The last five days on the road from Johannesburg to Beit Bridge have been a brilliant blend of wildlife, awesome scenery, kind generosity and new friendships. We left the Ranch Resort after both abusing the all you can eat breakfast buffet and having a look at the lions they keep on the property. These habituated lions were raised at The Ranch Resort and guests are afforded an opportunity to walk with them. We were lucky enough to spend some time in the enclosure with them before heading north to Polokwane.
After sorting out some admin issues in Polokwane, Amanzi Awethu! was on the road again, ahead of schedule and marking the miles on a full tum of Chicken ‘Licken. Due to the good distance we were making we decided to abandon our original evening stop over and make friends with the local farmers of Limpopo. Some hours later we cruised into Jim Scott’s farm just as he was closing up for the night. We explained who we were, where we were going, and our predicament of needing a place to stay. A very bemused Jim agreed to let us pitch our tent, Ruby, in his workers compound. His only concern was, ‘Maar why are you not going with a bakkie?’
That night a bit of a breeze blew up, Ruby was put through her paces and Alex and Murray had a very romantic Valentine ’s Day cooking supper in a hoekie of the shower block. The next morning, as we were packing up and doing what every man needs to do before hitting the road, Alex had a friendly interaction with the farm manager. Whilst squeezing into a not-so-long drop in which you could hardly swing a rat, his knees were getting friendly with his eyeballs and space limitations meant closing the door wasn’t an option. Midway through the business, the manager cruised past on his motorbike. Al gave a wave, manager waved back and both got on with their day.
The next day was incredibly hot, we put in some good mileage and some heel-up-kicking at a small B&B 40 kms outside Louis Trichardt. Many people have placed bets on how many kilometres would pass before Murray has a fall. A far safer bet would be how many attempts Alex needs at putting up a hammock before he gets it right. After he sailed across the Atlantic you may think Alex could tie a knot but this is not the case. Lucky he wasn’t going for the high altitude hammock option.
Being a mere 40 kms away from Louis Trichardt with two days to get there, the short stints of cycling were welcomed by the knees and bums. Arriving at Ian ‘Spud’ McDonald’s farm around midday, we spent a relaxed afternoon giving our bikes some TLC and enjoying the fine humour and hospitality of the McDonalds.
Rolling into Louis Trichardt early on Friday morning, we dropped our bikes off at Cycle Centre and headed off to Ridgeway College to chat to the students about our little endeavour. The school gave Amanzi Awethu! a brilliant reception and we were both incredibly impressed with what they are achieving. A private high school teaching the Cambridge curriculum, Ridgeway College is unique in that over 30% of their kids come from impoverished backgrounds, paid for by the ambitious Sumbandila Scholarship Trust. Headed by Leigh Bristow and run by Jennifer McDonald, Sumbandila scours the local rural villages of Limpopo to find kids with promising academic records. It then funds their attendance at Ridgeway and sometimes other institutions (one Sumbandila boy is now attending our old high school – St Alban’s College).
Leigh asked us to address the students and tell them a little about who we are and what Amanzi Awethu! is. This brought it home for us, as some of the children in that room came from homes where their mothers still walk to collect water in containers from open, unprotected dams and streams. The students were interested, asked good questions and were very supportive of our journey. If you’d like to know more about Sumbandila, check out www.sumbandila.org or email Leigh on [email protected].
A surprisingly busy morning came to and end at Norma and Anthony Scott’s residence in Louis Trichardt. Ant and Norma are family of Murray’s and warmly welcomed Amanzi Awethu! into their home as we do last minute repairs and preparations for the exciting border crossing, scheduled for early Sunday (19th) morning. As we explore rural Zimbabwe, opportunities for power and decent internet connection will become fewer and further between. So we will probably only be able to blog every week or two, so please bear with us through the silent patches. We promise to be extra active with cameras, eyes and ears and bring the journey of Amanzi Awethu! to you as vividly as possible. Cheers for now!
Siyabonga umhlobo wam!
Amanzi Awethu!
