15 July, Monday: The Lion and Elephant Camp -> Allan McMurtrie

We only had 80 km to Beitbridge Border Post so once the sun was up, we packed up our camp, and hit the main road we spent the night listening to all these trucks speeding past. Due to safety coming first, we did not even attempt to get on our bikes on this horrendous road. We arrived at 9:30 am and much to our surprise, we were in and out of there in less than an hour. Because of the bad reputation Beitbridge has for taking so long to get through, I had planned this day as a cycling rest day in anticipation of being here for so long. Now that we were out before 10:30, we had the whole day to cycle.

Chris and I got on our bikes and off we went, aiming for Louis Trichardt. For 25 km we had a lovely ride, cycling over the undulating hills of northern Limpopo. I've never been up this part of the country and its so beautiful. It's very mountainous and and the landscape is just covered in enormous baobabs in the most incredible shapes. It was a bitter-sweet moment coming back into SA, we were filled with all sorts of mixed emotions from excitement to sadness as it feels so good to be on home soil but none of us are quite ready for this trip to end. Riding into SA was rewarding though. Everything I have worked for over the last year has turned out to be the most amazing experience and so much more than what I was expecting.

For some reason the shoulder on the road all of a sudden disappeared and we had no yellow line to cycle on anymore. On the map we found a road that goes around Louis Trichardt which we assumed should we quieter. However, we cycled a few kilometres only to discover it was just as narrow and busy and far too dangerous, totalling the cycle to 30 km today. We continued our journey to Louis Trichardt in the car and gratefully so because we hit the mountain and there really was no way we could've safely cycled over the pass. It was gorgeous though. We went through two long tunnels and came out into this beautiful gorge covered in stunnig rocks and lush green trees going down into a valley.

Lynn Mac, an old school teacher of mine who has been a massive supporter of the K2K cycle tour has a cousin who lives in Louis Trichardt and offered us a bed for the night. They live in the Soutpansberg hills on a beautiful 2 acre property with a stunning green garden filled with massive indigenous trees and a small stable yard at the bottom which houses 3 beautiful horses. We met a very friendly Allan Mcmurtrie and his daughter Gemma who opened up their arms widely and welcomed us into their home. Gemma (similar age to me) and I immidiately got along so well and they made us feel so comfortable in their home. Gemma's boyfriend Mark joined us shortly after we arrived and cooked us a delicious dinner.

Cycled: 30 km

Time: 1:25 hr

Ave speed: 19.7 km/hr

Ascent: 238 m