It's early and I am back on the road again. The next town, or should I say settlement, because I'm not really sure if it qualifies as a town, is Roedtan. It's not long before I get a ride but it is with a farmer and he only takes me about 20km. It's still another 10 to Roedtan and I start walking. It feels like I might be somewhere in the desert. The land is incredibly flat and the road stretches out in a perfect straight line for as far as I can see in both directions. The best part is that there's no car in sight for as far as I can see either.
It goes on like this for a while. Then finally, a car shows up on the horizon behind me. In a great strike of luck he stops next to me. The driver is from Pretoria and heading to Polokwane, he's …show more content…
They take me about another 10km... Maybe a little less. From here I join up with another hitchhiker and together, we quickly hitch a ride to the turn off just a few kilometers before the border post. The next ride I get, finally takes me to the border. It costs me R10 but that's not a big problem. "Welcome to Grobler's Bridge", a big sign welcomes me. I can't wait to enter Botswana, I've heard a great deal of good about the place and I'm on the verge of entering country number five! I "log out" of South Africa as fast as I can and "sign up" for Botswana after crossing the Limpopo river that separates the two countries. The immigration officer has a bit of a problem with the fact that I am walking into their country so it takes me a while to actually get my passport stamped and into the new frontier. She also tell me that lions might attack and eat me if I walk in the streets. Do I look like an idiot? I am South African, we ride wild lions and eat their cubs for breakfast! I'm not scared! …show more content…
The previous two sentences were only meant as sarcasm.)
When I get into the country at last, the first thing I do is head for the bureau de change. After that, I buy a SIM card. It takes me about another hour to get the SIM registered. Finally I can try getting to Mahalapye. This is where I am sleeping tonight. I see a sign that says it's another 100km to Malapye, and I know that from there, it's another 30km to Mahalapye. In case you were wondering, you pronounce it "ma-a-LA-pee". I had some trouble with it in the beginning.
I get a ride with another police office, a farm truck and a small van before I find myself in Malapye (ma-LA-pee). Here, I get on a bus, it only costs me P16. It's 30km on a "luxury" bus, TV screens and all. Just full as usual in Africa. Pretty cheap! When I get to Mahalapye. I get off at the first bus stop in town. There's a large mall on the other side of the road. I think I deserve something cold to drink. It's about 16:00. I know that my host works until 17:00. There's a restaurant that has free wifi, so obviously the natural place to go. I order myself a large Coke, get out my laptop and try to get hold of my host. I try all three numbers that he's given me. All of them are unavailable. What the hell do I do now. After a while I finally get hold of him and we arrange for a place to meet. He doesn't have a car so he come pick me up in a taxi. I will be spending the next 2 days at
It goes on like this for a while. Then finally, a car shows up on the horizon behind me. In a great strike of luck he stops next to me. The driver is from Pretoria and heading to Polokwane, he's …show more content…
They take me about another 10km... Maybe a little less. From here I join up with another hitchhiker and together, we quickly hitch a ride to the turn off just a few kilometers before the border post. The next ride I get, finally takes me to the border. It costs me R10 but that's not a big problem. "Welcome to Grobler's Bridge", a big sign welcomes me. I can't wait to enter Botswana, I've heard a great deal of good about the place and I'm on the verge of entering country number five! I "log out" of South Africa as fast as I can and "sign up" for Botswana after crossing the Limpopo river that separates the two countries. The immigration officer has a bit of a problem with the fact that I am walking into their country so it takes me a while to actually get my passport stamped and into the new frontier. She also tell me that lions might attack and eat me if I walk in the streets. Do I look like an idiot? I am South African, we ride wild lions and eat their cubs for breakfast! I'm not scared! …show more content…
The previous two sentences were only meant as sarcasm.)
When I get into the country at last, the first thing I do is head for the bureau de change. After that, I buy a SIM card. It takes me about another hour to get the SIM registered. Finally I can try getting to Mahalapye. This is where I am sleeping tonight. I see a sign that says it's another 100km to Malapye, and I know that from there, it's another 30km to Mahalapye. In case you were wondering, you pronounce it "ma-a-LA-pee". I had some trouble with it in the beginning.
I get a ride with another police office, a farm truck and a small van before I find myself in Malapye (ma-LA-pee). Here, I get on a bus, it only costs me P16. It's 30km on a "luxury" bus, TV screens and all. Just full as usual in Africa. Pretty cheap! When I get to Mahalapye. I get off at the first bus stop in town. There's a large mall on the other side of the road. I think I deserve something cold to drink. It's about 16:00. I know that my host works until 17:00. There's a restaurant that has free wifi, so obviously the natural place to go. I order myself a large Coke, get out my laptop and try to get hold of my host. I try all three numbers that he's given me. All of them are unavailable. What the hell do I do now. After a while I finally get hold of him and we arrange for a place to meet. He doesn't have a car so he come pick me up in a taxi. I will be spending the next 2 days at