candle and made coffee. I was still loving the early mornings and
opened the igloo door and listened to the frogs packing up their
instruments whilst the birds tuned up for their shift. I wrote some of
the blog while waiting for my coffee to cool, the light of the candle
was more than sufficient for this since the iPhone is back lit and
this allowed me to observe the slow increase in the daylight outside.
A pair of those chunky and noisy ibis like birds I'd seen on the climb
up from Mokopane were patrolling the (very English looking) lawn
outside my door, probing the soil for worms with their long curved
beaks. I really should find out what they are so you can see what they
look like.
I met Johann(from the old shoe) for breakfast (Boboti pancakes, Mmmm)
in 'Downtown' Graskop. He does a lot of exploring by motorbike so I
took the opportunity to mine him for information and tips on types of
motorbikes and how to build them. There are seeds of a plan
germinating in my mind. He's also planning a bike trip (pedal-powered)
down the length of Sweden. I sure hope he likes looking at trees! As
far as I'm aware most of Sweden is flat and covered in forest, a bit
like a cold kalahari.
After breakfast I went in search of the Mopane worm. I'd heard this is
something one should try around these parts. In fact I think I
probably first passed into the region they're eaten in as far back as
the Okavango, but had forgotten to look for the beasts. I eventually
found someone who was prepared to sell me some, most people I asked
were more than a little surprised at my request. I'd kind of expected
these worms would be the sort of thing tourists would all be after and
hence quite easy to track down, but it seems not. Perhaps they're
still a little obscure and people don't know about them yet, to be
honest I can't remember where it was I first heard about them. I don't
really know all that much about mopane worms. I think they're a type
of silk worm, so look like a big maggot about the length of an index
finger and thick as a thumb. The ones I got hold of were dried and
were a very dark colour with spots down their flanks and little black
shiny heads.
...and just in case any of you are still wondering... aye thats right
they's fae the eatin! Mmm! Crunchy, dry as a Jacobs cracker, tasting
of bark with a hint of bacon. Not unpleasant, but not exactly what I'd
call particularly tasty. I'm not sure you'd really want them as your
staple diet. Don't worry, I've brought a kilo of them back so you can
all try one! No need for anyone to miss out!
In the afternoon the owner of the igloo, Nick van der Merwe, Dave's
stunt double. Dr Harvenparpikkie kindly offered to show me the view
from Gods Window which I'd missed as a consequence of yesterday's
night ride. He knew loads about the local plants, among other things
pointing out Koral trees, which are quite thin spindly things often
growing with their branches intertwined among other trees and would
probably go unnoticed were it not for their vivid scarlet flowers
which stick out from the surrounding greenery.
The final part of the climb up to God's Window was through a cloud
forest (though it wasn't actually cloudy today) and this was a bit of
a highlight for me. Cloud forests are a bit like rainforests except
they generally exist at higher altitudes and instead of being watered
by self-produced rain (as rainforests are) they get a lot of their
water, rather unsuprisingly from clouds. There's a cloud forest
section of the Princess of Wales conservatory at Kew, which has always
been one of my favourites so to be able to walk through a real one was
a bit of a treat. The most striking thing about this vegetation are
the small plants growing on other plants. They're everywhere (this is
most certainly not a desert!) the high moisture content of the air
means many of these plants have evolved to hang their roots down from
whichever branch they happen to be growing on and amazingly are able
to collect enough liquid to maintain transpiration through this
technique.
There were of course numerous bird sounds and even daylight frog calls
(I think). The bird Nick really wanted to point out to me was the
Scarlet Winged Sparrow. Apparently these are quite rare, but unusually
common in this area and a bit of a source of local pride. Though
they're called sparrows they're actually more like blackbird/starling
size and certainly behave like mischevious starlings. At first glance,
hopping about on the ground they look pretty dull, a kind of black/
brown colour, but it's when they take to the air that their full glory
is displayed with vivid red flight-feathers suddenly flashing into
view. The other bird, which I didn't see, as it's migratory and I was
here at the wrong time of year, is the blue swallow. This bird really
is well known in this area and Nick told me he'd put up several
travellers who came with the expressed purpose just to see this wee
creature. I can't of course describe it first hand, but I'm
confidently informed that the blue swallow is blue and looks like a
swallow.
We had a braai in the evening (Dave, I'm not sure they do lasagne down
here, but if they do I'm sure Nicks is great!) and ate lots of marula
nuts (and of course lots of meat). It had been an excellent relaxed
day off and I was sad I couldn't stay longer, Graskop is a really nice
place. I do envy those travellers who just make a plan to head off
somewhere, but have no timetable so when they find a nice spot are
able to just hang about as long as they like until they feel the urge
to move on once more. I guess that's the only way to really get to
know somewhere properly and it takes a lot of time. It may come as a
bit of a surprise that I'm now almost beginning to feel a bit like I'm
moving too fast. I know I'm going to be travelling almost a month and
a bike is a great way to see many of the things one misses by driving,
but I am after all crossing a continent so there will inevitably be
things I have to miss and places I'll want to stay longer than I'm able.
One more night in the igloo then back on the road. Tomorrow I'll be
heading south to the city of Nelspruit in the hot lowveld. The hard
deck is set over a kilometer below my current position... so plenty of
downhill and plenty of speed!
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