Without a doubt, we have been cared for right through South Africa, and have collected our fair share of concerned mothers across our special country.
An extra special mention must go out to all our new adopted mommies who have kept us motivated with the odd sms, email or concerned phone call. They have all opened their homes up to two complete strangers and made us feel loved once we leave.
They have fed us, done our washing and even packed us lunches for the road. All of you know who you are and we are certain that our moms are extremely grateful that their sons have been taken care of and kept inline.
Back to the tour.
We have had an extremely exciting time through the eastern Free State with friendly drivers encouraging us on the road and generally good roads. That all ends once you cross the Klip River. You no longer get the friendly “double toot” after the driver passes you, but a rather annoying extended blast as they get right next to you. This not only deafens you but also breaks your concentration and also puts you in danger of riding off the already deteriorated shoulder, then possibly causing you to swerve back into the traffic.
Not a fun scenario when the introduction to Mpumalanga is one way traffic due to potholes. The drivers drive on the wrong side of the road to miss the potholes, screaming down on you, headlights flashing for you to pull off your side of the road. Everybody warned us about trucks. The strange thing is that they have been the most courteous on the roads, giving us enough gap to feel safe and even send off a thank you wave afterwards. Not the case with cars. They come past at a hell of a speed only to give you a shake up and almost skimming your panniers. The strange thing is that most of those piggish drivers either have a full car of kids and toys towing behind or a numberplate ending with the distinctive lettering of “GP”, (they clearly all “general practitioners” off to an emergency), or both.
If we get any of the numberplates we will have to send them to our new army of concerned mommies and they will sort them out!
