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Protagonist in South Africa, a vacation story unfolded in 3 Scenes. Protagonist traveled to the 2nd

largest

Continent for the second time in his short life and experienced adventure worthy of sharing. This trip was to be a

mixture of planned and unplanned vacationing, active and restive, social and solitary, a combination of city and

wide open spaces, definitely yin and yang. Inspiration for this trip came from a bike ride earlier in the year.

Protagonist had met The Running Man and Princess Warrior on a Mountain bike ride across Scotland in July and a

follow-on MTB adventure in the African bush just seemed like a reasonable plan. At any rate, Protagonist packed

his bike and a small carry-on and set off for Cape Town. There was some thought and effort that went into

packing for the 2-week trip. It was Springtime in Southern Africa and Protagonist counted on minimal clothing

being needed although a lightweight synthetic jacket proved quite useful a couple of days in Cape Town.

Protagonist was quite pleased that the packing strategy of bike box (29.2 kg) and carry-on did NOT get charged

baggage fees by Emirates.

Scene 1 - CapeTown

Cape Town is beautiful! Protagonist considers it one of the most beautiful cities he has visited and like HongKong

and San Francisco it shares the combination of clear sky, beautiful water and green hills in a stunning panorama.

CapeTown has Table Mountain as the prominent and spectacular feature and although Protagonist had heard of

this and seen photos, the actual hill is much more impressive. Table Mountain towers about 1000m over the

town and has impressive nearly vertical cliffs with a reddish tinge to them. The unplanned part of this adventure

started on arrival in Cape Town. Protagonist had booked a single night into a hotel in the V&A Waterfront area

figuring that he would decide next steps after he saw the situation - not really sure whether staying in a single

place would be sufficient. Well, soon after arrival at The Commodore Hotel, looking out at "the hill" and quaffing

a draft beer, Protagonist was immensely enjoying the moment. The next morning, Protagonist found an

Information center and talked with some of the helpful locals and pretty much figured a vague plan for the week.

Plan amounted to 2 days orientation and sightseeing by open-top-bus, 2 days with a compact rental car (right hand

drive, manual transmission - think about this …) and 2 days walking. This ended up being a great way to visit the

cape in a fabulous touristical manner. In the first couple of days, Protagonist visited the Kirstenbosch botanic

garden and pronounced it the most beautiful garden he had ever seen.

Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden, looking up at skeleton gorge

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The open-top hop-on-hop-off bus in CapeTown is awesome. It meets up with another bus that goes to the

wineries. On return from the winery, Protagonist just missed the bus. This was ok because another bus did

show up soon. Protagonist was only slightly concerned that he appeared to be somewhat impaired by just the

second wine tasting of the day - possibly he is getting soft and old, Hah! The wine pourings were quite

GENEROUS and this is not bad at all. Anyhow, Protagonist had a great time in the wine regions of Cape

Town. The Constantia wine region is apparently not as big as Stollenbosch or Franschoek but is very

good. Protagonist did purchase a bottle at Constantia Vineyards, a blended red wine that he drank at his last

dinner in CapeTown. Yee-hah! When at the Cape - eat seafood! And Protagonist ate oysters (several times), a

great Fisherman's seafood soup that was sort of Cioppino-like, fish & chips - and local wines, of course.

CapeTown itself is spectacular in scenery and colorful in character. Protagonist will relate that he was taken

aback by the extensive use of electric fencing in and around CapeTown. This was clearly used to keep humans

OUT of both commercial and residential areas. Those of you who saw the film Jurassic Park and recall the scenes

of T-Rex and the electric fence will understand what was going through Protagonist's mind as he saw fenced

compounds protected in this manner. It is clear that there is or has been a real or perceived (Protagonist

suspects real) personal threat to residents and property to warrant this overtly extensive use of electric fencing.

That being said, Protagonist walked extensively around the Waterfront and downtown areas and did not feel at all

threatened or uncomfortable.

