In search of Father Jack.

Drumacoon Lad. · Oct 22, 2019

Northern jock said:
You could always attach the cowbell to the bike, it would warn folk of your approach and clear your path

I'm sure it has rung a few times inside the panniers when I've hit the unmarked speed bumps here, particularly the one where the bike and I took off, a la Evil Knievel. The local kids were impressed but in truth I was happy to land safely

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Drumacoon Lad. · Oct 22, 2019

Leaving Moyeni for Semonkong I was unsure what to expect. I'd met a Welsh couple in the hotel, helping out in the local hospital. They had done the journey the day before in a 4x4. They told my two things, the scenery was stunning but there was a lot of climbing. The guy had an app on his phone which told him he'd climbed to 3,800 meters. I told him the app height was a mistake but I was worried about how bad the climbing was, and now with the extra weight of the cowbell...

I started out along the Orange river the same one I'd seen in South Africa and it was very low here too. Through the river valley the route was fine and I was making good progress. The climbing started after about 40km. In parallel the scenery improved as seen in the photos. The climbing though was a bit excessive. I spent long periods in first gear, more than ever before on a bike. What didn't help was the number of speed bumps and big ones. Who needs speed bumps at the start of a climb! I'd build up a nice speed, get to 4th gear in prep for the climb and have to go down to 1st to ride the bump and now I'm stuck in 1st. The 3,800 metres never materialised but there were 2 major climbs, both around 2,500 meters, quite a lot for a fully loaded 125. The bike however never missed a beat but by the time we arrived we were both ready for a rest.

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Drumacoon Lad. · Oct 22, 2019

The good scenery along the way wasn't just the mountains and valleys, as there was a lot of things happening along the road. This is the Africa I love. There were people walking, driving animals, riding horses and kids playing. Many were in traditional dress and I wondered if it was because it was Sunday but I've seen them wearing the same outfits since. One little girl about 5 gave me a scare. She ran on to the road not looking, I braked hard and thankfully she looked around and swerved away. Anyway, here's a few of the scenes of life along the road...

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Drumacoon Lad. · Oct 22, 2019

There was so much to see on this trip which made it so enjoyable, despite the difficulty of the ride. This kind of day was what this trip is all about. I loved the little round huts, thoughtfully placed in the landscape. Of course there were also lots of corrugated iron huts too, which I suppose are practical and cheap but I hope they don't replace the round ones. As it happened, one staying in a round hut at the Lodge and this is the view from the half door. Lastly, when I looked down to take off my boots the colour of them confirmed it was a good day's riding.

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tuftywhite · Oct 23, 2019

Next time you're in a town, why not post your souvenirs home? Obviously I'm assuming this is possible.

Drumacoon Lad. · Oct 24, 2019

tuftywhite said:
Next time you're in a town, why not post your souvenirs home? Obviously I'm assuming this is possible.

Tuftywhite, I've sent things back on trips, normally at the beginning when I've brought too much stuff. The deal is though, if I buy presents, and I do, I have to carry them on the bike. I carried a dozen cushion covers and a few cups and saucers back on the bike from Iran. Makes them special as presents or souvenirs!

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Drumacoon Lad. · Oct 24, 2019

In my last update described the tough ride to the Semonkong Lodge where I stayed a few days. It has a great friendly atmosphere and a good place to relax, decent food and a small cosy bar. Its a bit above my normal budget but if you want to stay in this area and see the waterfall nearby, this is the only option. It's a good place to meet people and have made a couple of contacts from my time there.

The accommodation is the normal round hut. I've stayed in so many it might take a while to readjust to rectangular living. This one is a good size and even has a fireplace and logs. This won't improve my rufty tufty credibility but they also brought morning coffee to the hut before breakfast.

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simondippenhall · Oct 24, 2019

Hope they tuck you up at night, too

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Edventure · Oct 24, 2019

Looks quite civilised Jim. Always makes me chuckle how they provide Rusks with coffee. Last time I had rusks was when I was baby!

Drumacoon Lad. · Oct 24, 2019

I did this walk to the waterfall a couple of times. The waterfall is one of the special sites in Lesotho and has a 192 metre fall. The walk passed through farmland and an extended village. The first photo looks back to the Lodge in the green area. Then opens out into this small plane and afterwards through this village. The canyon I'm looking at has the waterfall, a mere trickle here, compared to its normal heavy flow.

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Drumacoon Lad. · Oct 24, 2019

The route of the walk is in fact a busy thoroughfare, from the main Semonkong village, through the carpark of the Lodge, to the smaller villages scattered over the hills. So I met and was accompanied by others using the route. People on horseback, children driving donkeys, schoolchildren, ladies carrying heavy loads from the store, a shepherd with his flock and groups on horseback straight out of a wild west movie.

Many photographs, but I've tried to convey this rather special place.

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Edventure · Oct 24, 2019

Great photos Jim!

Drumacoon Lad. · Oct 24, 2019

Rusks in every B&B Ed. Aparently they are linked to the Boer war. When Boer soldiers called at a farm for supplies, they'd be given rusks and biltong, both would remain edible for some time.

Simon, in fact you are encouraged to bed by another process. The electricity is switched off in the Lodge and the village from 10 till 8 in the morning. Hence every hut has a candle!

