Planning the route
It’s an advantage if someone else (in my case Kevin Davie) has already done a route — you get the recipe on a tray and you can improve on it, using Google Earth, Garmaps, Tracks4Africa and the 1:250 000 and 1:50 000 maps. Among all of these, the 1:50 000’s were the most useful. I found that almost every time I got something brilliant from Google Earth without corroboration from the map it turned out to be a bit of a disaster on the ground, mostly because I did not take the sudden change in elevation into account.
I wanted to get the route on GPS, so I bought the Silva Solar II, which at about R2 000 was rather more pricey than I had in mind.
Getting to Ohrigstad
There is a whole system of long-distance taxis running between Johannesburg and Pretoria and the major towns of the old Transvaal. I caught Desmond’s bus from OR Tambo airport and the trip to Burgersfort — now a thriving mining town — was fast and quite comfortable. My friends from Ohrigstad collected me from Burgersfort.
The first day
My friends dropped me at 6am, 10km south of Ohrigstad where the road to Crystal Springs Game Reserve and resort takes off to the east. This saved me having to ride alongside the tar road with its poor or non-existent shoulders.
After about 5km I entered the reserve — nobody was at the gate and there was no sign of entry control. The road ran along the south of a stream and at 8,3km, I turned on to the 4×4 route. There was great riding on the narrow plains along the stream, and quite a bit of game. I crossed the stream and the road started climbing steeply. The scenery was great, with colourful cliffs, tall grass and the typical hillside trees of the higher altitudes. The bungalows of the resort are spread in long lines along the terraces formed by the sandstone formations. After quite a bit more climbing, I arrived at the restaurant and enjoyed a hearty breakfast.
Leaving the reserve I felt that this was very much a Sabie-like area: green and lush with pines, and lots of water. This last observation soon came back to haunt me, because I was following the route running along the top of the mountains, where all the water had drained away. I started conserving water and that confused me enough to skimp on carbohydrates. The consequence was that my eyes got foggy to the point where I had difficulty seeing the road, which was mostly a very nice Jeep track but sometimes quite rough, and reading a map became very difficult. I was following the very crooked contour route shown clearly on the 1:50 000 map. My right eye burned and watered severely because of all the rubbing I had done in trying to clear the fog. The landscape was beautiful mountain grassland, but I could just make out a vague image and proceeded to point my camera in more or less in the right direction.
When I got to game fence at about 33km from the morning’s start I thought about giving up as there was an escape route down past a farmhouse and dam and I could not see any track on the other side of the fence. But I scaled the fence, picked up a rather dim track, rode through an area with quite a lot of game, and eventually got to a second fence, which I also had to scale. Eventually, after joining up with the Fanie Botha Hiking Trail, I got to a kloof with a babbling stream and I drank as much as I could. I pushed on and at 4.30pm reached my destination: another stream in a dark kloof.
After fixing myself something to eat (and not doing it well) I put on my rain jacket and lay down on my back with my head in my helmet, to rest my eyes. When I woke up it was dark, cold and raining softly. I got up to put on a fleece, didn’t bother about all my stuff strewn around my backpack, and lay down again, space blanket over my legs. It became a very long and uncomfortable night, especially during the parts where it rained harder and I sat up, only to have the water run into the back of my pants. After an eternity it finally got light and I jumped up, just to find that the moon had come up. It was 1am!
Day stats
- Distance: 61km
- Total climb: 1 500m
- Difference in altitude between highest and lowest point: 900m
- Highest point: Above 2 100m.
Second day
Never have I been happier to see the dawn, especially as my eyes were now 100%.
After another 13km on the contour road I got to the tar road just below the top of Long Tom Pass, and followed it for about 3km down to the turn-off to Misty Mountain resort. This is quite a classy place and I had a wonderful breakfast.
From the resort there is a great path — mostly single track — dropping steeply through natural forest and plantations to the valley below. You find the track by going east out of the resort on a two-track path, keeping an eye open for a road going off to the right.