Protagonist arranged to rent a small automobile (very, very small by Bahrain standards) and collected it at "rush

hour" and headed out of town, bound for the Southern tip of Africa. This in NOT the Cape of Good Hope as many

of you will know, but is L'Agulhas located some 250km SouthEast of CapeTown. The drive to L'Agulhas is quite

pleasant. Protagonist drove through farmland with sculpted gently rolling hills covered with rippling waves of

grain. There were many Blue Cranes visible along the way standing gracefully near the water at small reservoirs,

they are the South Africa national bird and are quite distinctive with their prominent dark tailfeathers. L'Agulhas

is a lonely and windswept place. Protagonist went to the top of the lighthouse (second oldest in South Africa)

and felt the full force of the wind. The point itself is rough and rocky and there are large fields along the shore

where boulders have been rounded and polished from millennium of pounding waves and storms, these are

cricket ball to football size stones and quite uniformly rounded. Protagonist walked along the shore to a sandy

spot somewhat sheltered from the wind and practiced Sun Salutation in the ambiance of the area. The

overwhelming feeling Protagonist felt was of the tremendous force of nature and a quick internet search will attest

to the heavy toll on ships and men that this point has seen. The town of L'Agulhas itself is a sleepy place with

lovely flowers at this time of year and is quite green. Nearby farms are clean and mostly open grazing areas.

After seeing the Southern tip of Africa, Protagonist drove on and proceeded to look for whales. It was a beautiful

sunny day and whales were found quite readily about an hour drive back towards CapeTown. Protagonist

happened upon the seaside berg of Hermanus while there was some sort of weekend celebration going on and

lo-and-behold, there were whales.

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Protagonist gazes out to sea along the Whale Coast

Whales were hanging out just a few hundred meters offshore from Hermanus and it appeared that there was a

whale-festival going on in the seaside town. Protagonist celebrated this whale sighting with beer, fish & chips at

an outdoor table surrounded by the revelry. A little bit further along the coast, there were still more whales to

be seen and some dolphins frolicking in the surf. Soon after this, Protagonist found the Whale Coast road, after

getting slightly turned around and having to backtrack in the right hand drive, manual transmission small VW that

was getting progressively easier to drive. The section of road near Betty's Bay is singularly spectacular, similar to

Hwy 1 North of Cambria and near the Ventana WIlderness, except that this road is closer to the water and not

nearly so much traffic. There are turnouts every few hundred meters and Protagonist had been given the sage

advice to drive this road towards CapeTown (left side of road is on the ocean side) and to pull out at every turnout

to look at the water. Protagonist did this and saw more whales, beautiful rocks and surf and green hillsides

thundering down towards the surf. This being said, it was quite surprising to see the relative stability of the land.

Certainly in California where there are similarly steep hillsides, there is evident scarring from landslides and falling

rocks. The sandstone and rock formations at the Southern Cape appear to be quite stable and this provides for a

serene vista of unbroken green hills and jutting rocks. Protagonist returned to CapeTown at the end of the

day-trip pleasantly tired out and satisfied to walk over to the Waterfront and enjoy local wine and oysters for

dinner.

Princess Warrior and The Running Man had emailed Protagonist that they would be in CapeTown for a few days

and it had been arranged for them to get in an early morning run/hike up Table Mountain. Protagonist jumped at

the opportunity to be included in this and so a 4:30am wakeup was planned and Protagonist drove over to meet at

their accommodation. Protagonist was on time to the vicinity but unable to locate the actual accommodation

until almost the last moment when he saw Princess Warrior standing in the lobby. Traveller, the host of this run,

drove the group to the Kirstenbosch garden entrance where they all met up with Lean Man. The group of 5 with

headlights and suitable running attire jumped the gate (this is acceptable for access to Table Mountain) and

headed up Skeleton Gorge. This was a great track and to his surprise, Protagonist realized that he had stumbled

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onto this same path when exploring Kirstenbosch just a couple days earlier. There are fixed ladders, running

water, roots and nice steep rocky sections up towards the top of this path to add challenge. The sky was just

getting light as the group reached the top of the gorge and approached the plateau that is Table Mountain. The

Running Man and Lean Man set a fast pace and quickly outdistanced the other three however they needed to

backtrack and catch up to stay on the anti-clockwise (agreed) path around the mountain. The Running Man is

quite fast covering trails and broken ground and has convincingly demonstrated this speed with wins in multi-day

desert races. Views from the top of Table Mountain are beautiful, there happened to be clear sky and no wind

this morning (Traveller said that this was quite exceptional - lucky indeed). There are paths around the plateau

and the group went up to the top, around to look over at the Waterfront, and ran on past the point where the

funicular takes those who wish to get to the top via non-strenuous means. Sections of the path on the plateau

are actually built of raised supports and planks and this was fine for Protagonist who was wearing his Vibram soled

boots but difficult for Princess Warrior who needed to use her excellent balance to compensate for glass slippers.

