Metaljockey
Race Dog
In 2002 I joined an unofficial Africa Safari trip led by Leo. It was a pretty interesting experience (7 starters and 3 finishers) and it introduced me to lake Malawi. I was much impressed and had been wanting to take Mrs Jockey there since.
Well, the universe finally aligned, and we left Joburg with joy and fear in our hearts respectively.
I can never get away from that place fast enough.
We thought we might as well check out the Mozambique beaches while we're at it. I have a religious objection to toll roads and with the Komatipoort route infested as it is, we therefor we headed for Swaziland en route to Maputo.
Karma being inherently vindictive, we still had to deal with three toll booths on this day.
The only thing worth mentioning on the run to Ermelo is that i saw a roadsign warning of owls. I thought it pretty strange, but not less than two km's on I saw an owl sitting on a fence. Go figure.
In Ermelo we stopped at the Wimpy for a brekky and a view of the locals. Strange folk that emerge on Sundays dressed up for the Wimpy lunch. One well-meaning leech regaled us with unsolicited stories of how horrible the road was that we were to take from the Swazi border to Maputo. Just sand and holes and how he heroically made it to the border after hours of getting stuck in his 4x4. (I know from Crazyporra's thread that the road in question should be tarred.) He then declared that in Maputo the roads are fine but 15km north the tar stops and its just sand tracks. WTF? He certainly does not own a 4x4, he has probably not been further than the Wimpy in the last 15 years, and he feels happy to lie through his teeth with his powdery wife sitting right there. I never cease to be amazed.
Moral of the story, always take advice from strangers as to road conditions with a healthy spade of sceptisism.
Anyway, so we hit the Swazi border and I am delighted to experience the quickest border crossing ever. Less than 10 min and we've cleared both sides. Helluva friendly people and regretfully we didn't have small change to buy a raffle ticket to support the local school. I doubt I would've gone through the trouble to travel back here if I did win the pig that was the main prize.
It's my first time in Swaziland and my impression is that it isn't the prettiest place I've ever seen. Granted, we made a beeline to get to the other side and may have missed some gems but I won't go out of my way to visit again. The people are very friendly and curtious though.
I come over a hill and get pulled over for speeding. Damn, this trip isn't even a day old and I get caught.
69km/h in a 60 zone. Very friendly cop fines me R20. Yes, that's right, twenty rand. I almost tip him. We part on friendly terms.
We ride through a game park and I see this interesting sign. (sorry for the quality)
Good to know the authorities care about the wellbeing of pedestrians.
We get to the second border post and things take a great deal longer on the Moz side. We make it through to Maputo unscathed and book into a backpackers for the night, only dorm accomodation available. In the yard is parked a 4x4 under a tarpaulin. The rear is riddled with bullet holes. I didn't ask.
We go out for dinner and get one massive bill.
Back at the backpackers we've been upgraded to a room. Excellent. Not so excellent is that this establishment does not list hot water as one of their benefits. The double bed is an unexpected pleasure though.
Day two to follow.
Well, the universe finally aligned, and we left Joburg with joy and fear in our hearts respectively.
![99905737-L.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/b15/b15e537da4449f0d228702dd6d5e07a3.jpg)
I can never get away from that place fast enough.
We thought we might as well check out the Mozambique beaches while we're at it. I have a religious objection to toll roads and with the Komatipoort route infested as it is, we therefor we headed for Swaziland en route to Maputo.
Karma being inherently vindictive, we still had to deal with three toll booths on this day.
The only thing worth mentioning on the run to Ermelo is that i saw a roadsign warning of owls. I thought it pretty strange, but not less than two km's on I saw an owl sitting on a fence. Go figure.
In Ermelo we stopped at the Wimpy for a brekky and a view of the locals. Strange folk that emerge on Sundays dressed up for the Wimpy lunch. One well-meaning leech regaled us with unsolicited stories of how horrible the road was that we were to take from the Swazi border to Maputo. Just sand and holes and how he heroically made it to the border after hours of getting stuck in his 4x4. (I know from Crazyporra's thread that the road in question should be tarred.) He then declared that in Maputo the roads are fine but 15km north the tar stops and its just sand tracks. WTF? He certainly does not own a 4x4, he has probably not been further than the Wimpy in the last 15 years, and he feels happy to lie through his teeth with his powdery wife sitting right there. I never cease to be amazed.
Moral of the story, always take advice from strangers as to road conditions with a healthy spade of sceptisism.
Anyway, so we hit the Swazi border and I am delighted to experience the quickest border crossing ever. Less than 10 min and we've cleared both sides. Helluva friendly people and regretfully we didn't have small change to buy a raffle ticket to support the local school. I doubt I would've gone through the trouble to travel back here if I did win the pig that was the main prize.
It's my first time in Swaziland and my impression is that it isn't the prettiest place I've ever seen. Granted, we made a beeline to get to the other side and may have missed some gems but I won't go out of my way to visit again. The people are very friendly and curtious though.
I come over a hill and get pulled over for speeding. Damn, this trip isn't even a day old and I get caught.
![99905830-L.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/c99/c99194f2632aa11a16345200759a9b19.jpg)
69km/h in a 60 zone. Very friendly cop fines me R20. Yes, that's right, twenty rand. I almost tip him. We part on friendly terms.
We ride through a game park and I see this interesting sign. (sorry for the quality)
![99903847-L.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/d59/d590dafc9c3f390f4160b66e0bbc49c6.jpg)
Good to know the authorities care about the wellbeing of pedestrians.
We get to the second border post and things take a great deal longer on the Moz side. We make it through to Maputo unscathed and book into a backpackers for the night, only dorm accomodation available. In the yard is parked a 4x4 under a tarpaulin. The rear is riddled with bullet holes. I didn't ask.
We go out for dinner and get one massive bill.
![99905921-L.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/582/582894eba3228760f698a5c6f02b238b.jpg)
Back at the backpackers we've been upgraded to a room. Excellent. Not so excellent is that this establishment does not list hot water as one of their benefits. The double bed is an unexpected pleasure though.
Day two to follow.