Had a challenging but rewarding day. Lots of climbing and headwinds. The desert landscape is beautiful and reminds me a lot of southern California. We stopped in this small town of Kamieskroon and Kroonsig for water. We found a small coffee shop operated by a older Dutch South African man. He was very nice and insisted on giving us a whole case of canned water and a bag of candy. He also told us the town only gets water once a day for 2 hours at night. On our way out of town we talked to a man named Shane who was hitch hiking. He told us that he was traveling home to his family and works several months at a time mining illegally for diamonds. He told us he has to go home this time empty handed but when they find a diamond he makes enough money to feed his family for 4 to 5 months.
I decided to take a small off road dirt path for the remaining 20 km into the town of Garies. It was possibly some of the most fun and challenging riding I have had so far. Several times I had to get off my bike. Mokwanda (my bikes name) handled it better than expected and was no worse for the wear. The views were fantastic and it was cool riding through the small shanty town of Kheis.
Riding through the town of Kheis