Well, Princess Warrior was not really wearing slippers, just running shoes that had no purchase on the wet wood

and slippery rocks. The group ran along the dam at Woodhead reservoir looking over a glassy mirror-like surface

that provided yet another beautiful image of Table Mountain and headed down Newlands Ravine towards the

botanical garden. The run took about 4 hours including photo breaks and scenery consumption. Protagonist

was quite impressed that Traveller and Lean Man (brothers-in-law) run this trail weekly about 40 weeks out of the

year and have done this for several years, these guys rock! Anyway, the run was over, Princess Warrior had a spa

date, The Running Man actually had to go to work and Protagonist had a plan to go to the Cape of Good Hope.

So, return to the hotel, change clothes and drive South. Driving through CapeTown is not difficult and once one

reaches the coast near Simon's Town the scenery is again spectacular. Protagonist did not stop to get harassed

by the baboons he saw, although the roadsigns indicated that there must be inept people who do not realize that

baboons are wild beasties quite willing to mug for food. The Cape of Good Hope is a thin and lonely piece of rock

that juts far into the ocean and is acknowledged to be the point where the Atlantic and Indian oceans meet.

There is actually a line of foam that continues out from this point for about one km into the ocean that seems to

show this demarcation between warm and cold oceans. Anyhow, after walking out to the very point and back,

Protagonist drove back towards CapeTown and stopped in for lunch at a relaxed outdoor pub that he happened to

stumble across in Kommetjie, across from a surf shop. The outdoor pub was quite relaxing, with shade trees and

view of surrounding hills. Protagonist had a draft beer and the recommended Big Mama Burger - it was truly

food-art, one of the best burgers and a challenge to eat, piled high with avocado and grilled portabella mushroom -

it had an aspect ratio in excess of one (height to diameter) and Protagonist successfully consumed all. The

Atlantic seaside town of Kommetjie is very attractive and a possible place to escape from the hectic world.

Protagonist filed this town away in the mental folder of getaway towns that also includes Wanaka (NZ), Corniglia

(Italian Riviera), and Hilo (HI) for possible future return.

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Cape of Good Hope - foam line appears to separate the Atlantic from the Indian Ocean

The remainder of Protagonist's visit in CapeTown included a walking tour of The Company's Garden and the

downtown area, more drinks and foods at the Waterfront and some relaxation. It rained the last evening and

night Protagonist was in Cape Town. This did not cause any problems and he was able to eat dinner outside,

under an umbrella, next to a heater, drinking the aforementioned bottle of Constantia meritage so it was quite

pleasant indeed. A taxi was arranged for early in the morning and the bike did not get charged any excess

baggage fee at CapeTown airport thanks to the nice airline people and a very helpful porter. And so on to Joberg

and the next chapter.

Scene 2 - Mt Anderson Ranch

Protagonist flew from CapeTown and arrived at the Joberg airport via a DOMESTIC flight as scheduled but there

was a slight mixup and the group was waiting for him at the INTERNATIONAL arrival hall. Eventually the group

met up and headed out of town. The weather in Johannesburg was definitely warmer than in Cape Town. The

drive to Mt Anderson Ranch took a little over 4 hours. Protagonist rode in a minivan driven by Alister (MTB tour

guide extraodinaire) and accompanied by Timetrial Hero, the White Rabbit and the MTB Lovers. The

conversation was quite lively on this trip and included discussion of "pins". The pin concept is that you have a

map of the world and put a "pin" in places you have visited. However, there are distinctions; just transiting in an

airport does not count. And just because a place changes name or political boundary it still only counts as a

single pin (example Ukraine only gets one pin, even if visited when it was USSR). In this manner one can pin

geographic locations visited. Protagonist realizes that there are huge swaths of the planet that he does not yet

have "pins" so there is much adventure yet to come. The group stopped at a highway petrol station / pit-stop

that had a yard with rhinos, zebras and many other beasts. The definite highlight of the stop was that the Mens

room had a window over the urinals such that one could gaze out at the animals while standing in that

