Tiger8
Race Dog
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2010
- Messages
- 2,293
- Reaction score
- 104
- Location
- Eastern Cape
- Bike
- KTM 950 Adventure S
Let me preface this report by saying that - NONE of the photo's you will see posted can do this beautiful little Village and it's surrounds any justice!
Drazil posted a few weeks back about a little village hidden in the mountians of the old Ciskei, this captured my, and others Dogs' imagination and we wanted to see for ourselves, this jewel in the EC. You will see many pics of this weekend and in none will you find an unhappy face, pensive, contemplative and with this bunch of cards, smiling and laughing (lots of) but not one unhappy.
John, thank you for an amazing find and organising a great weekend and Melinda, how you put up with him is a miracle :lol8: thanks you two :thumleft:
Each will have something to say and add to the tale, of which there were a few interesting ones - Crab? We should have had a prize for the longest ride to the village 8) I will leave them to tell their stories.
Ant, TigersM8 (Des) and I could only get away on Saturday morning, due to Ant and Des having work commitments on Friday. We had typical PE windy Friday night and the thought of having to ride in gusting galeforce winds in the morning kept me sleeping lightly, but Saturday morning a bit of overcast and no real wind and all was right with the world. We slabbed it through to Grahamstown for breakfast and then on to Fort Beaufort for fuel, hoping to get to the campsite in time for the proposed hike to the Waterfalls - But our road was to be a wandering and sight seeing ride once we turned onto the dirt.
It is amazing how from the main road that the countryside can seem so mundane, but turn onto a dirt road and life unfolds in a way that takes your breath away.
Turning off to Sandile Dam was like a Hobbits tale of travel - it started with the first step..........................and just got better the more we rode. We met snorting Ogre's on the one stop on the way to the dam, turned out to be a herd of inquisitive goats in the bush, but in my mind still, an image of an Ogre sounded better, more adventurous, more Tolkien
At the Sandile Dam we met a few guy's from East London on their way to Cathcart for a Festival, one of the Guy's Isaak, had a red, White and Blue Africa Twin with a camoflaged Fuel Tank, looked like a boulder in the grass, he had found some Camo coloured Duct Tape and decided to do his own version of a wrap - which looked quite cool actually, he was afraid he might lose his bike in the long grass so added a 50mm band of red Duct Tape to the bottom edge of the Tank ;D
Our Adventure was to begin after leaving the Dam, as Mr Garmin, on which Ant had meticulously plotted the Route to Cata on, decided to take us on a (walk)-rideabout, going into the alleys and back gardens of local villages, after I asked one of the locals - still recovering from Friday nights party - which way to Cata, I had to turn back to call Ant. Ant wanted to see what was at the end of Mr G's rainbow, which lead us into..........you guested it NOWHERE, we turned around and as we left this path, I think it was named by Chris Rea, this Local gentleman proceeded to Kak me out "but I told you straight up the road to when you come to the bridge, over the bridge turn right, then follow that road around through the next village - Eish!" :lol8: Des and I had a good laugh, what a character.
I could try and describe the area, but words would fail, I could try photo's but they would not impress, this is a must see in person kind off place. Green beyond what we in the Eastern Cape are used to, Lush like only the guy's in KZN would understand and an innocence which give you hope for our land. People make the trip worth it for me and Des and here there are gentle folk in abundance. The tranquility seeps into your soul and the thumping of a big twin seems like an unnecesary violence to nature and we try to ride in idle mode in respect to the people, animals, and nature. I think this is partly the reason for the travel time we endured.
If you are in a hurry or want to tear through the hillside because that is what yor machine is made for, please DON'T visit here, because you will miss the true experience of This Little Slice of Heaven on Earth.
All along this emerald highway are little villages spaced a few km's apart, but very similair, the houses are wattle and daub styled rondavels, some were of brick and mortar, but mostly Traditioanl styled homes. The homes are all painted brightly and some creatively patterned, modern windows and doors are fashioned into the traditional openings, animals are a fixture in the gardens, Pigs, horses, mules chickes and of course cattle. Some of the most beautifuly coloured hides on the cattle from striking red to monochromed Black/Grey and all these animals are appear in excellent condition. People and animals co-exist in a manner not often seen. Riding through each village the children are entranced by these folk on big machines and you virtually ride one-handed as Children and adults wave and greet.
You know you are in Cata, when the road turns to a tarred surface and when you reach the end of the road, literaly, you turn up the hill to the B&B, if you continue straight after you should have turned off the road turns into a "Twee-spoor" leading into the Enchanted Forest..............
We arrived mid afternoon and most of the guy's and ladies were hiking to the 2 farthest waterfalls, glad we missed the hike actually as most, no strike that, ALL the hikers wanted Drazils hed on a plate :imaposer: Apparently only 500m, meant to the forest edge and NOT the waterfalls - 4hr's later and very weary they returned........................after the folk had recovered it was agreed to have a stay of execution, Drazil may keep his head, because they views and the waterfalls were rewarding in itself - so be warned if you venture into the forest - tome doesn't stand still, and distance is not halved ands Turds Boots do not cover 7 Leagues in one leap - it is NOT that kind of Enchanted............apparently 8)
Ant you can add our ride into the forest.
