We saw the ad on Dirt And Trail magazines page for the Mkuze weekend away, Got hold of the friendly lady who handles the bookings, paid over our deposits and waited for the weekend to arrive. It was magic.
By the Mossies.
Prizes sponsored by: CF Moto. Leatt. UB Leisure. We Sell Parts.
School holidays. Mom (Shirley), Dad (Dan), our son Sean. Two bikes and a ride in a place that we’d never been to before. It sounded fantastic, Mkuze River, some far flung exotic part of SA we’d seldom heard of…. Pongola. We’d been through there before on a trip when we used to Scuba in Moz, but we’d never stayed there. Sodwana, yes, we’ve been there before – also on diving trips, but the boys were so keen to ride their bikes in a place that we’d only ever passed through.
Friday morning dawned, we loaded up and hit the long road, (No seriously, the roads are all good, but trucks! Goodness me!), down from Gauteng to find our staging point, Pongola Country Lodge. It’s a solid five hour trip, dodging trucks, but beautiful scenery most of the way.
Let me describe Pongola. You turn off the freeway into a major hustle and bustle of taxis and humanity, a cacophony of fruit vendors and – well, it’s quite something for us JoBurgers to see. Where the heck had we been directed to? The lodge appeared, the gates opened and – absolute tranquillity, a complete contrast to the rest of this busy town.
We checked in, found our rooms – really comfortable and watched as other bikes, quads and cars, (I found out that they call them Side By Sides), of all shapes and sizes started arriving. Dinner was a jovial affair, our hosts greeted us with big smiles, war stories and warnings about what the people riding needed to look for. Sean and Dan were seriously excited, so many like-minded people, it was bound to be fun!
On Saturday we woke up to the early birds preparing their machines, kit etc. There was an air of excitement at breakfast – and we left for the staging area down the road. The boys offloaded, we had a cup of coffee and the guys headed onto the routes. I was not to see them until later that afternoon, so I befriended one of the marshals. We watched as some poor guy went over backwards while he was warming up his bike in the parking lot… Oh well, the medic started early. Lots of grazes and his bike was loaded up again. Shame. All the vehicles or ‘Back-ups” as we are called made our leisurely way to the next overnight in Mkuze not too far down the way.
Dan:
Day 1.
I have to start by saying that I don’t know quite how these guys managed to mark the routes. Every time we thought that we were going the wrong way, either Sean or I would spot a very reassuring orange dot, or arrow or tag telling us that we were in the right direction. I really like the fact that it is marked, because, exactly like they said during briefings, we were able to ride at our own pace, relax and “take it all in.”
We soon figured that there would not be much river. Early on, we crossed a huge river that was full of water. My understanding is that there are usually more dry riverbeds, but this one was pretty full. The routes were excellent. A fair amount of sand, followed by rocky (But not impossible) passes, on to short sections of linking trails. Really fun and we were kept on our toes. There was a riverbed – and that’s where Sean came unstuck the first time. The sand is thick, so you hold on and open up. Suddenly there is a rock outcrop that appears. As you tap off, the front wheel digs in and he went sprawling a couple of times. It was quite funny, well I thought so anyway.
“Stop where you like, take lots of pics!”
That’s exactly what we did. Just before a long, rocky climb, we were joined by a group for lunch, a tuck box that we’d received at check-in. We sat back and watched the fun. A really entertaining route took us to the refuel point where we met riders who were all sharing stories about the monster mud hole just up the road. We thought that we were the only ones who had got stuck. Fortunately, the local kids came and helped us to get through. They scored the sweets from our lunch boxes. So worth it! Two very tired, muddy boys rode in to the finish for the day. Mom was waiting with the required beverages and we took off for a shower. What a great day it had been.
This seemingly innocuous stream crossing turned into quite the mud monster…
Shirley:
After a shower the boys collapsed. The war stories were huge and we eventually wandered down for the braai at the club. By now, you know people so we joined a group and had a great meal. The stories got bigger and bigger… you know, a bit like what fishermen do? Briefing was fun! A few prizes were handed out and the following day was all explained. By 10, we were in bed sleeping, Tomorrow was going to be a long day.
Dan:
Sean and I were up early for breakfast. The backups were told that there was no rush for them, so most of them took the opportunity to enjoy the hospitality of the hotel. We quickly checked the bikes – oil, chain, the usual, climbed on and headed to the start where we met some of the guys that we rode with on Saturday. We grabbed our lunch packs and headed out.
Early mornings are great on a bike, especially when you have vista’s and views like these…
Around 10 kilo’s in, another puddle got me. The farmers decided that the sugar cane needed watering. All night. I went down this time. Nothing better than a bunch of riding buddies laughing at you as you flounder to your feet and drag your bike out. No damage other than a bruised ego. Pretty soon we were headed up a MONSTER mountain. Man there were bikes sprawling all over the show. One of the marshals was very helpfully shouting advice as he took photographs of the carnage.
Team effort was the name of the game and eventually we all got to the top and just took a second or two to enjoy the views. It was worth every bump, bruise and occasional swear word. But what goes up, must go back down and the downward descent did not disappoint. Thick bushveld and lots of stony pathways took us to the refuel, where we gratefully glugged an ice cold Coke from the Spaza and topped the bikes up.
From there it all became a bit of a blur. The landscape got easier with firmer ground, but that was only until we hit the endless sandy paths that took us all the way to the coast. We were so happy to meet Shirley at the refuel after wrestling the bikes through. We thought that the ride was done. Then we were told that there were still another forty to go. Energy bars, pep talks and we headed onwards into what I can only describe as spectacular.
Sure it was sandy, but so few people and just wide open spaces. Mighty forests, beautiful thornveld and Nguni cattle. We actually stopped quite a few times just to appreciate where we were. (Ok, we did need to rest. The sand was thick!) I remember some dunes and lots of wrestling, but it really was a great experience.
Every time we stopped, bikes, quads and those Side By Sides full of friendly people would pull over just to check that we were OK. We were more than OK. This was a great experience with some really super people. Will I do it again? Let me recover this week and I’ll let you know!
Shirley:
I waited for the boys at Sodwana bay lodge where we ended and they were FINISHED! Finished but smiling. “Sand” was all I kept hearing about. “Did you see this? Did you see that?” And so the conversation has continued all the way home.
That evening we enjoyed a fish braai and a great get together with everyone. Much laughter – and it seemed as though almost everyone won a prize! Leatt helmets and tee shirts. CF moto Tee’s Hats… Really nice stuff. One guy even won a full set of tyres for his quad! That was a surprise – apparently the guys from UB Leisure noticed that his tyres were a bit shot and just sponsored a set. Really good people.
What an experience! As a “backup”, I’ll say the following:
I was never alone. I tagged in with a few others who were doing the same and we had a ball! Someone always popped in to check that we were all OK and that’s really nice. It was fantastic to see this part of the country and I’m quite sure that once the aches and pains subside – the boys will be back! To the gentleman who took me for that little spin in the CF Moto Side By Side… thank you, I can see why you guys were always smiling!
Look out for the next one. They run a slick operation.