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quintessential male posture. One presumes that the glass was one-way or mirrored so as not to offend the

animals’ sensibilities. Continued discussion on the minivan discovered that there was no such window in the

Ladies room. Further talk ensued about practical use for a device called a She-wee, something that Protagonist

had absolutely no knowledge of. The vehicles eventually turned off the tarmac at a dirt road marked by a painted

bike frame hanging from a signpost and proceeded on a dirt road for quite some distance. They arrived at the

Ranch headquarters and met Trent the Ranch Manager who was to be our enthusiastic MTB guide for the next 3

days of riding. The actual Guest house is another 15 minutes further on the dirt road into the Watershed

Preserve - this being the land status for the 8,000 hectare property. The ranch is in the Drakensburg Mountains,

Drakensburg apparently means "Dragon Mountains" so this is sort of redundant. The "resort" is quite small, was

built about 10 years ago and is very well done and tastefully furnished. There is a stream that runs through the

valley and all the land that can be seen from the ranch house is part of the preserve. There is a very steep climb

to get out of the Guest house area and at more than 2000 meters above sea level, this was a tough, low gear climb

for Protagonist when bike was assembled for a short test ride. This evening ride was a good reminder to

Protagonist that he lives about 8 stories above sea level.

Looking down at Mt. Anderson Ranch

The group rode 30k or so on the first day and did not leave the preserve. Trent is a character and he clearly takes

pride in the planned development of trails on the property. Early on the group learned to listen closely to advice

from Trent, for example he calmly advised the group to hug the left side wall entering the mineshaft so that we

would not be trampled by any animal that happened to be resting near the entrance. Trent led the rides and

from valleys and ridgetops the group did not see another person, vehicle, airplane, or power line the entire

day. Highlights of the first day ride include riding through an old mining site (early 1900's), mostly all singletrack

and great descent to lunch at a local reservoir/swimming hole. Timetrial hero, He MTB Lover, Protagonist, and

Alister rode back (up) from the lunch stop to the Ranch house. The others rode in the vehicle and got an early

start on relaxing for the afternoon. Trent has purpose built most of the trails on the property and they flow

smoothly and look very natural. It is an awesome place to ride because the distances are so great, many trails

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run for 1-2 km along a ridge then flow off onto another ridge with still more to see and this repeats for the entire

day. The kicker of seeing wild animals turns it into a full-grin adventure ride. The land is dry but grassy with

trees and shrubs and reminiscent of the dry Kern plateau in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California except more

open with wide expanses of grassland at the top of ridges. The ridges are mostly flat on top and separated by

deep gorges and sheer rock walls. On the first day ride the group saw baboons, wildebeest, a warthog, zebras,

and several types of antelope while riding. At the end of each day ride is a return to the house, relaxation and

preparation for that most civilized event - SUNDOWNERS!!! This entails driving up to a suitable overlook, mixing

cocktails and watching the sun set surrounded by friends and the beauty of nature. Alister is quite accomplished

at mixing gin & tonics (definitely a suitable drink for the area). The Running Man showed great form by leaving at

the same time and BEATING the Land Cruiser to the overlook (15 minute run), helped slightly by the time taken to

negotiate the Land Cruiser around Michelle who was driving down the hill to the Ranch house.

More about Mt. Anderson Ranch and the group. Protagonist stayed in a large bedroom suite that is half of an

out-building not far from the main house. It is exceptionally well designed and constructed and although the

luxury was probably slightly wasted on Protagonist, he did notice and appreciate the detail of construction and

decor. The main house has a snooker table and a sunroom with a view that is stunningly beautiful looking out

over infinity pools formed by the stream - this is where one is drawn to for sitting, drinking and writing. The group

gathered one night to watch the All Blacks wallop the Springboks, much to the chagrin of Alister and the delight of