(Side Note - this is one area that allows adventure bikes into the forest, please don't let guy's abuse this priviledge, lest we all loose out - govern ourselves before it gets done for us and bikes are Banned )
1 - Road to Sandile Dam
2 - Road to Sandile Dam
3 - A river runs through
4 - Des and Ant
5 - Ant and I appreciating the landscape - and this you can do for ages without tiring
6 - A river crossing - (after our experience in the Baviaans last year Des and I are carefull of concrete bridges)
7 - A few of the EL Guy's
8 - Isaak's AT and the Camo Tank
9 - Sandile Dam
10 - Des at the Signage
Drazil posted a few weeks back about a little village hidden in the mountians of the old Ciskei, this captured my, and others Dogs' imagination and we wanted to see for ourselves, this jewel in the EC. You will see many pics of this weekend and in none will you find an unhappy face, pensive, contemplative and with this bunch of cards, smiling and laughing (lots of) but not one unhappy.
John, thank you for an amazing find and organising a great weekend and Melinda, how you put up with him is a miracle :lol8: thanks you two :thumleft:
Each will have something to say and add to the tale, of which there were a few interesting ones - Crab? We should have had a prize for the longest ride to the village 8) I will leave them to tell their stories.
Ant, TigersM8 (Des) and I could only get away on Saturday morning, due to Ant and Des having work commitments on Friday. We had typical PE windy Friday night and the thought of having to ride in gusting galeforce winds in the morning kept me sleeping lightly, but Saturday morning a bit of overcast and no real wind and all was right with the world. We slabbed it through to Grahamstown for breakfast and then on to Fort Beaufort for fuel, hoping to get to the campsite in time for the proposed hike to the Waterfalls - But our road was to be a wandering and sight seeing ride once we turned onto the dirt.
It is amazing how from the main road that the countryside can seem so mundane, but turn onto a dirt road and life unfolds in a way that takes your breath away.
Turning off to Sandile Dam was like a Hobbits tale of travel - it started with the first step..........................and just got better the more we rode. We met snorting Ogre's on the one stop on the way to the dam, turned out to be a herd of inquisitive goats in the bush, but in my mind still, an image of an Ogre sounded better, more adventurous, more Tolkien
At the Sandile Dam we met a few guy's from East London on their way to Cathcart for a Festival, one of the Guy's Isaak, had a red, White and Blue Africa Twin with a camoflaged Fuel Tank, looked like a boulder in the grass, he had found some Camo coloured Duct Tape and decided to do his own version of a wrap - which looked quite cool actually, he was afraid he might lose his bike in the long grass so added a 50mm band of red Duct Tape to the bottom edge of the Tank ;D
Our Adventure was to begin after leaving the Dam, as Mr Garmin, on which Ant had meticulously plotted the Route to Cata on, decided to take us on a (walk)-rideabout, going into the alleys and back gardens of local villages, after I asked one of the locals - still recovering from Friday nights party - which way to Cata, I had to turn back to call Ant. Ant wanted to see what was at the end of Mr G's rainbow, which lead us into..........you guested it NOWHERE, we turned around and as we left this path, I think it was named by Chris Rea, this Local gentleman proceeded to Kak me out "but I told you straight up the road to when you come to the bridge, over the bridge turn right, then follow that road around through the next village - Eish!" :lol8: Des and I had a good laugh, what a character.
I could try and describe the area, but words would fail, I could try photo's but they would not impress, this is a must see in person kind off place. Green beyond what we in the Eastern Cape are used to, Lush like only the guy's in KZN would understand and an innocence which give you hope for our land. People make the trip worth it for me and Des and here there are gentle folk in abundance. The tranquility seeps into your soul and the thumping of a big twin seems like an unnecesary violence to nature and we try to ride in idle mode in respect to the people, animals, and nature. I think this is partly the reason for the travel time we endured.
If you are in a hurry or want to tear through the hillside because that is what yor machine is made for, please DON'T visit here, because you will miss the true experience of This Little Slice of Heaven on Earth.
All along this emerald highway are little villages spaced a few km's apart, but very similair, the houses are wattle and daub styled rondavels, some were of brick and mortar, but mostly Traditioanl styled homes. The homes are all painted brightly and some creatively patterned, modern windows and doors are fashioned into the traditional openings, animals are a fixture in the gardens, Pigs, horses, mules chickes and of course cattle. Some of the most beautifuly coloured hides on the cattle from striking red to monochromed Black/Grey and all these animals are appear in excellent condition. People and animals co-exist in a manner not often seen. Riding through each village the children are entranced by these folk on big machines and you virtually ride one-handed as Children and adults wave and greet.
You know you are in Cata, when the road turns to a tarred surface and when you reach the end of the road, literaly, you turn up the hill to the B&B, if you continue straight after you should have turned off the road turns into a "Twee-spoor" leading into the Enchanted Forest..............
We arrived mid afternoon and most of the guy's and ladies were hiking to the 2 farthest waterfalls, glad we missed the hike actually as most, no strike that, ALL the hikers wanted Drazils hed on a plate :imaposer: Apparently only 500m, meant to the forest edge and NOT the waterfalls - 4hr's later and very weary they returned........................after the folk had recovered it was agreed to have a stay of execution, Drazil may keep his head, because they views and the waterfalls were rewarding in itself - so be warned if you venture into the forest - tome doesn't stand still, and distance is not halved ands Turds Boots do not cover 7 Leagues in one leap - it is NOT that kind of Enchanted............apparently 8)
Ant you can add our ride into the forest.
(Side Note - this is one area that allows adventure bikes into the forest, please don't let guy's abuse this priviledge, lest we all loose out - govern ourselves before it gets done for us and bikes are Banned
)1 - Road to Sandile Dam
2 - Road to Sandile Dam
3 - A river runs through
4 - Des and Ant
5 - Ant and I appreciating the landscape - and this you can do for ages without tiring
6 - A river crossing - (after our experience in the Baviaans last year Des and I are carefull of concrete bridges)
7 - A few of the EL Guy's
8 - Isaak's AT and the Camo Tank
9 - Sandile Dam
10 - Des at the Signage
