In search of Father Jack.

Eagerly watching this thread with enthusiasm. Best of luck.

The scenery at times has a desert look and is certainly very dry. Not too many animals either, with one warthog spotted, whereas Simon is herding flocks of them, if his reports are to be believed. I spotted a couple of troops of baboons, but was hard to miss them, as they crossed the road in front of me. Many of the trees had weaver-bird nests. Arriving at Mariantal I decided I'd have a look at the campsite, and see if I fancied putting the tent up, but the strength of the wind put me off and I opted for a chalet. My underpants were now perfectly dry as they'd spent the journey on top of my luggage, a tip I'm happy to share with the world!

Hopefully an early start in the morning and get another few hundred kms done and be close to the SA border.



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Great back story and intro Jim - power to you

Left Mariantal and the terrain was semi desert and reminded me of parts of the Sahara. There was very little wildlife too and I was glad of the music from the GPS. I also seemed to be just in front of the bus, as people were waiting on the side of the road. I added 70km to the trip by taking a wrong turn and ending on a gravel road and had to retrace my steps. Did about 470km in all, not bad on a 125. Later the surroundings got more interesting with more trees and then some low hills. I'm keeping it brief tonight as I'm camping, so facilities are limited.

Here's a few photos from today...

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I'll start at the difficulty of getting into the small tent in yesterday's photo. I do camp occasionally in Europe but in a larger tent. This tent however was the smallest of my tents and the only one which would fit on this bike. I had erected it indoors but never slept in it, nor tried to. Getting in and into the sleeping bag was a problem and I'm glad noone had a video of my first attempt. In the end I had to push the sleeping bag to the foot of the tent get in, lie down and then pull the sleeping bag up around me. Once in, it was quite cosy and I slept as well as I do in other tents. Waking this morning, all was cleared and packed away for breakfast at 8. This test proved the tent is practical and I will use it now and again.

Sadly my hope to get a lift over to Fish River Canyon was not realised and the owner of the campsite had asked around and no one was going that way. We talked about me riding the 120km gravel road to the canyon but it was a non starter on this bike with this rider. I know my limitations and since I nearly dropped my bike in the gravel in the campsite, the long dirt road was not on. Before leaving the camps I checked on the Japan V Ireland rugby game and was reassured all was well, as the score was 3 - 12. Heading south out of town I was once again in this wilderness landscape which had bored me a bit yesterday. Maybe it was because I'd been camping but I felt more connected with the space around me this time. I started to take it in, the vastness, the isolation, beauty of this rocky and sandy terrain. I began to think how lucky I was to be riding through this space, alone apart from the occasional car or truck. For quite a while I couldn't see another human being and I began to realize that I may never return to ride through southern Namibia and I should stay in the present and enjoy it. I was not under time pressure today, so I did not go as fast as I could, I stopped regularly and when I did, appreciated the silence.

The landscape changed as I got closer to the border and there were more rocky outcrops. In fact in places the scenery was great and I was now enjoying a different environment. Being curious to know how many more points Ireland had scored I stopped in a remote spot and got my local phone to connect and learned that they had scored no further points but Japan had and we had lost but still the flag was flying on the back of the bike.

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Anyway I could not dwell on that and carried on till just short of the border, to fill up and use the last of my Namibian dollars. South Africa was beating Namibia on the service station TV and as Kirsty MacColl almost said "and I know how those Namibians feel". In truth I was delaying going to the border but it had to be done. This one should not be tricky but I think I still have a touch of PTSD from my experiences a few years ago going through the Rosso border going into Senegal. I had 3 aims at this border, to get to SA, to formally export my bike as I has temporarily imported it 7 months ago and lastly to get TIP(Temporary Import Permit) for my bike into SA. The Namibian side was fine but the export documents prepared by our agent were missing 2 key papers, so I got the proof of export but not the agreement to repay the duty. Just as I'm in the throes of dealing with this, in 37-38C temperatures, still wearing my bike jacket, and guy offers me something. He goes to his car and comes back with 3 kilos of sausages. He's not allowed to bring them into Namibia but I can take them into SA. I really don't want them but it seems rude to refuse as he says they are top quality.