She MTB Lover. The ranch house is decorated in a fly-fishing theme. At present, the stream is not stocked with

trout but Trent tells us that it has been in the past. This is quite a trout fishing area, the group passed several

signs on the way in that in advertised trout ponds. The Mt. Anderson Ranch is a watershed preserve and is well

managed by Trent and his wife Michelle. Of special note, the tap water at the ranch is delicious. Trent informed

that water is collected in a spring box and supplied directly to the house. Trent's "right hand man" is Denny who

drove the support vehicle that we met up with daily (spares, snacks and possible sag wagon - but not needed with

these adventurous riders). Lemos and Agnes manage the guest house and area. It is a very efficient setup that

provides hospitality and great food. Food really was good, there was a gourmet soup and freshly baked bread each

night as addition to salads and main dishes - Yum! There were 8 riders in the group. Princess Warrior and The

Running Man are from the Great White North near Toronto, White Rabbit and Timetrial hero are Scottish from

Inverness, the MTB Lovers are Adventurous Kiwis from Te Aneu (is "Adventurous Kiwi" redundant?), The

Photographer is Scottish from Glasgow and faithful readers will probably know that Protagonist is American and is

still not sure where he wants to be from. The group definitely enjoyed the Ranch house facilities. All are

relatively adventurous travelers - of course, getting away from it all in the mountains of South Africa does tend to

attract adventurous types. There were a variety of bikes in the group. The Running Man has a large frame 29er

TallBoy, Princess Warrior rides a red Superlight ("Spidey") and The MTB Lovers ride Giant Full-Suspension rigs,

His is a 29er with 2.4" tires and Hers is decked out with pink accents - including pink chainring, pink cables, pink

brake hoses and pink seat rails. Protagonist brought the Ellsworth Truth for it's inaugural 5th continent ride,

v-brakes, 8 speed cassette and all. Trent rides a 29er Jet 9 except when he sneaks his downhill bike in to ride

"The Staircase". The others in the group hired 29er hardtails. Tip from Protagonist - full suspension is the way

to go on these trails! Also key to the riding experience – tassles! Denny custom makes these out of local

leather and fits them to brake levers. Protagonist expects these to become an essential accessory for all serious

MTB riders.

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SUNDOWNERS - a very civilized tradition. Princess Warrior and Protagonist in Tree Pose

On the second day of riding Claire also rode with the group and 11 riders headed in a different direction from the

day before, rode more and even better singletrack, walked into the mineshaft and eventually rode to "The

Staircase". On a ridgetop trail, He MTB Lover was getting some air over a small jump, landed a little sideways and

rolled the rear tire off his rim. There continued to be an ongoing discussion of the merits of tubeless tires (strong

proponents include The MTB Lovers, Trent and Protagonist) and it is true that He MTB Lover's tire did have some

sealing issues after this initial "technical". There were not a lot of mechanical/technical bike issues on these

rides, just a broken chain and a couple of flat tires. There had been quite a buildup to the staircase feature,

apparently it has only been ridden by 8 men and no women (challenge to the group.) It is a steep switchback

down constructed by Trent from large rock slabs. Protagonist took a look at this and deemed it quite walkable.

Trent rode down it and He MTB Lover who is an exceptional rider made it down unscathed, with only a slight dab.

Alister, riding a race hardtail, almost made it but did a minor crash at the switchback ending up with some blood

loss but smiles all around. It is a tough bit of track, but less than 100m of trail so the walkers/lookers were all

regrouped and continued on the trail to lunch. A fun guest at lunch brought along by Michele and her 2 girls was

Tess, a 2 year old meerkat family pet who is quite energetic and curious about bike riders.

Day 3 ride to the pub at Pilgrim's Rest was fun. Protagonist crashed and burned on a steep downhill technical

section - a slow leapfrog over the bars. No damage although he did sprain his left thumb in typical MTB injury

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fashion. Nothing appeared broken and after a couple beers in town there was not much residual pain. The

grassy plains were quite fun to ride. Protagonist loves his bike! A spectacular event on the ride down the hill

towards the pine plantation was watching a herd of many hundreds of blesbok and zebras race across the plain

away from the riders. Then there was a very long and bumpy downhill run through the plantation, several

stream crossings and eventual arrival at Johnny's Bar for refreshment. Pilgrims Rest is a small town in the

foothills and there happened to be a World Gold Panning competition underway while the group was there.