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Johan · Oct 25, 2019

There is some fantastic Bushman art in Lesotho. If you are interested, some of the locals may be able to guide you there

Drumacoon Lad. · Oct 25, 2019

Leaving the Semonkong Lodge it was good to be back on the bike. I was relieved that the hard climbing was behind me, or so I thought. The bike riders on here will know that sometimes when you start your bike up and ride for a bit it just sounds smooth and sweet and so it was that morning. The Father Jack of this thread called into our house one day, with a big smile on his face. He'd noticed how quiet and smooth his bike had seemed that morning and then remembered he'd not switched on his hearing aid! His hearing problems were caused by listening to too many noisy aero engines, in the hangers with the engineers while in the RAF. But I digress...

This road was wonderful as seen in the first couple of photos. However we did begin to climb and in fact exceeded the high watermark if the previous day. In fact we climbed to 2,740 metres, just short of the famous Stelvio pass in the alps. The bike and are used to these climbs now and we are confident that with patience we'll get there. These heights are less demanding because you are starting from a high base, the Lodge was at 2,200 metres. Worth remembering that the lowest point in this country is 1,400 metres. Anyway the road, well its great and I'd love to ride it on something more powerful and with better brakes. The Suzuki is blessed with drum brakes, front and rear, so descents with sharp corners or speed bumps at the bottom, are a challenge. The road has a few extra hazards as you'll see with the photos of the rocks below. The big rock by the armco, could only get there by tumbling down the other side and rolling across the road. How lucky do you feel?

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Drumacoon Lad. · Oct 25, 2019

Johan said:
There is some fantastic Bushman art in Lesotho. If you are interested, some of the locals may be able to guide you there

Thanks Johan, there's an update coming on that. Watch this space!

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Drumacoon Lad. · Oct 25, 2019

The ride continues and we missed the rocks and they missed us. I notice I'm using the plural and it does feel like a shared adventure. Already feeling the parting with this bike will not be easy. The views of course were great, but I've included a lot of scenery already, but people are interesting and how they live their lives. There was little traffic but I met a few of these overloaded 4x4s and trailers, one was full of cooking pots. Then there were the people like the mature couple in traditional dress walking with their donkey. These shots are taken from my helmet camera so vary in clarity.
I have a remote switch on the handlebars of the bike, to trigger the camera once I've pointed at the subject. Best not done on corners, as the cars wait for that moment to come along in the middle of the road.

Back to the photos, the guy on the horse was coming at a fair speed, note all 4 feet off the ground, David Bailey, eat your heart out! The next animal was moving slower, weighed down with a couple of sacks. Donkeys do a lot of the heavy carrying here. The next guy was striding out in his wellies. Wellington boots are the common footwear of the local country people and I expect when it rains they are needed. My feet have been warm in leather boots so rubber boots are not ideal when its warm. What I can't get my head around is why the men chose white wellies. Suggestions welcome. Lastly we have a guy with cattle wearing the pointy version of the local straw hat. I'd love to take one of the hats home but they don't squash well, and I know I could post it!

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Drumacoon Lad. · Oct 25, 2019

This was a short ride but there was a lot to see, like these ladies doing their washing down at the screen, almost missed by not spotting them earlier. Taking photos on a bike trip is a continual balancing act with trying to capture the essence of the area you are passing through, against making reasonable progress. The helmet cam helps balance this out, as I don't have to stop, nor indeed slow down. The 40km sign amused me as it was up hill and I was in no danger of exceeding that speed! In fact the general speed limit here is 80km which is perfect for me, my wallet and license is safe. Some more pretty round huts and isn't the lone hut on the side of the mountain just great.

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Drumacoon Lad. · Oct 25, 2019

The aim of the drive I've been describing was to get to the sacred Lesotho mountain. It became a symbol of their military prowess when the king, in the early 1800's made it his stronghold and it gained a reputation as being impregnable. When I arrived at the info centre it was quite warm and I didn't fancy the climb. I asked about rock painting and was told by a guide that the local site had poor pictures but there was a better one about 50km away. The picture below is not in fact the mountain but a very similar one and its a much better picture.

My research that evening on the new site, Ha Baroana, mentioned it had suffered water damage and vandalism. There was also a 14km of off road to negotiate, off the tarmac. I wondered if it was worth it, as I'm no fan of gravel. Anyway I headed off the next morning to see and immediatly came across a crowd right across the road. This hadn't happened to me since the topless Himba women tried to stop Simon and I in Angola. This crowd were fully clothed and peaceful and a simple invocation of my Moses powers, the crowd parted and I rode through.

The first photo shows what I feared the road would be, but this in fact a footpath and the next photo shows more what it was like. This is my kind of off-road a solid base, no deep gravel or sand. There were some more difficult bits, and I did get lost but this kind lady put me right and I arrived at the rock picture centre, to find it closed. Oh good! As I searched around for a way in, a guy arrived and produced a set of keys and opened up.

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Drumacoon Lad. · Oct 25, 2019

So the rock painting visitor centre was opened and the gentleman went behind the counter. I explained I'd like to see the pictures but did not need a guide. He seemed relieved and produced a set of keys which he gave me for the gate. He gave me vague directions and let me go. I worked my way down the gravel path and ended up at the river in the canyon. I then noticed a fenced off area and found a locked gate which opened with one of the keys. This seems to be a recent improvement in security as the paintings have suffered vandalism. I went in and scanned the rock. The photo shows the overhanging canyon wall.

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In search of Father Jack.

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getting away with it so far!

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