Day 5

Even though we overslept , there was no great hurry to get out of transition. Local teams had advised us that we didn't want to get to the Kei river crossing before dawn, it was a wide deep crossing that was potentially dangerous for the unwary. We set out from the TA with the intent on getting to the river at around 4:30-5:00 AM, if the locals were exagerrating we'd have the jump on them, if they weren't. we wouldn't have to spend to much time waiting on the river bank for the sunrise. The weather was in distinct contrast to previous mornings. Them temperature could only be described as 'balmy' as we cycled towards out rendevous with the river. Nothing is as easy as it may seem in Africa. As we descended to the river, the temperature dropped quickly, making the thought of a river crossing decidedly unpleasant. THe Uragauy team had been tooling around the river bank for over an hour when we got there, and we scoped out the river for a further 30 minutes until we discovered a relatively safe and easy crossing several hundred yards downstream. We waded across with nothing more than wet feet. Any difficulties had been well exagerated. The Uruguans gleefully followed, then took off into the Transkei.

Once we found the road into the Transkei region we were quickly initiated into this region of SA. We had been warned the roads would be poorly maintained, what we didn't realise was that the whole region was lost in time. On one side of the Kei river, modern farming practices and fast well kept roads were the order of the day. On the other side, people lived in regional villages, there was no running water or electricity and people seemed to live a semi-subsistent lifestyle.

Navigation in the Transkei was challenging. Tracks and roads were marked on the maps, but you had no way of knowing whether a track was rutted single track only suitable for hike a bike or two lane 4WD track. Often they went from one to the next and back with random abandon, so that you would be flying along making great time one minute, only to find yourself crawling along at snail's pace the next.

The locals were enthusiastic in with their cheering and their directions. Though when asking directions, questions had to be carefully worded. "Is this the right direction?" would always be met with a wide grin and a nodding head; regardless of which direction you pointed. "Which way would you go?" might have you going via a relatives house several kms out of the way. "What is the fastest way?" proved to be the safest, but you had to be prepared for everyone to have their input and then you needed to choose the option from the half a dozen different routes you were offered. Offering a local the map was just not worth the effort, as you woudl soon draw a crowd all offering an opinion and generally none of them seemed relevant.

We passed through village after village; the country seemed to support an impossibly large number of people and you could only imagine what it could be like in times of drought, when there is not enough food for everyone, but we were there in times of plenty and the kids were well fed and healthy. The air was often thick with smoke from burning off and several times we passed within meters of flames 6 foot high. This was Del's day to suffer and we paused briefly for a cool off in a river. Again it never fails to surprise me, the rejuvinating effect this can have. After struggling to stay positive, Del was back to her bubbly self (almost), while the bike seat was still a challenge, cooling her feet had reduced them in size and she could now walk without significant pain. While a 15 minute stop may be agonizingly long when you feel like your in a hurry, it probably made us up well over an hour, because we were able to move faster and for longer for the rest of the day.

We cycled down to the Wild Coast for the next section of the race, sorry to leave the beauty and simplicity of the interior, but thankful that we would be walking along the coast, and Lukie should be able to give his brain a rest for a while.

Arriving in Mazeppa Bay we had a 45 minute rest after paking our bikes up, with the idea of pushing as far as we could before resting. Consequently the march along the coast was fast. Lukie was glad of the break and even gave the maps to Grant, as a consequence of not having to think his brain shut down and trying to stay awake became a problem for the first time in the race. By the time Grant was walking like a Zombie there was no need to even consult the map, 'just keep walking until you run into a river'. We timed our arrival at the river poorly, it was nearly high tide, but the water was still running in at a frightening speed. The decision was made to get a few hours sleep in the dunes before trying to continue. It was relatively mild on the coast compared with the high country, but some pretty tight spooning was still justified. [ed. Grant and Luke haven't still been able to look each other in the eyes since that night]