Apparently the entire town is a National Monument in memory of the gold rush days of the early 1900's and it

feels like a step back in time to stroll down the street. After the aforementioned refreshments and some

wandering in town the group loaded into vehicles and made the hour-plus drive back to Mt. Anderson Ranch.

The last evening at Mt. Anderson ranch Protagonist also ran up the hill to sundowners. It was a challenge to

Protagonist running up the hill, as mentioned he presently lives and works at sea level. Protagonist was passed

on the hill by The Running Man who had even given Protagonist a significant headstart. The Running Man ran to

the top and kindly came back to run back up with the - "no man left behind" running policy. Protagonist ran in

toe-shoes and this was fine especially because uphill requires one to run on toes regardless and the reward of

SUNDOWNERS with a great view made it quite worthwhile.

Evening view from Mt. Anderson Ranch sun-porch

Riding at Mt Anderson Ranch was a fantastic experience, Claire, Alister, Trent, Michelle, Lemos, Agnes and Denny

take excellent care of guests and provide a relaxing and enjoyable time. But, there was another part of the

adventure still ahead so after breakfast the group packed into the 2 vehicles and Claire and Alister drove the group

onward towards the Botswana border. The drive from Mt. Anderson to Botswana was about 5 hours in

duration. The roads were quite good and not too much traffic, but more potholes and a little slower as we

approached Botswana. The rural areas of Northern South Africa are poor but there are still vehicles, paved roads

and some public infrastructure.

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Scene 3 - Limpopo River in Botswana

This MTB tour of Anderson Ranch and Botswana was arranged and run by Claire who is the owner of Cycle

Mashatu (http://www.mtbsafaris.com/) and she deserves accolades for this success. Most of the group actually

booked through Saddle Skeddadle, a competent UK based cycle-adventure company. MTB Lovers booked

directly with Cycle Mashatu and this is quite common according to Claire who also happens to be an excellent MTB

racer. This is a small and very efficiently run operation and Claire provides an outstanding vacation adventure.

There is a lot going on behind the scenes and to riders the end result is that in all aspects of food, drink, lodging,

guides and trail riding participants are very, very well taken care of.

Anyhow, the group arrived at the Pont Drift border post after mid-day and got exit stamps from South Africa.

Fortunately Alister had reminded all to keep their passports readily accessible. For added experience the group

did the actual border crossing on bike. This entailed riding across the mighty Limpopo river, although the river

was completely dry when the group crossed it. To attest that water does flow there is a suspension cable and

basket that looks like it indeed has been used at times. Entrance stamps were received at the Botswana side and

the group rode over to the Cycle Mashatu main office to have sandwiches and oranges. Joe was introduced as

the head guide and he gave us some simple directions and assured that the group understood the relative

importance of following instructions: Thumb and small finger in the air means "listen, be quiet, something is

happening", fist in the air means "stop", rapid hand movement pushing backward means "turn around and go

back" - and assume a sense of urgency. Joe did a good job of explaining the importance of following these

directions around BIG animals, that when he says "set down your bikes" he means immediately and with urgency.

While standing and straddling bikes the group practiced the "lift your bike, pivot 180 degrees, get on and pedal like

mad" maneuver a couple of times and figured that this was a useful skill to have mastered. Then the group

headed out into the bush to see animals and did not have far to go before an ostrich glimpse and a giraffe sighting

showed things to come. But first a little about the conditions … The group were told that there are THORNS in

the area that can puncture tires. This is actually an understatement because it appeared to Protagonist that all

bushes were made up of 2 inch long needles and that the groundcover included what Protagonist knew to be

Goathead stickers. Hence the need for tubeless tires or thornproof tubes with tire sealant. There were a few

"technicals" within the first km of riding and the group quickly learned to not extract thorns from the tires but

leave them in and keep riding, hoping that they seal. There was a strong wind that afternoon and when blowing

sideways it made riding challenging even over the flat, relatively barren terrain. The further along the group got,

more game was sighted and the route weaved through scrub brush and gently undulating territory. The cover

limited visibility to 20 to 50 meters in most parts of this area. The Running Man fell over into a small thornless

bush riding up from a small ravine without damage to self or bike and soon after this the group was riding along

single file with Protagonist towards the back so he could see the next episode unfold. Joe was leading, the group

approached a small tree and several riders had already passed just a few feet from it when a young giraffe sprang

up from the base of the tree where it was having a lie-down and scampered away, greatly startling the riders.

