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Johannesburg
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Graskop
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Kruger NP
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Mozambique
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Swaziland
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Durban
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Bergville
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South Africa - Bicycle Tour Adventure, Day 4
Pictures and Stories About Bicycle Adventures
Graskop, Pilgrim's Rest, Tandem Bicycle Tour,
Bourke's Luck Potholes, Blyde River Canyon;
11 November, 2014
Photographic Highlights of the Day
Above: Ladies in Ndebela Tribal Dress, posing at Pilgrim's Rest,
Mpumalanga, South Africa.
Notice the Neck Rings.
Above: Terry and the Bee on tour in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa.
Above: Dennis and the Bee stare at their first African Image Tree
in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa.
Above: We will have seen a thousand trees like this in the next three weeks in southern Africa but we never tired of the view. WE are touring AFRICA by BIKE, it's so Cool!
Above: Dennis & Terry Struck at Blyde River Canyon, Mpumalanga Province,
South Africa.
Above: Bourke's Luck Potholes - Many Kolks (Kolk is a Dutch word for river bottom hole in bedrock that is expanded by material (sand, gravel,rock, boulder) at a very high water velocity spinning inside the hole (thus expanding the hole by wear and tear on the hole's bottom and sides).
Garden Flowers of Settlers Village, Graskop, Mpumalanga Province
Kop is Dutch and Afrikaans for meaning 'Top' or 'Knoll' (Graskop means Grassy Knoll). Mpumalanga is Zulu, Swazi, Xhosa, and Ndebele for 'East' (it literally means "the place where the sun rises").
Above Right: Settlers Village, our lodging for two nights.
The Town of Graskop, Mpumalanga Province
Above Left: Across the street.
Above Right: Breakfast.
Above: Area Maps.
Above: Traveling to Pilgrim's Rest, South Africa.
The Town of Pilgrim's Rest, Mpumalanga Province
1873 Gold Boom/Town
Above Left: Pilgrim's Rest Sign Post.
Above Right: Pilgrim's Rest Main Street.
Above: The Church Bar.
Above Left: Bead Work - Zebra (Zeh.bra).
Above Right: Bead Work - Sheep (Bahhh).
Tandem Bicycle Tour
(Pilgrim's Rest to Blyde Canyon)
Above Left: Are you ready Terry?
That's Johan 'Janne' E. our Driver and Cerified Guide, his family has been in Africa for over 200 years, they started in Rhodesia (now parted into Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana). His family was lucky to get out with their lives. He taught us more about Africa than we could have expected to learn on our own. He was a great guy and spoke English, Afrikaans, Dutch, passable Zulu and Bantu (which are similar). I learned Scouting through the teachings of Lord Baden Powel and his family had property in places where Lord Baden Powel patrolled for insurgents. Janne also has a military background.
Above Right: Built in 1896 by the Italian [assumed] Contractor C B Giletti.
Above: We're heading east, what little sun exists is to our NORTH, this a sun shot. We immediately cycled by a hillside village (name unknown, no signs, mostly Zulu in this neck of the woods).
Above: Nguni cattle, according to Wikipedia "The ancestors of Nguni cattle were brought by the Xhosa, Zulu and Swazi people, during their migration to Southern Africa between 600 and 1400 AD". The cattle seem to endure African conditions better than imported European stock. Nguni can be brown or black color patterns on white. Before the bike tour is over we will also see Brahma cattle from India, which also seems to endure well in Africa.
Above Left: African Red Dirt seems to gum up the bike chains quickly.
Above Right: A creek approaches. I look for crocs and snakes, didn't see any.
Above Left: This Pilgrim's Rest sign is pointed toward inbound drivers, we're outbound but it was the only sign that we saw..
Above Right: This creek eventually runs into the Blyde River.
Above Left: The road ahead.
Above Right: White Daisy.
Above Left: Our very first wild animal sighting - Baboons.
Above Right: A photo blowup of the left side image - Baboons.
Above Left: Mountain Cabbage Tree - The leaves look like American Oak Leaves (25 Species, 8 in Africa).
