Afrique 12 – MIDDLEBURG TILL ALIWAL NORTH

 From Middleburg we follow East on a back road to Steinbruck. The road is nearly flat undulating by large fields of yellow grass, shrubs, and farms time to time. It is monotonous. We stop in Chombee, and ask to a farmer to camp in the yard. The night is cold, -5 in the tent. Next day brings same countryside and flat till Steinbruck. It is a small town with a big township at the entrance. We go shopping and then we go to the caravan park.

Next day we turn on left by the same countryside and flat road till Venderstadt. It is a small town with mostly blacks in the streets, listening loud music from a bar, it is Saturday afternoon. We go to the Wild hotel and take a room. The room is decorated like in a love hotel with purple, an enormous bed, and stores everywhere. Curiously other rooms look normal. The owners look strange also. The man is an old rocker and the woman a Christian hippie. They use a part of the hotel for Christian meeting like Christmas.
We continue to Bethulie by the same countryside. But we are near the big dam on Orange River now. The road is hillier. And we see some herds of antelopes, small and big, and zebras too. In Bethulie we first go to the police to know if it is possible to take a gravel road and cross a game reserve. Fortunately the boss arrives and tells us that the gate out is closed so we would have to go back. He suggests another gravel road which follows the fence of the reserve and then goes to Aliwal north. Then we go shopping and while I do it Martine has a long chat with a black who works in the prison neighbour. Then we go to the Bike inn. We are the only customers so we have the entire house for us two. We chat with the owner who looks like an old hippie. By the evening I read the lonely planet about Lesotho and choose the trip there. We would follow the Orange River canyon, then go to Sani pass by South Africa, and then go back in Lesotho till Buthabuthe. So we continue going way to Aliwal north, not to Maseru.
We follow the road to Springfield with strong side wind, by the same countryside, large fields with yellow grass, shrubs and a few farms, with hills, and old peaks in the distance. After 30 km we go straight, on the gravel road, and the main tarred road turns on left. The gravel road goes downhill, and we have backwind, but it is very corrugated and with a slippery layer of gravel, so we go slowly, carefully. We pass the entrance of the reserve, closed. We stop at the first farm to ask water, and ask if there is other farm later, before the prison. No that the last one and no problem we can pitch the tent in the yard. So we do, and when we have just finish the owner comes and proposes us to sleep in the guest room. We unpitch the tent and move, and then we cook. While we try to eat very spicy pastas, the owner apologizes and proposes to share the dinner. So we throw away the pasta. The wife and the elder son arrive by the time, from Aliwal, where the son was playing tennis with youngs from Bethulie. And we join in the large saloon. We chat eating biltong, which are dried meet. Suddenly the wife gets a phone call, the minibus which brings back the youngs to Bethulie broke on the gravel road. So the father and the elder son take a van to get there and bring to the farm, where another minibus coming from Bethulie will bring them home. We have dinner, the youngest son plays 2 songs with the guitar, and I go to bed, while Martine continues to chat.
In the morning the family gives us breakfast and a pack of biltong.
We follow on the gravel road for yet 15 km, but it is very better now and we have back wind, so it is easy. We then have tarred road till aliwal north, but very hilly. The wind helps us a lot, fortunately. We see a long herd of cattle going to fields. Aliwal north is a big town crossed by the main road n6 and with the classical shops. We go to the caravan park to rent a chalet, 40$, and rest. Next day Martine spends all day on the internet for his volunteering, and me a few hours for the blog.
We stay 2 days more in Aliwal North, as I am a bit sick.