As the customs lady completes the paperwork I tell her the sausage story and then have the idea she could have them, or some of them. I had to play this carefully and I didn't want to be accused of attempted bribery. She had already made her decision on the paperwork by this time and I could not argue with her decision and she warmed to the idea of the sausages. I offered her a kilo anyway and she accepted. She was quite helpful in getting the paperwork finally completed so maybe the sausages helped.

I finished with the Namibian side and went on to the SA border. I thought this would be a piece of cake but I fell at the first hurdle. The SA policeman at the entrance to the border stopped me and demanded to see my licence, not to drive but for the bike. I showed him the registration document but he wanted something else. In the end he was practically shouting at me and in frustration told me gruffly to stay there and he marched off, for reinforcements in fact. He returned with another guy he went through the same rigmarole, checked the registration document, from Congo, verified the frame number and then told me this bike was not acceptable on SA roads and I should return. I started to protest and then he started to grin. Playing jokes in border posts like that is not funny. Welcome to South Africa, I thought. However he was not finished. He noticed the 2 kilos of sausages tied on the bike. I knew he wanted some of them and said I may not be able to take them into SA, but I explained they had come from SA. I then offered him a kilo but he wanted them in a carrier bag and I wasn't having it as Id have now bag for the remaining kilo. In the end they let me through to the immigration and customs people. Once I finished with immigration the older policeman reappeared, this time with his own carrier and I reluctantly gave him a kilo. Getting the TIP from customs was easy and free so I was on my way.

No border photos I'm afraid.

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As usual after getting through a border, I stop on the side of the road, get organised again, have a drink and get my riding head on again. The riding was great through breathtaking scenery. However it began to dawn on me that we were climbing. The GPS showed the border to be at an altitude of about 300 meters, over the next hour we climbed to about 1,000 meters. Much of this was with the ever present side wind and some of the time, as a headwind too. The bike coped very well with the extra demands and climbed better than I had hoped. It was a really enjoyable ride to Springbok and I took it easy, stopping to admire the beautiful flowers on the side of the road. I didn't exactly smell the flowers but I did look at them closely and photograph them.

Arriving In Springbok I had not finally sorted where to stay. I looked for a cafe which may have wifi and found a KFC. They advertised free wifi which came on immediately but then asked to register. The registration had lots of questions but the one I could not answer was my mobile phone number. I tried a false number, my UK number but nothing worked. In the end I asked a lady customer what a SA number looked like, so I could put in a realistic but wrong numbers and get by this issue. She spoke to the staff behind the counter and one of the ladies just put her own number in and I was connected. I'm not sure if giving me her real number had another significance but it got me connected and I was able to review accommodation options. Again the kindness of strangers. The B&B room rate was 750 rand but the lady said she'd take 700 for cash, it was a lovely room, so I proposed 600 cash and she accepted. I got directions to a local restaurant and am currently digesting a sizable SA steak, not the last I suspect. A full day!

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Shame about the match, but we were completely outclassed by a better team today. Go n-neíri an bóthar leat.

Thanks Aidan, so I believe. We'll see how the rest of it goes.

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I'm really enjoying this thread. Well done you

luke scott said:

I'm really enjoying this thread. Well done you

Click to expand...

Yep, my thoughts too.

Cheers guys, but all I do is ride a bike, like the rest of us, just in interesting places.

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Great stuff this thread, funnily enough it has a strong parallel to something I'm planning but I'll PM you on that one. The meat on border post issue seems to be at the forefront of a lot of the minds of travellers crossing borders from South Africa, I think it's due to foot and mouth disease restrictions.

An unusual begining, as its with a photo of the toilet doors last night in the resturant. I'm not sure where else this would be acceptable and will leave you to judge my first photo.


Last night the owner of the B&B mentioned the chance of rain but I couldn't get my head around it, as we had blue skies for a week in Namibia and it had been touching 40C at the border yesterday. Well I woke up to cloud, a chill in the air and it had been raining. I checked the BBC weather app and sure enough there was more rain expected. I prepared to ride dressed with full waterproofs and including mittens over my fingerless gloves. It's such fun trying to drive a GPS with mittens, should be an Olympic sport, I wouldn't win! As I rode off a weaver-bird was just exiting her newly woven nest in green.