Common names: Mountain Cabbage Tree, Bergkiepersol (Afrikaans), Umsenge (Swazi), Umsengembuzi (Zulu).
Above Right: Palm Trees (and old Telephone Tower).
Above Left: Mountain Cabbage Tree.
Above Right: Creek Pond - Did not see any crocs or snakes. We did see a dead snake in the road, at first I thought Cobra but on closer inspection it was a Grass Snake (both have large scales). I told our guide, he was happy when I said dead snake.
Above: African Tandem Bicycle Tour - Just an Awesome Feeling!
Above: More Baboon sightings.
Above: This is strange, there are about eight (8) baby Baboons in the field with only a few adults. We did not figure this until later analysis of the picture that same evening
Above Left: What we saw, focus is a problem because the camera auto-focused on the grass first and then the animals ran.
Above Right: Blowup of the same image (as on the left side), we now think that this was our first Warthog sighting.
Above Left: An abandoned structure.
Above Right: Local Wild Flower.
Above Left: An abandoned complex called Vaalhoek.
Above Right: We're still heading down the road in Africa. Rain threatened all day, luckily we got in one leg before the rain dumped. The clouds/moisture is coming from Mozambique and the Indian Ocean (a couple hundred miles due east).
Above Left: Yellow Bloom Thistle.
Above Right: This was our only enroute road sign, no distance indicated. We are eventually heading for Bourke's Potholes (a place of many round holes in river bedrock).
Above Left: Local Fauna.
Above Right: Another hillside Village, no signs, no name.
Above Left: Oh I love the trees of Africa!
Above Right: Round Mountain.
Above Left: More cattle, type unknown, they look like a Euro-African mix. The valley in which we are riding is getting wider and starting to look more like ranch country.
Above Right: Cattle Country.
Above Left: Our first Rondavel sighting (native to southern Africa, a common round hut building design that varies with local raw materials).
Above Right: A close up of the Mountain Cabbage Tree Leaves.
Above Left: Water Tank.
Above Right: Our first African Termite Mound! The height of a termite mound is proportional to its depth to the water table (also a survival tip).
Above Left: A village ahead and the end of our first leg. We do not know it yet but our second leg will be rained out.
Above Right: We're with our Guide now. Jannie pointed out that the last time that he was here, the cemetery was 1/4 the size that it is now. He said that he fears that Aides is taking a far worse toll than the government is letting on. We learned later that even Nelson Mandela stated that he did not give Aides enough attention when he first took office. Nelson lost a son to Aides (from his first marriage, Winnie was #2 of 3 marriages).
Bourke's Luck Potholes
(A Section of the Blyde River Canyon)
Blyde River Canyon
(Three Rondavels Area)
Above: Trinket Stands - It is 72F/20C and a lot of the locals are cold.
Above: Three Rondavels.
Above: Blyde River.
Blyde River Canyon
(God's Window)
Above: Blyde River, God's Window - We were supposed to be riding our tandem bicycle here but the weather became unpleasant, we passed on riding.
Blyde River Canyon
(Berlin Falls)
Above Left: Berlin Falls, Blyde River Canyon.
Back to Graskop
(Africa Silks)
Above Left: Wheelbarrow Patterson is a famous Gold Miner, who came to camp carrying everything that he needed in a just a Wheelbarrow.
Above Right: African Silks is a silk clothing outlet (presumably from India and China) and it has a Silk Making Display from Silk Worm Cocoons to Cloth Weaving Macines.
Almost every African Store has a guard at the Entrance/Exit. Unemployment is high, thievery is high, labor is inexpensive, and security is a huge industry in Africa.
Above Left: Terry Struck in Graskop, South Africa.
Above Right: The restaurant table mat art imitates bush art.
Above: The restaurant table mat art imitates bush art, it is nicely done.
Above Left: Real Apple Cider is popular in South Africa. There are Cider choices that vary on a dry to sweet scale and by brand/manufactuerer (similar to wine selections and choices). I enjoyed all of them, this was a very good choice.
Above Right: We're looking at the Rondavel Salt and Pepper Shakers. We have a new appreciation for the understated ambiance.
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