2001 Biking South Africa

Day 11, Tuesday, June 26
Reitz to Clarens
80km @ 13kph

We slept snug in our tent despite rain drumming on the flysheet, awaking to a misty morn. And spent the first two or three hours of our day cocooned in mist and silence. Wrapped in private thoughts. Grateful for a wide shoulder all the way from Reitz to Bethlehem – protecting us from traffic heard long before it was seen. Later we cycled, in growing physical discomfort, through stunning scenery bathed in sunlight – belying the chill on the breeze. Vast valleys lined with poplars – some naked, some mustard-clad – and willows reflected in brown vleis. Koppies and sandstone cliffs a backdrop to these. Beautiful.

It rained in the night, drumming on the flysheet, but we were snug in our warm beds.

We hit the road in incredibly misty conditions. At times we couldn’t see more than 10m ahead  of us – very ghostly and quite nerve-wracking. Luckily we had a great shoulder all the way to the turnoff to Clarens, which is beyond Bethlehem.

The first 8km took us an hour, the next 8km took us 45 minutes. It is kind of eerie when you can’t see the ups or the downs to come, but in a way you don’t dread the climbs as much as when you can see the ups up ahead.

When it cleared, it cleared to a really beautiful day, with beautiful Free State scenery: muted tones, sandstone cliffs, koppies, vast valleys with poplars both naked and not, weeping willows lining brown vleis, farmers at work tilling lovely straight lines in rich brown-earth fields, some greenery still.

We were OK until Bethlehem – tired, but OK. We had lunch at the Wimpy there, made a couple of phone calls, then back on the road.

We had a long downhill run before the turnoff to Clarens, and luckily Clarens was a lot closer than we thought (about 10km closer) as I was very tired and my bum was very sore.

The approach to Clarens was charming: beautiful scenery, kids dashing out from a shop to run briefly next to us; a family of meerkats; a couple of dassies perched on rocks.

I was dreading the pass we had seen marked on the map, but actually it climbed from Clarens toward us, so we had a great and unexpected and welcome drop into town.

Where mom and dad awaited us on the outskirts. They drove us to Golden Gate park where we are camping right under the cliffs. It is lovely – and cold!

Day 12, Wednesday, June 27
Clarens (Golden Gate)

This morning we drove east through Golden Gate to Phuthaditjaba (a vast, sprawling city comprised of shanty shacks alongside wealthy brick homes; industries seemingly booming) to pay a visit to the Itsoseng Self Help Centre there. Itsoseng is a home for physically-disabled children – founded and run by remarkable Miriam Mahlomaholo. Miriam has a vision of incorporating ‘her’ kids into the community and bullies the local schools to include them, focuses on stimulating them intellectually, and is beginning to teach them handicrafts. She does fantastic work with very little – giving her all whether it be to raising funds from within the community, liaising with the powers that be, entertaining her guests in warm style.