April 15, 2021
Wepener
Today's target was Wepener, where we had previously stayed at the Lord Fraser Guesthouse. Because of the disaster with the burst water pipe in the ceiling we had been offered a free night's accommodation by the owner.
We had planned to spend tomorrow night in Smithfield but this morning we discovered that the ninety kilometers between Wepener and Smithfield is a gravel road in very poor condition with no other accommodation options in between. Arie, the owner of the Lord Fraser Guesthouse, confirmed this for us so we have decided to continue retracing our route and will spend tomorrow night in Zastron.
All this retracing of our route means that we are now a little bit bored. So I am struggling to find anything interesting to photograph. Luckily we came upon a herd of Bonsmara cattle. Bonsmaras are a breed of cattle developed to be suitable for South Africa's conditions by the Department of Agriculture in the nineteen thirties and are know for their high quality beef and resistance to local diseases. The breed was created on the Mara Experimental Farm by Professor Jan Bonsma (hence the name) after many cross matings and back-crosses consisting of five-eighths Afrikaner (Sanga type), three-sixteenths Hereford, and three-sixteenths Shorthorn (both Taurine types). Along with Ngunis, they are the dominant beef cattle breed in South Africa but have also become popular in Australia and parts of the USA.
Today's route to Wepener from Caritas was slightly shorter because I found a short cut. Mostly this was on a badly degraded tarred road but that ran out just before the town and the last bit was on a sandy track.
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We have once again got a magnificent room at the Lord Fraser. Hopefully the water pipes behave themselves and we can get a good night's sleep.
Today's ride: 56 km (35 miles)
Total: 1,465 km (910 miles)
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