Its all about being in the right place at the right time

Not wanting to let the hiking fever vanish without trace we donned our boots
again Tuesday morning and hit the trails. Nothing too exhausting but enough
to get the hearts pumping and the muscles working especially when the
weather closed in, the thunder rumbled, and we made a hasty return to camp.
Boy we were glad we did. Not too long after getting the boots off the
heavens really did open up. The campsite became a river, the little river
running past the camp became a gushing torrent with fallen trees white
water rafting their way down stream at speed, and the immediate area around
Mufasa a waterlogged mud pool! This is the main advantage of the roof tent
over a ground tent, we were safe and sound where a ground tent might have
been flooded or worse washed away! In between the heavy downpours we managed
to have a late lunch and make dashes to the ablutions, but thankfully by
dinner time the worst had past and we were able to cook some food. The next
morning all the lying water had gone but the areas we had been tromping on
around Mufasa were a tad muddy! We had our final walk up to the amazing
escarpment for some great views before a relaxing day back at camp dodging
the light showers.
On leaving the camp Thursday morning we drove the 2 'park drives' and then
made off back to Clarens and west towards Fouriesburg. What a lovely drive
we had, mountains galore south of the road disappearing across the border
into Lesotho, lovely sunshine, and an easy amble along with not a care in
the world. Well nothing except the news of another base rate cut in the UK,
groan! Fouriesburg is a nice little town, old sandstone buildings and a
relaxed atmosphere. We checked out the tourist info for places to stay and
chose the Meiringskloof Nature Reserve (S28 36.155 E28 13.507) just north of
town. The lady in the info place also had some home grown fruit and veg for
sale and we made arrangements to return the next day to purchase some.
Meiringskloof was a lovely spot, and just us there although there were
several bookings for the weekend. The only fly in the ointment was a problem
in the ablutions with some emergency plumbing work. So no water for showers
etc that evening. Never mind, we had a very nice braai and a chilled
evening. In the morning the water was on for a while so showers were an
option, well for Sue anyway. By the time I had done the washing up and Sue
had returned the plumbing works had resumed and there was no water, bugger.
I issued Sue with the emergency 'no shower today' nose peg and all was well.
We stopped off to get some of the home grown fruit and veg but the info
place was shut and no one appeared, so we left.
Our next planned stop had been Ficksburg, but the place just did nothing for
us. It is the cherry centre of SA and even though not cherry season many a
jar of jam or bottle of liquor was available. We stopped in at a place
called Die Blikplek a most unusual shop. They sold the usual cherry products
and had what I can only describe as a bonkers metal scrap yard out the back
where they made anything and everything from collected scrap metal. One of
the owners Ansie was most excited to find out that we were from the UK as
she has 3 daughters there and went into great detail about what they were
doing and where they were living, very proud of them all. Apart from that
and the Spar, Ficksburg did nothing for us as it just seemed a busy
industrial (cherries) town. The residential area seemed nice but on to
Ladybrand it was.
Now this was where our amazing weekend started. Ladybrand is a nice town, it
has its rough spots but it seemed quite relaxed. First stop the tourist info
to check out the accommodation options. Jan is the man there and he kept us
spellbound for 20 minutes or so with his passion for Lesotho and his love of
fossils. Nice man, very helpful, and sold Lesotho to us no problem. So a
plan had to be made. He had recommended the Little Rock campsite in town and
we made our way there with a view to then making the short hop to Lesotho in
a day or so. We were nearly at the site when I noticed a white LR Freelander
behind us looking like he wanted to get past with a flash of lights and a
toot of the horn. Once through the gates of the Little Rock site only to be
followed still by the Freelander. We stopped and the guy got out and walked
over to Mufasa. Here we go I thought, what does he want? To our bemusement,
Ben, a resident of Ladybrand proceeded to offer us free accommodation out at
his farm, 30km from town, even despite us driving a Land Cruiser as he was a
Land Rover man. Err OK we said, not quite sure what was going on. He first
drew us a quick map but decided that he would rather show us the way. So we
followed him to his house in town first, and then via a bottle store (we
needed some refreshments) out to his farm in the middle of nowhere! Glad he
showed us as I think with his map and all the farm tracks we would have got
very lost in the mealie fields! He has 900HA or something that was a farm
before he bought the land a few years ago. There are two chalets that he has
built, and he offered us free use of one of them for the weekend (S29 02.873
E27 23.346). Cool! He then left due to a prior arrangement and left us there
to enjoy the remoteness of the location. Which we did. Feet up, refreshments
in hand. We had a fantastic weekend. No mobile reception, hence me blogging
now, and nothing but us and the ground squirrels to enjoy the sights and
sounds. Early Sunday morning Ben took us for a walk across the farm up to a
great view point in the hills on his land. Stunning. Later that morning some
friends of his came out on with his wife Jane and after a spot of very
unsuccessful fishing at one of the dams on the farm that Ben has stocked
with fish, we had a very nice braai and a few drinks. We still can't believe
our luck.
Anyway, sadly the weekend came to an end and it was a shame to have to leave
our little haven in the countryside but it was time to move on, didn't want
to outstay our welcome! After making the decision not to venture into
Lesotho at this time (found out you can't take any booze in) we continued
south along the scenic R26 stopping here and there to take a look at some of
the small towns on route. Hobhouse, nothing to report, Wepener, pretty much
the same story. Although we did see quite an amusing road sign on the way
out of Wepener, 'Road Flooded During Floods', well when else? The scenery
along the way was totally different. Leaving the majority of the mountains
and hills behind us it was mostly rolling farmland with the odd large rocky
outcrop to break up the horizon.
Eventually we arrived at our destination for the night, Zastron, and a small
home run b&b with camping called Mountain View (S30 17.837 E27 04.407), and
yes there is a mountain and we have a very nice view of it! Sadly despite a
quick drive around the town we were not approached by anyone offering free
luxury accommodation!