Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!*

On Friday, all of the mountain passes in the Eastern Cape were closed because of snowfalls.

After a 3-hour power cut on Friday and another one on Saturday morning (Eskom must have seen my previous post), we were ready to head for the hills...

En route via Maclear, we passed a familiar sight.  Wherever there is a river or stream, you will find people washing their vehicles.

As we headed further inland we encountered a herd of cows, with herder, out for an early morning jog

Spring is in the air!  Lots of little lambs frolicking in the fields - and on the road.

Good to see some corporate social responsibility.  Many power lines in the area are adorned with dingle-dangles like the one in the top right of the notice. We saw a field with about 20 Crowned Cranes later in the afternoon.  Awesome sight.  Unfortunately, by then the light was too bad to take a pic.

There are of plenty of pine plantations in the area.  Brilliant idea for otherwise unusable land.  Good to see some four-footed creatures other than sheep, goats, cows, donkeys and stray dogs.  These Mountain Reedbuck** stayed around for a while before rushing off, tails in the air

One of the advantages of driving in a mountainous area is that you can come eye to eye with a Jackal Buzzard**.  This one  doesn't look like he agrees with the sentiment though.

Oops.  We thought we would be driving on tar the whole way. Those horizontal gashes on the mountain?  That's the road.  The snow looks like an elaborate Danish pastry with icing sugar sprinkles.

We came across this little memorial a few kilometres from the top.  I'd love to know its history.

Made it!  Okay, it's not a very glamorous snowman. And his nose kept falling off.  But I made him, and he's mine.  Until he melts.

Off we go, down the other side of the mountain.  Who made these hundreds of kilometres of roads and why? How long did it take, who decided where they should be and who maintains them? 

 I must confess to doing a bit of yodelling while up here (much to the distress of Bob and the dogs [who were not impressed with the snow either])

When we reached Rhodes at the bottom of the mountain, we were famished.  It was 4pm, and all we wanted was tea and scones.  No luck anywhere.  No café, no restaurant, no service station. Nothing. Nada.  Rhodes is back in cotton wool after last month's Rhodes Run.  Makes me wonder how the village copes with 300 ravenous runners.

Loving this landscape!  The area around Rhodes is full of Weeping Willows**.  I haven't seen any Willows anywhere else, not even in gardens.  Come to think of it, when last did you see a Weeping Willow?

Some of the farms had fence posts made from dressed stone.  The mind boggles at the time and effort to create these. And why is good old wood not good enough?

When Bob and I go on an adventure, we do it Properly.  Including a puncture in the middle of nowhere. A white bakkie (that one in the distance) stopped to help us, but fortunately Bob had all the necessary bits in Hagrid (yes, we name our cars), so we survived.

A flock of sheep watched Bob change the tyre.  They were very vocal in their observation.  I had no idea sheep talked so much!  Some of the bleating  was quite comical, sounding much like a hearty burp after a good meal.

Ken*** (the GPS) had given up the ghost a few hours previously, as the fuse in the lighter socket had blown, and then the GPS battery went flat.  In true adventurer style, we hadn't brought a paper map backup, but eventually we reached Barkly East.  We got sustenance for the rest of the trip from a service station, and headed for home...

Charming.  Just what we need at dusk, with 90km to go.  We're still debating what is more dangerous in the dark - mobile livestock or stationary potholes.

Conclusion:  Even though an 'easy-peasy' 470km round trip turned into a 9-hour all day epic trek, we're still totally enamoured with the Eastern Cape - its people, its landscape, and everything that goes with it.

Except for the potholes.

* Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

**If you disagree with my identification, please feel free to say so

***Ken - want hy weet alles