It was a bit confusing in the valley and reality did not seem to agree with my maps. I just followed the obvious road and eventually at 11km from the lodge got a wide road turning off to the right, which immediately started to climb. The road kept climbing for about 7km through beautiful, mountainous countryside, much of it spoiled by plantations. The road was very wide but only a grader passed me. At 19,5km from the lodge there’s a tricky bit. The 1:50 000 shows the road (now not so wide) turning naturally but sharply to the right. In reality the road carries on and the route to follow is a road looking quite a bit smaller, at an angle of about 45° from the direction I came from (ie. sharper than 90°). If you come to the ruins of what looks like a fairly modern farmstead, you have to make a U-turn and take the second road going off to the left.
From Google Earth I got the impression that from here you really have to keep your wits about you, but in reality you just follow the obvious route until you come to a stream and from there you are actually in a fairly prosperous farming valley. The road follows the stream, goes through a farmstead, and eventually meets the R539 tar road. I turned right on this road and after 250m turned left on another road (D1054).
After about 600m there’s a farm road going off to the right, with small boards marked with dots of different colours, indicating that a number of routes of Mankele Mountain Biking pass here. I followed the route, past some sheds, and turned on to an unmarked single track going through a young plantation. This ended up being quite enjoyable, and after a while I passed under the R639 through a rather low culvert. Turning left on the other side I went parallel to the tar road to the crown of the hill and here was where the fun started. Mankele has some wonderful routes and this one veered away from the road and through a variety of bush, from mountain to riverine and lots in between. I later learned that the Sudwala Caves area is renowned for its floral diversity. After a lot of fun on these designed mountain-bike paths I gave up on finding the camp, went back to the tar road, asked for directions and arrived at 1pm at the front gate like a gentleman.
Mankele was a discovery. It’s a beautiful setting on the banks of the Houtbosloop River, friendly service (Christopher is in charge), and a tented bungalow sleeping four, nestled in the forest, for R150 per night. I wished I brought my binoculars, as the birdlife was exceptional.
After washing myself and the clothes in which I had spent two days in the common ablutions, I had a rest and a look around before I cycled the 3km down to Sudwala and had a sumptuous meal. I had the pleasure of the company of Elias, who was the waiter but looked like the owner, and I enjoyed speaking real Swazi to him, taking me back to my childhood. I asked for pap with my steak, but he told me it was not on the menu. When the food arrived the chips were there as ordered, but so was a generous helping of pap, Swazi-consistency. He knew I was hungry.
I fell asleep to the song of the wood owl.
Day stats
- Distance: 64km
- Total climb: 800m
- Difference in altitude between highest and lowest point: 900m
- End point 1 000m lower than the highest point near the start
Day three
I was on the bike at 5.30am and cycled leisurely down the tar road to the N4. I turned left and rode almost 2km towards Nelspruit before turning off to Rivulets Station. The bridge over the Crocodile River is at 720m above sea level — the lowest altitude on the trip. You turn right on the other side of the railway line — the main line to Maputu — and follow the service road for the railway, first on one side of the line, then on the other. Every now and then the railway goes through a tunnel while you pass around the hill. One halt is intriguingly called Reception.
After a stretch next to the N4, the path crosses the railway line and heads for the mountains — away from the road and the railway. There’s a row of asbestos-cement houses and at the end of them a beautiful waterfall and a big sign saying “Starvation Creek Game Reserve” and “No Entry”. After wondering for a moment whether there the starvation had anything to do with the row of asbestos cement houses, I ignored the “No Entry” to find a rather overgrown path going off to the right. There’s a lot of climbing to be done, but this is beautiful country with all manner of bushveld and natural forest.
Just before 25km from Mankele I made a mistake at a Y junction, following the more obvious road to the right. It was soon clear that this would not bring me to the track I could see on the hillside ahead, and I corrected the error, following a muddy, seldom-travelled path. Just before 30km I went wrong again, turning left on a road along the slope of the mountain. Only after quite a distance did I turn around, ride right through the ruins of what must have been some lookout sitting on a promontory, and follow the correct road, thus losing almost all the height I had gained.