Giraffes are great fun to watch, they move elegantly and are quite fast. The adults are easy to spot, looking out

over the treetops and it appears that they are usually looking at the riders in a mildly curious and unoffended

manner.

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Hmm...I better take a good look at this

The group rode about 15km to camp on the bank of the Limpopo river. The camp is considered a "temporary"

tent camp although it is quite well set up with two showers, tents, a camp fire and is at the base of a very large

shady tree. All of these facilities got well used by the group immediately. Soon after arrival there was a

commotion (birds chirping, monkeys shouting) and Joe went over to investigate and called us over to see a large

snake slithering away. Joe told the group it was a Black Mamba and although relatively slim, it was about 2m

long! There was some discussion about a poisonous snake so close by, but more from a novelty standpoint than

any concern for fear. The group spent a comfortable, uneventful night and the next morning at breakfast the

elephants came through. They wandered by just West (upstream in the dry riverbed) and went down the bank

into the river bed. Then they strolled across and dug for water. In the herd was a matriarch, two smaller cows

and several babies of various sizes. A little bit later they were joined by another small group. Later we saw

where they slid down the steep bank of the river - it is obvious that they "sit down" and slide and the tracks prove

this. After this the group got ready to ride and headed out, led by Joe. Mosa and Baker tended the camp and

later Mosa brought muffins and tea for snacks. There are some water puddles in the river bed and lots and lots of

game. The group saw a python as big around as Protagonist's arm that was sleeping safely up in a tree. There

were lots of giraffes, elephants, wildebeests, warthogs, jackal, ostriches and several varieties of antelope to be

seen - the most prevalent were the Impala. The very small antelope species are really cute (Steenbok). Also the

warthogs are fun to watch and almost comical - they trot away with tails held vertical. Mid-morning the riders did

come across a fresh lion kill (guessing from the prior night but could have been at daybreak) and this was

exciting. It was a male Eland - 2nd largest of the Antelope family. The riding was fun and it introduced an

additional challenge to look around while riding and see what there is to see - without losing trail and contacting

ground. The land is not barren but most of the game is close to the river bed now in the dry season. It is actually

considered a drought and the rains have not yet come, although it was overcast for the morning ride. Several of

the group seem to think that it is hot but actually there was a pleasant breeze at times. The group got along

quite well and it added novelty that the guide carries a .458 Winchester Magnum strapped to his back. The first

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morning ride was about 4 1/2 hours and then the group rode back to camp for lunch. Protagonist had lunch, a

shower and beer, and enjoyed rest time until sundowners. For Sundowners the group rode in Claire’s new Safari

vehicle, actually a fully restored and refurbished 1970's Toyota Landcruiser custom outfitted with 3 sets of bench

seats and a shade-cloth cover. The special occasion of the day was that it was The MTB Lovers wedding

anniversary (their 3rd) and the group toasted them continued happiness in their ride through life.

He MTB Lover and the Giant 29er – can you spot the tassles?

The second day at camp was another loop ride, slightly further away from the river and into some drier

countryside. The lions must be near, we could hear them calling much of last night. Lions make a very

low-pitch “huffing” sound that carries far across the flat bushland. The trails were even better, again almost all

singletrack. Mosa led the group this day and he is very accomplished at riding his front wheel next to a dry

elephant turd and sharply turning his wheel to knock it off the trail. He MTB Lover was also able to perform this

trick but Protagonist did not try. Protagonist did not see the lion during the morning ride although most of the

group did. The ride was longer than the day before, 50km according to Princess Warrior's trip-meter. There

was about 40k before the "tea stop" at noon and Protagonist had eaten all food and was out of water by the time

the group rolled into the shade for snacks. Several of the group were struggling towards the end of this ride and

all were ready for tea and muffins. Some highlights of this day riding were seeing a Ring-tailed cat snoozing in a

tree (tail hanging out gave it's position away). Mosa appears to have an uncanny sense of the area and sees

animals that are quite difficult to spot. The group saw a Tawny Eagle, some bee-catcher birds and a large tortoise

at the tea-stop tree. Of course there are lots of Impala, Elands, zebras, warthogs and smaller antelope just about

everywhere the group rode in the bush. Anyhow, the group rode back for lunch and relaxation before going out

for sundowners in the Safari vehicle. Camp itself was quite a relaxed place but not without interesting things to

see. The elephants walked through camp just past the showers again in the afternoon and there were a group of

beautiful yellow/black birds that were quite noisy enjoying the area. The monkeys got emboldened and tried to

steal bread and fruit from the camp "kitchen". On the sundowner expedition in the vehicle the group almost

