2001 Biking South Africa

Day 16, Sunday, July 1
Smithfield to Bethulie
70.6km @ 15kph

We saw several small-animal skeletons on the roadside today, and three fresh road-kill – making for our bloodiest day to date. On the whole we have been pleasantly surprised at how little carnage we have seen – compared, for example, to New Zealand where last year we literally saw hundreds of dead animals on the road. Last night in the pub we met a woman who has been the district’s ambulance driver for 16 years – and her tales of human carnage were enough to turn our stomachs. Thoroughly enjoyed our short day otherwise – particularly as the weather was balmy, the scenery pleasing and the road quiet.

We had a mediocre breakfast at the Smithfield Hotel, unwittingly listening to a really loud argument between a husband and wife.

We were on the road by 09h30 bound for Bethulie 66-odd km away on the Gariep Dam, on a beautiful crisp morning. The ambulance-driving ex-sister had said it was downhill to Bethulie, a statement hotly contested by a young man in the bar last night. But she insisted and convinced us it was so, perhaps because we wanted it to be so, but also because she has been driving the road professionally for 16 years! Well, the road proved not overly easy. We had a fantastic downhill run of 7km or so, but had to pay for it.

The veld looked more and more like the Karoo, but in a soft, soft green; lots and lots of termite heaps, windmills, a flying eagle, almost no traffic at all, several small animal skeletons completely whitened by the sun, a dead fox. We saw very little road kill in reality, especially compared to New Zealand where we saw at least something every km.

At one point I needed to pee, went into a sloot so to do, and twisted my ankle and fell onto my hand; the stupid sort of accident which can end your trip.

Kerstin called from Bangkok to say she was proud of us, and thinking of us.