South Africa

Sunday 7th September

Today was apparently a huge decision for the group. We were warned about our planned route through old 'Transkei' area, now known as the Eastern Cape. The Eastern Cape is by far the poorest region of the country where unemployment runs at nearly 70% and standard of living is more comparable to the developing nations further north in Africa. Many people refer to this as 'their’ land, the home of radical, manipulative ANC politics, and threatening, inhospitable people. We were advised that we would be better travelling north of Lesotho, where white farmland dominated the countryside, and people ‘like us' would receive us warmly. We don't live in South Africa, and we don't hear the constant stream of stories from friends and relatives about rapes, murders and thievery. We knew however, that the Eastern Cape was beautiful and mountainous, and that we had to be careful wherever we went, so we didn't take their advice.

Thank you to Greg & Gerry Allan at Cyclesphere, our kind hosts Kelly & Julie and DFG School and Mervin & everyone at "The Centre" Garage. Thanks also to Denise O'Callaghan at Motorola for the radios which have proven invaluable.

Wednesday 10th September

After four days in 'their’ land it is hard to remember all the beautiful scenery and friendly faces we have seen. The change from the manicured Garden Route to the wild and poverty stricken Eastern Cape has been enormous. Tiny shacks line the roads, as do hungry children and unemployed men. The farmland is rough and the road itself is littered with dead animals and potholes. It is almost a different country to further west, but for us it has been by far the most rewarding and exciting cycling. Everybody we pass seems interested and even amazed by us, they wave and shout, and every time we stop hundreds of children surround the bikes. Of course they ask for money and food, and when we have spare food we can give it. Perhaps we are naive, but there is none of the threat or danger that was so vividly described. Our conversations are a little more limited and their English seems to be confined to 'good-bye', 'money for me' and 'how are you?', often in that order. We also think that we have learnt the Xhosa for 'What are you mad white people doing cycling in the rain?'

We have only have one bad experience and that was in Butterworth, a poor town where accommodation was expensive for us and difficult to find. Eventually we negotiated a good price, only to find that it had doubled by the morning. When I(Nick) spoke to the owner on the phone she told me I was 'an evil white man' who was 'stealing food from her children's mouths' and 'God would strike me down.' All of this seemed even more bizarre in the light of the brand new Mercedes that she was driving. She added that if we ever came back to Butterworth she would have us 'taken care of' and we guessed she didn't mean in a Bed and Breakfast sense, so we hurried on.

Sunday 14th September

Our first 1000 miles! Celebrated in style by Jonny in his pants and a hat in the rain - a photo is on its way. We are brought back down to earth as the figure 'one-tenth' is realised.

Monday 15th September

After 2 days and 14 hours of cycling through heavy rain we arrive in Durban, where we are very kindly looked after by some of Jono's friends. We have also noticed an immediate change in wealth and standards of living as we entered Kwa-Zulu Nataal and leave the Eastern Cape. Although it isn't long before we hear that the region has one of the highest crime rates in the world... This is our last 'western' city for perhaps the rest of the African leg of the trip, and definitely the last chance to get our bikes serviced by people who have seen gears before, and stock up on any more spares. The welcome here has again been fantastic, and we have three more media appointments for our departure on Thursday. We have also become very good at getting puddings sponsored at cheap restaurants! Our 40 year old LandRover is causing us more problems than we imagined, and worryingly, eating up our money. So if there are any billionaires reading this then please feel free to contribute. The next leg of the journey is very flat, which we are looking forward to, but as everyone here keeps on kindly reminding us it also gets much hotter and the roads deteriorate rapidly when we get to Mozambique, which is about a week away. Our next rest day will probably be Maputo, which our legs and bums already think is too far.