20 December 2023, Witbank, 56.78km
Tushiya Guest Lodge R350.00

Immensely grateful today for dense cloud cover most of the eight hours door-to-door, and the cooling north-northwesterly.
Almost 60km and almost 550m in elevation gain link Bronkhorstspruit in Gauteng province and Emalahleni (formerly Witbank) in Mpumalanga.
We travelled mainly the R104 which more-or-less parallels the N4 motorway. The motorway bleeds the traffic off the secondary road, making for a quiet ride.
For the first 20km, the R104 is wide and well-maintained. For the last few kms to Balmoral, the edges are dangerously ragged.
At the Balmoral intersection, we took a Chrispy tomato crisps and Coke break at a padstal (roadside store) called Autumn Leaves Cafe, managed by an elderly woman secure behind her indoor fence. We were mildly entertained by her price list advertising "mins" (mince).
Soon after, we crossed to the south side of the N4, checking for the continuation of the R104 with a man roasting corn in a drum on the verge as the road was unsignposted.
This section of road was un-lined, wide and largely traffic-free except for the odd coal truck, tractor or police vehicle.
It took us through pretty scenery, green from recent rains, past farms ripe with the scent of manure, through a birch copse smelling of loam, and into the industrial area west of Emalahleni.
Africa is alive and well in small town South Africa. It is easy to see only the negatives: badly-maintained roads and pavements and buildings, litter and seeming chaos. But take a moment and you will find the entrepreneurial spirit flourishing in small formal stores and informal street trading spots. People braaing corn or chicken or meat, women selling peanuts and loose cigarettes, someone on the back of a bakkie offering cyclists a bag of mangos for just R10. You will see functional systems such as taxi transport and the collection and collation of recyclable materials. And mainly you will see a tolerant populace, making allowances for oddities and inconveniences with good humour.