Woody Cape, Sibuyo Game Reserve and Plenty of Beer Stops :-)

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forex618

Guest
Terror SA, Wabbit, GreenMambaBirthdate (his forum name has changed to what?) and me did a little trip through the Eastern Cape on the Port Alfred side of PE. I could only ride for the day, but the other's stayed over at Wabbit's farm on sat night. They'll update with their own stories and pics :)

We all me at the service station in Alex. First time I'd met Wabbit (left) and GMDB. Really nice chaps  :thumleft: :

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We were soon on the back roads, between Alex and the sea, heading towards P/Alfred. I was surprised at how lush the area is. I think that's GMBD on his brand new tenere. Nice bike:

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This is TerrorSA taking a pee break just before the boom letting us into some farmland roads:

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Very peaceful back roads – nothing dramatic ride-wise, but tranquil, no traffic and beautiful views over the veld to the dunes and then the sea. That’s Wabbit on his oldish KLR, with an awesome pipe – sounds like a 690!
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More farmlands with the sea behind. Green is apparently the most soothing colour for humans.

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Next it was my turn for a pee stop. Took a pic of my beautiful orange KTM whilst releasing the liquid. Archangel calls his bike Michaela in a slightly eccentric manner, so I’m going to call mine Poppie in future, to remind me of my lost love. (more on that later)

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Before long we got to Bushman’s river mouth, where Wabbit decided to “photo claim” Poppie. We’d been on the road for about an hour or so, and it was time for a beer or two.

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It actually was very warm, with berg wind type conditions, and I expected that one beer wouldn’t help much. We went to the floating restaurant:
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Despite the large deck, it moved pitched around in the river a fair deal, and sometimes the stomach lurched for a second.  Here’s Terror and Wabbit getting ready for a cold one:

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The ships helm is (quite rightly so) the bar counter:

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GMBD sneaking in a smoke (skelm?)

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And then onwards into Sibuya reserve. Although we ride through a concession road, we are in amongst the game:

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Entering through the game reserve gate. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect road-wise and game-wise:

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Here we get ready to cross into the last frontier:

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I took a few pics whilst riding – not as easy as one might think. Hold camera in clutch hand, keep throttle open, make sure camera strap is on wrist, ready to shoot, release clutch hand from the grip, swing camera into palm using the wrist strap, pull the strap to a particular position by flexing the palm (to avoid the strap obstructing the lens) point camera, stop any shaking for a second and shoot. Reverse the procedure to return to the handle bars:
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We aren’t seeing any  game. I think Poppies twin Bosuns might have something to do with that, but I can’t keep her too quite. Here is GMBD looking happy on the new bike. Notice his massive soft pack on the back. A lot to carry for one night over in a house. I think he got problems, which can be fixed with some counselling.

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Some pics of the Kariega river below us – stunning:

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The plants in the foreground are called Euphorbia and have been around since pre-history. They are unique to this area and are highly toxic. Don’t eat them. EVER.

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But you can eat these prickly pears:

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Crossing a river in Sibuya. The sign says “dangerous animals, stay in vehicle” or something

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Coming up out of the reserve – beautiful bush which makes me want to kill something and eat it under the stars that night.

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We stopped in Bathhurst for more beer, but I didn’t get any pics. Too thirsty. I reckon the others will add some pics. All too soon, I had to leave Terror, GMBD and Wabbit and travel back to PE, whilst they made their way to Wabbit’s farm.  I stopped at Nanaga for biltong:

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I never take any luggage apart from my tank bag. The biltong is too long to fit inside, so it pokes out. Two problems – the hot wind dried it out a bit, and the sticking out bits were perfectly aligned with my throttle had – making turning the bars tricky.

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These chicks had stopped at Nanaga for some (more?) food. I chatted to them in a French accent and told them I was going to a gay bikers rally in CT.

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The Coega power windmill in the sunset. Poor pic, sorry, but that thing is freaking massive. 100 meters tall? More?  Someone will know. Blades look 30 mters long each.

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Quick smoke break and to adjust the biltong:

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I think we did about 500k’s and I was sad to see about one third of my brand new Scorpion missing




 
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