and when we found ourselves on some extremely steep rocky descents it was a matter of what goes up must come down. Unfortunately, this was not the issue but if you want to go down then there must be a place to go to, maybe some track?

After the first two 30–40 degrees sections the worse possible scenario played out – the road just disappeared into the forest. Now we like to believe that Putin can go anywhere but going up an incline like this with no run-up when it is wet and slippery is a bridge too far. Believe me, we tried, we’ve got the scars to prove it. Eventually, after more than 3 hours I finally called it quits and decided that down is the only way out.

Izabel believed that I was completely mad but I set off on foot to forge a path through the forest. I eventually managed to find what looked like a disused jeep track about 1 km down so I returned to fetch Izabel and Putin.

As I walked back I cleared as much of the path as I could and checked for big boulders, or holes hiding in the undergrowth. By this time we were out of water and starting to dehydrate. Izabel would walk in front and I’d follow as she directed me to go left, right, straight or stop.

We managed to hack and bash our way through shoulder-high vegetation and in some places fought hard to keep control on very steep descents. If I say there was zero traction then I mean ZERO. The sun battled to get through to the forest floor and after the rains, the ground was like snot. We haven’t had any cell reception for hours now but I could see on the GPS that we will be able to join a road within the next 2.5 km.

Just after a very gnarly downhill slide, we found ourselves on flat ground and what seemed like a disused track. Up ahead is a stream that we need to cross but it looks treacherous with a drop-off into the forest on the right. We stop and walk it. Not too bad. Shallow but with no firm ground, only black clay and some marshy vegetation. Just 200 m past this crossing lies freedom in the form of a normal gravel road.

We decide that it is doable with some momentum and keeping to the left, but there is not much room to keep left. I gun it and within 20 m I start sliding to the right and within a second the back wheel is hanging off the drop with Putin flat on his skid plate.

I could see Izabel’s face drop. This had been a brutal day for her. She carried boulders a quarter of her size to help build a trail, saw disaster flashing before he eyes as we struggle to maintain or regain control, and bundu-bashed through forests trying to forge a path. Now, this.

After 2 hours of digging, jacking and pulling we realized that we are not going to get out on our own. By now we have been at it for over 6 hours and progressed 40 km. Time for plan X. We started walking up the road to see if we can find anything. A cell signal, a person, anything. All of a sudden something popped up on my GPS. A marker for a lodge a few hundred meters away from where I am sitting on the side of the road.

Kurisa Moya lodge was 500 m west of my current position so I started walking. As I rounded a corner an old farmhouse came into view and I’m like ‘YEAH!’. The house turned out to be empty but there was a sign pointing further up the road for ‘reception’. When I arrive at the reception I find an old Land Cruiser parked out front and I knew we were rescued.

Reinhardt meets me at the gate and after hearing my story he looked at me with utter disbelief. The winch on the Landie does not work and he is not going into the stream as he will not be able to get out. But tell me, how did you get there? It took me a good 15 minutes to convince him that we actually crossed the mountain and we really are where I say we are.

OK, he will get get a rope and meet me down the road. I had a 10 m strap and 2 1.8 m toggle ropes. This got us about 20 m from the side of the swamp but with Reinhardt’s rope, we managed to cover the distance. With me hanging on like a circus monkey the Landie pulled us out and we are escorted to the farm gate. Only then do I realize why he would not believe me initially because the farm gates were locked? Reinhardt told us that they used to have a 4×4 trail on that side but due to the danger, it was closed.

It is now just before 17h00 and we covered only 40 km. With almost 200 km to go we knew we’d have to break our rule of not travelling after sunset. Luckily it seemed like the worst was behind us and we arrived at Zvananaka Farm just after 20h00. A long grueling day is done but as if the universe knew what was coming we have a rest day tomorrow.