Day Five; The “Ease” back into civilization.
Jimbo “A very slow start. Went into Masisi (to be seen buying water and petrol), and then headed to Tzaneen via Giyani. I had intended to include a bit of the Kruger Park Fence again in our route back to Tzaneen, but we were almost “Walking Wounded”, actually limping wounded, and opted for the risk free route. At Tzaneen, we were to stay with my friends Tony and Rose Long, and Dassie and Pillionbok were to join us again there and sleep over. For a change, it all went according to plan.”
The main goal of reaching the Limpopo from the Crocodile along the fence had been achieved and the real riding was over, but we still had some kuiering to do.
Last night we lay shirtless in the warmth under the stars until around 9pm before climbing into our sleeping bags, so it was a surprise to wake up to an ominous dark sky, feeling like rain any second.

But that didn’t last long at all and within 20 minutes blue sky was prominent.


Before we headed out, I took some pics of the GPS Stats for record.
Top left is where reached the river yesterday, and bottom right is where we camped.

Took us 1,200 kms to reach this point

As I said to Jim – 21 hours total Riding and 7 hours digging and recovery (probably not far off haha)
Moving Average 57 km/h. This confirms a trip with Jim is a “RIDE” not a tour.

The barbed plug still in place after around 400 ks and pressure good every morning. I will sort this out once at the farm later.

And Off we go (did I mention I was getting sick of this dead battery bitch). The dead battery in these conditions contributed hugely to our fatigue over the last 2 days.
JIM HAVE U BOUGHT A NEW ONE YET?

As Jim said no dirt, sand, rocks, elephants, hyenas or bugs for us today – just TAR TAR beautiful TAR – friggen Boring!!!!! But straight to a wimpy a few hundred ks away.

Then more tar, and some more tar and some more tar. I was missing my screen BIG time now. I had taken it off at Dassie’s Farm to get some air at the low speeds and to be able to see (just collects dust till U can nutting). Dassie was going to bring it to the farm for me tonight.




We arrived at our last night’s camp site on Tony and Rose’s Farm outside Tzaneen. Absolute luxury after the past few nights.





After a refreshing swim, we settled down on the stoep and enjoyed a few ice cold beers while chatting the afternoon away with Rose and Tony our hosts.



Dassie and Pillionbok arrived on the KLR early evening so it was a few more beers and then Rose treated us to the Best Oxtail to round off the evening.
Day Six: Jimbo “Dassie and Pillionbok left for Hoedspruit, and Mike and I left for Johannesburg via the toll free R101 through Pretoria. Thank you Sean, Dassie and Mike for your good company, support and assistance.”
Thanks Jimbo, Stevie and Dassie for a really memorable trip. - Excellent