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immediately stumbled on 2 lionesses and 4 cubs hanging out. It was an awesome experience watching these big

cats. The vehicle got within a few meters and the lions did not appear at all bothered by the vehicle.

Best to stay close to the man with the gun

The next day was to be a ride further into the bush, away from the Limpopo River and on to Kgotla camp. Again

Mosa led the way and the scenery changed dramatically the further the riders got from the river. There were

fewer animals in this drier area but still plenty to see. The giraffes seem to go wherever they want and were

eating greenery on some of higher trees even in the dry brush areas. The trails on this ride were some of the

best, swoopy fast turns and sandy river-beds to power through. After the tea stop, the group approached a steep

rocky outcropping and rode up through it. Hero MTB Lover on-sighted it (this was IMPRESSIVE). This was truly

awesome singletrack and a great ride. Protagonist did crash and burn on a rocky uphill section falling onto rocks

and then into a thorn bush. Blood and bruises only, no serious damage to the Ellsworth. Fortunately She MTB

Lover was there to pull Protagonist out of said thorn-bush, he was not sure just how he was going to get out

without further impaling himself. Protagonist looked somewhat like a junkie after all of the needles got pulled

from the inside of his arm and wrist. The group was informed that this section of track Mosa led the group on is

not always included in the daily itinerary, in fact Claire had never been on it. This group was strong enough and

this ended up being the best singletrack of the trip. The sandstone rock looked somewhat like a moonscape and

the Baobab trees gave an otherworldly look to the trail area. This was a trail that demanded attention so it was

good that there were some stop and regroup points to look around. The ride into Kgotla camp was again

spectacular with many animals running near the streamed and baboons watching from the ridgeline. The camp

itself is quite interesting, it features a corral built from branches dug vertically into the ground and set close

enough together to keep the lions and guests separated at night. On this last day for sundowners the group

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walked to a rocky outcrop about an hour away and climbed up to the top where cocktails and Alister were

waiting. Sunset in the bush is definitely magical, the rock outcroppings and Baobab trees are beautifully rugged.

For dinner, Baker put on a "traditional" braai or barbecue and it was scrumptious. Baker had been proving his

value as a cook for the entire duration in Botswana but this really kicked it up a notch. Meals were quite informal

but Baker always announced the entire menu at beginning of the meal when it was ready to serve and this really

adds a sophisticated touch. For the braai, Baker had an outdoor fire going and spread the coals out in a

methodical way. He then took a flat pan (something like a cookie sheet) and vigorously fanned the coals and this

made the entire bed glow bright red and blew the ash off the coals. Baker had been marinating an Impala

backstrap and laid this meat directly on the coals! We were told that the game came from the reserve

(permission to hunt "for the pot"). After a couple minutes, Baker picked up the backstrap and gently scraped the

few coals that were stuck to the meat (there were not many to the surprise of Protagonist), and he then repeated

the process on the other side - fan coals, lay meat directly onto the coals, wait a couple minutes, brush off. That

was it, then he set the backstrap onto the grate and finished cooking the sausages and the chicken. Protagonist

and the group feasted! The Impala was served sliced across the grain, rare in the center and deliciously crisp on

the outside. A fitting meal for an outstanding experience.

Kgotla - a practical way to separate lions from bike riders

Alas, all good vacations must come to an end and so it is with the Cycle Mashatu trip. The last day was overcast

and the first rains of the season came. This was fine for the group riding in vehicles back to the Joberg airport.

Protagonist rode shotgun while Claire drove and Princess Warrior and The Running Man sat in the back seat.

Conversation on the way back was quite leisurely and centered around where on this planet we would meet up for

the next adventure. Readers should definitely have another chapter in the ongoing Protagonist saga to look

forward to.

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The End