After climbing almost back to the same level, I got to a point with a beautiful view of the Crocodile River and the N4 snaking through the mountains towards Gauteng.
The next 12km is a long climb, mostly through plantations, but very pleasant. Eventually one gets to a grassy plateau surrounding Kaapsehoop, with sandstone formations, and sparse clutches of trees such as Protea, Aloe and Waterberry. The interesting routes I had planned on Google Earth for the last few kilometres to Kaapsehoop came to nothing, and by 1pm I was in town. I booked into the guest house where I had made arrangements and was served some sandwiches. I showered, rested and explored the town. It is small but very touristy and quite attractive. One of the several herds of wild horses in the area had invaded the town and were begging carrots from tourists. There are places to eat pancakes or have a drink, and a footpath to the escarpment leading through a very interesting collection of sandstone formations.
By late afternoon it had started raining heavily. I looked at the weather report, which predicted heavy rain. It was clear that riding would be out the next day. I arranged with Neels, who owns the Kaapschehoop Guesthouse with his wife Ria, to take me to Badplaas the next day, and went to bed.
Day stats
- Distance: 47km
- Total climb: 1 440m
- Difference in altitude between highest and lowest point: 900m
- Highest point: 920m higher than lowest point
Day four
Despite the weather report, when I woke up the next morning the sun was shining! I had to wait for Neels and Ria to wake up — I had not paid — and then had breakfast and left at 7am. It turned out that this was the only day of the whole trip during which I had real benefit from the solar charger — all the other days were too cloudy, and this thing really does not enjoy cloud of any description.
After leaving town I went around a bend in the tar road and then turned left on to the Kaapsehoop hiking trail, after going through a gate. The trail skirts the escarpment and I had beautiful views of the Lowveld. After about 7km I got to the Narrows, which is no longer a hut on the trail, but the house of old Errol Thompson and his wife. He told me he lived there because his people have lived in the area for generations. He also told me how to go further, and after spending a good 20 minutes on his route I turned back, rode right past their abode, crossed the stream by means of a little bridge, scrambled up the other side (no doubt under the amazed gaze of the scorned couple), through the pine plantation, and on to the road.
At 13km from the start I turned directly west and rode along the spine of a mountain. I had known that getting off the mountain at its end would be a bit of a challenge, and I had worked out an ‘excellent” route on Google Earth. Reality proved different, however, and I learned that the track shown on the 1:50 000 was the way to go. I found a piece of wagon road made through the rock, but the grass was very tall and I lost the track, including the bit that showed clearly on Google Earth. In reality, it’s as a deep scar on the mountainside. It took a long time to get off the mountain (more than 400m in altitude to lose), find a track going to the north-west, cross the stream and get on to the road. But it was very beautiful countryside.
The road I found myself on runs all the way from the Ngodwana paper factory on the N4 to Badplaas. It’s a funny road. Most of it is a quite wide and well-made dirt road, although some pieces are a bit narrower. It is clearly not a provincial road (maybe the last bit is) but rather made by different companies for their own purposes. The general rule is to follow the biggest road at any junction, even if that requires turning right (never left as far as I can remember). At about 40km from the beginning there is a foxy one where you have to turn right even if the straight road looks like the obvious one. Some distance further there is a clear Y-junction and there one has to go left.
Eventually I got to the Komati valley and the lovely Vygeboom dam. There I had to turn right to get to my stepbrother’s farm, where I arrived at about 3.30pm and spent the night. Otherwise I would have had to turn left, get on to the tar road and cycle all the way to Badplaas — not very inviting.
Day stats
- Distance: 72km
- Total climb: 1 300m
- Highest point: 650m higher than the lowest point
Day five
My other stepbrother and his neighbour, both past 65, joined me for the last day’s cycling. We left at 6.30am and cycled on the tar road to Badplaas, where we turned south on to the road to Chrissiesmeer.
