Rachel Goes to Africa: Oudtshoorn

If I had to describe the last 24 hours in one word, cold would be it.

Last night, we braved what has been our coldest night yet. It was a night that called for multiple pairs of pants and all the jackets we brought along with us. Despite the fact that I wouldn’t use the word “bed” to describe what we slept on last night; we were able to get a little bit of sleep before our bike trip today.

We woke up to pouring rain this morning, rain that hasn't relented all day long. We loaded up the van with our bikes this morning before a driver drove us to the top of the mountain, where our bike trip would begin. As we approached the summit and saw snow, we realized that gloves would have probably been a good idea. (Laura was the only one smart enough to pack them, Amy and I had to use socks.) Once again, we were the only people embarking on this journey, and the way the people at the backpackers kept referring to us as “brave” got us a little nervous about to what we had gotten ourselves into.

We had a 54 kilometer trip from the top of the mountain back to our backpackers. They drove us to the top, unloaded our bikes and bid us farewell, leaving us on our own to navigate the journey back. They gave us a bike pump and spare tires in case anything should happen, which is wonderful, except for the fact that none of us have the slightest clue as to how to change the tire tubing. We didn’t let this slow us down and had faith that we could figure it out if we needed to.

The first few miles were a steep incline as we descended rapidly, our knuckles white as we gripped our breaks and held on for dear life. I don’t think anybody pedaled their bike once for the first 5 miles. Things calmed down a little once we got to the paved road and actually had to start pedaling. The rain seemed to be coming down harder as the day progressed, but we made it to the Cango Caves in pretty good time, where we had an hour long tour and a hot cup of coffee. After our tour of the caves we hopped back on our bikes to head to the Ostrich Farms, and at this point it was raining so hard that it proved to be a challenge just to open our eyes while the rain pelted us as we rode through the countryside. We made it to the farms in time for them to tell us they were closed because of the rain. Feeling sorry for us and how we were drenched with rain, the owner invited us in for tea before we got back on the road.

Despite encountering a few baboons and Amy losing the chain on her bike, most of our trip was smooth sailing. (Except the fact that all of our limbs were numb from the cold.) We made it back to our backpackers and learned that the power was out not only there, but all over town and in the surrounding cities as well. In desperate need to get warm, we decided maybe we should hit the road a day early and try to find accommodation elsewhere. We were all excited about our new plan until we realized we didn’t have enough cash to pay for our room for the previous night as the ATM had been down all day because there was no power, and they didn’t accept credit cards. After offering both American cash and our services washing dishes in the kitchen, we were quickly denied and left with no other option but to spend another night. Luckily there is a fire that has kept us warm for the past few hours, and the power returned not too long ago, so we’ll be able to check out tomorrow morning and head toward our next destination. It has been several hours since our return from the bike trip and we are still waiting for the feeling to return in our fingers and toes. Rain and all, we had a great day and had tons of fun. We wanted an adventure, and I’d say we’re getting one!