The rain put paid to thoughts of heading for the waterfalls a friend had suggested, so I rode straight to the main road and pointed the bike south. In doing that I committed a cardinal sin of riding in Africa. I realised my error a few miles out of town but was reassured there was a petrol station 60km ahead. The rain wasn't heavy but enough to make the road damp and was accompanied with a wind which was stronger and colder than yesterday. I arrived at the next town and found it had two petrol stations, one was defunct and the other lad pumps switched on but locked. This is when the riding in Africa mantra went through my head again "never pass an open petrol station" and there were some in Springbok as I left. Silly of me to assume South Africa on a Sunday would be different. I checked the GPS. There was another petrol station 50km ahead on my route. I rode with some trepidation and trying to economise on the hills downward. To my great relief the next station was open and I filled up.


The scenery today was amazing. The road wound its way through mountains and hills. In some areas there were attempts to cultivate the barren mountainous terrain but mostly it was untouched. I wasn't able to fully appreciate the magnificence on the surroundings, as I was perpetually fighting with the wind. It was hard work and as the bike was moved around by the gusts I had to keep in the centre of the carriageway which was not always appreciated by car drivers, who overtook much too close. It seems I was riding on the Cape Namibia route



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I was already planning to ride 370km today, but decided to make it more interesting by adding a 100km loop which included the Vanrhyns Pass where the bike climbs 600 metres in a 9 kilometres, just the thing an overloaded 125 loves to do. Anyway we did it and the view was spectacular. Afterwards I rode the remaining 130km, against a headwind and was glad to rest up for the night. I might even stay two days here.

The owner of my new lodgings asked me if I'd had much rain and I explained it cleared after a couple of hours and I had none in this area. He looked disappointed and said they were told rain was coming but none arrived. The different views on rain from a biker and a gardener!

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Great report.

After the rain of yesterday I woke to sunshine. Had a bit of admin to do in the morning, like getting a local SIM. I put a SIM in a spare phone and use it to generate a hotspot(WiFi) and then connect my main phone to the WiFi. This keeps my main phone with its UK SIM but I have internet access when I travel.

Clanwilliam is a very relaxed town. The B&B owner doesn't even see the need to lock the gate at night in contrast to other places. Walking around the town feels very safe, a good place to rest up. The B&B owner recommended a walk in the Cederberg mountains for the afternoon, so off I rode. He hadn't mentioned it involved climbing a steep pass, but in fact it was fun and good to be on the bike without the extra weight.

The walk promised the chance of seeing Bushman art. I liked the sound off this but wasn't sure what it would be like in reality. I found the place and parked up under a tree. I noticed two things, first was the tree was laden with weaver-bird nests and second was this tree has long sharp thorns, not the best place to park a bike. The owner saw me showing interest in the weaver-birds and commented the only build in the trees near the house. It appears less preditors, wild cats etc., bother them near humans, so the stay close by.

The walk was quite a scramble and had no paintings to be seen for the first kilometre, then the art began to appear. I was blown away. Fortunately the trail was very quiet and I had time to view the art in solitude and try and take it all in. There were pictures of animals, people and even an archer with a drawn bow and arrow. I was trying to imagine this landscape populated by these people and what motivated them to paint like this. Also what skill in the paints used and the location of the paintings that they survived so long.This was a first for me and quite moving.

Going home involved going over the pass again. This poor bike has a hard life! I'm not sure where to go tomorrow. Cape Town is a half a days ride away or I could go to the coast. I'll decide in the morning.

Anyway a few photos of the day

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Would love to see the art Jim

Was a bit special Ed. Could have missed it, had I not made a casual comment to the guy at the B&B.

For anyone else here who's interested, from Clanwilliam take the R364, over the Pakhuis pass to a shop/resturant called Travellers Rest, about 33km from Clanwilliam. They sell a ticket for the Sevilla Rock Art Trail and give directions. There's a lot of rock scrambling involved and the trail is about 5km in total.

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Today was another day in Clanwilliam and I decided to visit Lamberts Bay. I'd heard mixed reports about it, but as I knew there was a bird colony so I got the bike out. I soon realised that of you go east or west out of Clanwilliam you go up a mountain pass, and so it was on the way to Lamberts Bay. Some of the views on the road were amazing. You'd never tire of riding these roads, they just draw you onward.

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