Soapbox to Gumtoos

Day two of the Great Baviaanskloof Adventure was the second leg of the journey down to the gateway to the Baviaanskloof, the Gamtoos Valley.

What should have been a quick five hour trip turned out to be the whole day affair. Last night I made the mistake of taking my medicine with the local water at Gariep. This mistake cause me to have a weak stomach from the get go and by end of the day in Gamtoos hopefully I can keep my supper down. Anyway the main delay in the start of the second leg was that this morning at !Gariep they held a soapbox derby down a hill into town. We couldn’t resist staying to take some photos.

Other than my weak stomach the rest of the journey was uneventful. No wait halfway there was a stop at the Daggaboer’s se Padstal which broke the dull flat scrubland. Here is Tinus and Marlene going in to see the dagga farmer. The scenery only improved once we drove into the Gamtoos Valley at the end of this leg. Now was time to mount our bikes and ride the winding roads into the valley.

By late afternoon we rode our bikes into the small town of Patensie and booked into the Ripple Hill Hotel. Although we are all very tired so far from the travelling down, the adventure only really starts tomorrow morning when we ride into the Baviaanskloof.

Marlene

The hero of the past weekend is Marlene, she organized the Sani Pass Vespa Adventure. Magda and I met Marlene at a scooter rally to Hartebeespoort. I had to leave early and Magda became good friends with Marlene. At the rally Marlene told Magda that she wanted to do the Sani Pass help raise funds to get two endurance riders to the 2012 Dakar Rally. Magda then excitedly told Marlene that I also wanted to do the Sani Pass on my Vespa. And that is how Magda, Marlene and I started planning for the Sani Pass Vespa Adventure. Charlie joined us soon afterwards and we met her on a Vespa training ride up a local mountain pass in Magaliesberg on 17 April. The four Vespas and four support vehicles were ready for Lesotho. Marlene was riding the red Vespa P150X called Mathilda which made it to the top of Sani Pass with Sophia and me while her husband Thinus supported us.

One of my camera's SD cards got corrupted when downloading photos to a laptop after Day Two. With the photos on the laptop in Pretoria, Marlene went and fetched a copy for me on a DVD. We then met for coffee at Vodaworld in Midrand to exchange disks; I gave her a copy of my photos at the same time. With all my images now in one place I selected quite a few to give you all an idea what the trip was all about. Go to my album Sani Pass Vespa Adventure to view.

Sophia does the Roof of Africa

The Great Sani Pass Vespa Adventure
Day One | Day Two | Day Three | Day Four | Day Five
Day Four: Sophia does the Roof of Africa

Note to all: Sani Top Chalets is not the best place to overnight. No running water means no showers and to go to the toilet, you have to dip a bucket into a drum of iced water to flush. On top of it all the bedding was much to be desired, thankfully I had brought my own. After a restless sleep and a cold breakfast we went down to rescue the two BMW bikes that got stuck the day before then we set off very late at 11am, from Sani across the Roof of Africa to Butha Buthe along one of the highest roads in Africa. The BMW 650 Dakar bike would not start where it was stuck on the pass and had to be towed to the top. Thankfully Sophia started first turn and with her motor purring in the snow she was a sight for the astonished 4x4s arriving at the top for the day. The route started with a slushy, icy track until pass the Black Mountain Pass. The road then became a dusty road up and down mountain passes for quite a way until we got to this very good tar road.

We flew up and down the mountains along this wonderful tar road until just pass Moketeng where we hit the potholes. Well not just potholes but just one continuous pothole that there was very little to resemble what was once a tar road. I've been told that this road was once a beautiful tar road until the mine trucks and "luck" of maintenance has turned it into a dirt road with bits of tar edges and large potholes. After I went through two large potholes and nearly collided with Magda who had slowed down for a large hole in the pothole and Marlene who also went through a large hole that was obscured by the lengthen shadows we called it a day. Well that was Marlene and I, Magda still wanted to continue and she did. Up over the Tlaeeng Pass, highest road pass in southern Africa, Magda pushed on that was until it got too dark to continue. With all the Vespa's now loaded we rushed on to the border post before it closed.

Tired and hungry we reached Butha Buthe just before 8pm and were just so happy to cross the Caledonspoort border post into South Africa and back to civilization of a hot shower at Camelroc Guest Farm. Just to have a hot shower and a clean room was a blessing. What dawned on me as I quickly sank into my bed was the lack of trees in Lesotho.

Is the world ending?...