At 6km from town we turned left on a farm road and from there we more or less followed the route shown on the 1:50 000 map. We crossed the Lekkerloop, running very strongly, and found ourselves in the valley of the Teespruit (called the Nkomazana on the 1:50 000). It was astonishingly beautiful. Sol Kerzner and a group of people from Dubai have bought the whole valley with a view to doing something astonishing with it, but apparently the other guys have run out of money and the place is more or less deserted aside from a very small number of Swazi families living there with their cattle. On the west the valley is lined by low hills and here and there a kloof or another feature, but along the east there are some sizeable mountains with typical granite heads. We crossed several small streams, drinking heartily of the water. It was lovely.
The only place where we needed help with navigation — and got it from some very friendly people — was at a kraal where they remembered Kevin Davie passing through some months before — clearly the first cyclist to do so. They told us how to circumnavigate their fields and kept shouting animated directions till we passed over the next hill.
At 39km we got to the Teespruit, which was almost in flood. There was a concrete slab and we crossed easily. I did what I had planned to do: make coffee for everyone on the banks of the Teespruit.
Then we started climbing. After a few kilometres we got to a house where we found a young Mrs Steenkamp and her two kids, clearly there more for the holiday than for farming. Her husband was out. I knew that her husband’s grandfather, Oom Karel-Piet Steenkamp — who now be 105 if he was still alive — had owned most of the Teeboom valley in his time. He was very rich.
The Steenkamps have made a new road out recently, so the eldest kid unlocked the rear gate for us and we found ourselves on an unused, eroded farm track. And we climbed and climbed. No matter — this was beautiful country, hilly with granite and shale, aloes, cabbage trees, natural forest on the mountainsides, and beautiful grass. The Teeboom valley lay below us, the stream snaking its path through it.
When we reached the top we found ourselves in plantations and on typical plantation roads. Eventually we got to the N17 tar road. From there I had planned a route through farms and forests to the farm of an old school friend where I was to spend the last night. By now it had become clear to us, however, that the Highveld was soaking wet. The weather was also threatening and we decided to abandon my plan and to cycle directly to Lothair, via the tar road. This went well, and when we crossed the bridge over the Mpuluzi, a stream we would have had to ford if we had followed my route, we saw the wisdom of our decision — it was in spate.
From Lothair to the farm along the road to Chrissiesmeer we encountered enough water and mud to compensate for the ride on tar.
Day stats
- Distance: 81km
- Total climb: 1 400m
- Highest point 710m higher than the lowest point
The road less travelled
It is interesting that the point furthest west and the one furthest east along the 320km of my route were separated by only half a degree of longitude; thus I was going almost directly south, despite all the twists and turns.
The route is great, but I think we need to do some more work on the bit between Kaapsehoop and Badplaas. That road is too wide for a Freedom Challenge guy, and there are some really lovely places nearby that we miss out on. There’s work to do.
From the distances and arrival times it is clear that one could relatively easily have done the route in four days. It would be quite possible to go from Ohrigstad to Misty Mountain on the first day and the next day right through to Kaapsehoop, but missing the stop at Mankele would be a pity.
The other problem relates to the part near Lothair. That tar road is out. I think one needs to think about the route all the way to Wakkerstroom.
I certainly need to learn more about recording my track on GPS. After all the trouble, I found that the first day’s record had been dropped off, maybe because so much of the memory was taken up by the route, waypoints etc. What I did learn is that a solar charger for a GPS must be capable of delivering very close to five watts. (My Silva II gives 0,35A at 13,6V = 4,75W in full midday sunlight.) Even the guys at the Garmin service centre gave me the name of a device to buy that would have been far too weak for the job. In any case, if it’s at all cloudy you might as well throw the thing away, regardless of its spec.
A feature of the whole route is how few people I bumped into, and even fewer vehicles. Along many parts, if I had any mishap I would have been found by the people coming to look for me after Helena raised an alarm, and she knows ‘not to worry about me”. Doing it alone is an exceptional experience, but maybe not so clever.
Every bit we do and record adds to the Freedom Trail.